New exhibit celebrates 1960 Winter Olympic Games at Tahoe

RENO, Nev. — Weeks ahead of the opening of the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in South Korea, the El Dorado Arts Council has opened a new exhibition celebrating the 1960 Winter Olympics held at Squaw Valley near Lake Tahoe.

The curated exhibition of art, memorabilia and promotional items opened Friday and runs through March 9 at the organization’s Fausel House Gallery in Placerville, California, according to the Tahoe Daily Tribune .

The exhibit, “The Games of Winter,” uses items on loan from the Museum of Sierra Ski History and 1960 Winter Olympics, and collector Stan Batiste.

Batiste and his wife Maryann, owners of the Sierra Ski Museum, say it’s the first time they have loaned pictures and artifacts from the museum.

“It should be fun,” they said in a statement last week. “Our goal has always been to share the history of the 1960 Winter Olympics and Sierra Ski History in order to educate the community about our rich history.”

The free public opening reception is scheduled Jan. 18 from 6 to 8 p.m., and will feature local wine paired with fondue — a classic recipe from the 1960s. Batiste, author David C. Antonucci and official Olympic photographer Bill Briner will be in attendance.

Antonucci, author of “Snowball’s Chance: The Story of the 1960 Olympic Winter Games Squaw Valley & Lake Tahoe” will discuss the 1960 Winter Olympics at another free event at the gallery on Feb. 22.

Alexander Cushing, who died in 2006, helped launch the sport of skiing in the U.S. by bringing the Games to his Squaw Valley resort. He once told the Reno Gazette-journal that his bid for the games was a publicity stunt, never dreaming he might get them.