Children illustrate Nevada in new online art exhibition

With its watercolor sunsets, pointillistic deserts and pastel-hued wildlife, Nevada’s landscapes often look like works of art.

Children from Elko County recently used paint, ink and crayon to re-create their favorite images of the West, which can be seen in a new exhibit showing at Nevada Humanities.

“Colors of the West: Youth Art From the 2020 National Cowboy Poetry Gathering” invited students to create works in a wide range of media and techniques for the January event.

While 50 artworks from students in kindergarten through eighth grade are on display at the Nevada Humanities office in the Las Vegas Arts District, the small space cannot accommodate visitors, even with social distancing amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bobbie Ann Howell, the self-described program wrangler of Nevada Humanities, says she hopes that visitors will enjoy looking at the artworks in the online gallery.

“It’s always refreshing to look at kids’ art,” Howell says. “Especially this artwork in particular. They’re so thoughtful, you can see their thinking.”

About every two months, the office rotates in a new exhibit that relates to the humanities through a discipline such as journalism, history or photography.

After leaving the Western Folklife Center in Elko, Howell suggested moving the exhibit to Las Vegas.

“This gives a little break away from what’s going on,” she says. “Not to ignore the important facts in the world, but it’s great to see the blue eyes of a matador, a winking cow, a beautiful skull or a crayon drawing and other beautiful things.”

The online gallery can be viewed at nevadahumanities. org.

Children from Elko County used paint, ink and crayon to re-create their favorite images of the West.