As the week-long 3rd annual Carson City Murals and Music Festival winds down Saturday, one particular creation is an unusual entry, with a 9-year-old award-winning local student artist being the source for an adult muralist in which their work is now featured prominently off Stewart Street.
The student, Collin Ohgami, is a Carson Montessori Charter School fourth grader. The adult artist, Leire Urbeltz from Pamplona, Spain, is currently living in Reno and pursuing her doctorate at UNR.
Together they helped each other in the creation of a mural, inspired by a statewide student art contest designed to raise awareness about road safety and the benefits of active transportation. The mural is located on northeast corner of the Western Nevada Performing Art Center at 951 North Stewart Street.
From dozens of entries across the state, Collin’s design was selected as the grand prize winner in a student art contest organized by the Nevada Department of Transportation. His artwork was then transformed into the large-scale mural by Urbeltz, created during the festival, according to Kristen Marshall, NDOT Eduction and Information Officer for Active Transportation.
She and Chantelle Ewing, NDOT’s Safe Routes to School Coordinator, were thrilled by the project and the blending of work from the adult UNR Doctorate student and 9-year-old Carson City student.
“This project is about more than art — it’s about inspiring young Nevadans and their families to safely share the road,” said Marshall. “We are thrilled to see a child’s vision of safety and health brought to life in such a vibrant way for the whole community to enjoy.”
“The mural unveiling celebrates not only the young artist’s achievement, but also the importance of safe, active transportation in Nevada communities,” she added, noting that all of the student entries will be shown through the month of October during an exhibit at the Brewery Arts Center.
The younger art student, Collin, said he found Urbeltz’s mural fascinating, where she turned his original work, an 11-inch by 17-inch drawing he had done primarily with colored pencils, into a spectacular piece of art.
The mural Urbeltz’s created is at least 20 feet tall, scaling the side of the building, which is also shared by two other artists. Collin was able to sign his work on the mural.
“It’s really nice. I looked at the things we did and the things we didn’t put in and this is better,” Collin said, adding that it was Urbeltz’s use of colors that made it stand out, making it more impactful.
Urbeltz explained that she learned last month that she would make a mural from Collin’s work. From there, she took his drawing and gleaned “what was on his mind, going into every detail,” she said, adding that she found his artwork “beautiful.”
She noted his drawing aligned with the NDOT student contest as it captured the overall aim, which was to highlight safe walking, biking, skating and other active ways of traveling.
“It’s a way for the kids who participated to represent themselves and having a feeling of belonging,” she said.
Collin added that after seeing Urbeltz’s work, he’s now beginning to understand what painting is about and what goes into it, adding that he’s not used to drawing for a large audience.
“I’m not sure about drawing something everyone can see. Sometimes I get nervous and I’m like ‘what if it isn’t good?’ Then I get worried,” he said.
Urbeltz offered Collin some wisdom into being an artist, telling him “It’s because you really care. I also make a lot of mistakes and you can always fix it to make it work … But I understand. This is because you care. This makes you an artist.”
She also told him and others who were looking at their work that Collin is a “super talented” artist and she liked that he added comics and graphic design into his creative original work.
For photographer Brian Williams of Carson City, who is well known for his photo work around Lake Tahoe, he said he spent Saturday exploring all the fresh artwork around town and found this particular work fascinating.
“This was on the list. I really like seeing children’s artwork and how they grow from it,” he said. “It seems they had really good communication going here. It took me a minute to realize who this young man is and the inspiration for the (adult) muralist. This is a great story. I think the whole idea of murals in Carson City is special and has really become an artistic landmark in this town.”
Musical performances culminate Saturday as part of a full day of music on the Brewery Arts Center’s outdoor stage until 6 p.m. with performances by Jenni & Jesse (From Dead Winter Carpenters), The Turkey Buzzards, Tyler Stafford, Lily Baran Trio, Greg Gilmore, and Rachael McElhiney.
Go here for maps of the locations around town and here for the participating artists.
