Elko Arts and Culture

03/19/2023

JOIN OUR TEAM!

Elko Art Foundation Board Recruitment!
The Elko Art Foundation (EAF) is seeking a qualified and dedicated individual to serve on our Board of Directors. EAF is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, with a volunteer, working board that manages events and activities in the effort to promote arts and culture in Elko.
Commitment includes:
• Attend a monthly board meeting (2 to 3 hours).
• Assist in the facilitation of an art and mural festival.
• Assist in the creation of a digital artist directory and interactive website.
• Assist in writing proposals for grants and fundraising.
• Support fundraising activities.
• Advocate and promote the arts and culture in Elko.
• Identify opportunities for forward thinking and creative drive in the arts.
• Other fun duties as they come up.
If you want to be part of this fun and creative group and feel you can meet these commitments, please submit a letter of interest to Elko Art Foundation, 421 Railroad St. Ste. 208, Elko, Nevada 89801 or email [email protected].
For more information about the EAF visit our website at www.elkoartfoundation.org.

03/17/2023

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

May your days be plenty and your troubles be few.
May all God's blessings descend upon you.
May peace be within you;
May your heart be strong;
And may you find what you are seeking wherever you roam.

03/13/2023

Don't let it fool you! 🤣

03/11/2023

Good information for anyone in an effected area. Stay safe!!

03/11/2023

Spring Forward tonight.

03/10/2023

Summer will be here before you know it ...we hope!
Save the date for Art in the Park hosted by the Elko County Art Club!

with- Nevada Gold Mines Northeastern Nevada Regional Hospital Northeastern Nevada Museum State Fire DC Specialties Terry's Pumpin and Potties Elko Sanitation

03/05/2023

How fantastic for these kids and for our community. Great job Elko High School Drama Club. Congratulations! We are so proud of you!!
with- Elko County School District

These amazing students were awarded Gold Honor Troupe!!!
Our Tech Team took Silver in The Tech Olympics!!!
A huge congratulations to Kassie Allen for being elected to the Student State Board and receiving a Thespian of the year award!!! We are so grateful for all of the Theatre Students at Elko High School that work so hard! 🎭💙💛🎭

03/01/2023

Loving the art work being collected at Mybrary. Go check out all the changes they have made!

We recently read a story about a librarian in Oakland, Sharon McKellar. She collects the found artifacts and posts them on the library's website in a collection titled "Found in a Library Book." Check out the link to see the more than 350 things she’s collected over the years (oaklandlibrary.org/found-in-a-library-book).

And, check out our latest find – a thank you note found inside a children’s book 😍

We’re doing all we can to provide new and engaging programming that build connection for people of all ages.

02/28/2023

Podcast: Micqaela Jones - Double Scoop

Double Scoop has a great story and podcast about Elko artist Micqaela Jones. She recently completed a mural on the water tank near I-80. Such an awesome addition to Elko's public art. Thanks DS for highlighting Elko art and Elko artists.

with- Art by Micqaela Jones Nevada Gold Mines Elko Convention & Visitors Authority Travel Nevada Nevada's Cowboy Country Nevada Department of Transportation

In 2002, the Shoshone-Paiute painter created the wildlife mural that towers over Elko

02/21/2023

Great Basin Theatre is back in full force and treating us to a classic! Tickets on sale now, don't wait, there might not be any left.

with- Great Basin College Elko Convention & Visitors Authority Travel Nevada Nevada Arts Council

02/20/2023

HAPPY PRESIDENTS DAY!
There is so much art honoring America's 46 Presidents. Which is your favorite?
A popular choice is Mt Rushmore, carved in granite, in the Black Hills near Keystone, South Dakota. It was conceived and created by sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, with help from his son Lincoln. Interestingly, the tool that created 90% of the massive sculpture, was dynamite.

02/17/2023

The Stage Door Elko, has fun cultural events and promotions all the time. This looks like a really good one!
Do you remember the 90s?
Do you want to relive the 90s?
Do you still watch F.R.I.E.N.D.S re-runs?
Do you still listen to alternative Rock and Hip-Hop?
Do you still own your Guess overalls and Dickies?
Do you remember the blue dress?
You better get to the Stage Door next week!!

02/16/2023

FREE CONCERT FOR KIDDOS!
Phi Theta Kappa Great Basin College and Elko County Early Childhood Advisory Council are bringing literacy and music together!

with- Elko Convention & Visitors Authority Eric Litwin Books Humanities Center at Great Basin College Elko County School District Nevada Gold Mines Family Resource Centers of Northeastern Nevada PACE Coalition Head Start of Northeastern Nevada Great Basin College Great Basin College Foundation

02/15/2023

Live music tonight at Western Folklife Center!
Always free and always fun!!

with- Elko DBA Elko Convention & Visitors Authority Travel Nevada

02/14/2023

❤️ Happy Valentine’s Day! ❤️

02/13/2023

Talking watercolors + cowboy gear with W***y Matthews - Double Scoop

Great read about a living legend, Willie Matthews. His watercolors have wowed us at Cowboy Poetry for years. His western gear collection was a new favorite at this years Gathering. It's inside the Weigand Gallery at the Folklife Center. Thanks Double Scoop for the coverage of the arts in Elko!

with- William Matthews Gallery Western Folklife Center

The latest Western Folklife Center exhibition showcases the craft of ranch life

02/12/2023

We're taking a poll!
Who's watching the Super Bowl?
-Absolutely, wouldn't miss it?
-Not a chance, I'd rather do anything else?
-Just watching the commercials?
-I'll watch halftime, but that's it?
-I'm just here for the party?
Let us know in the comments?!?!?

02/11/2023

Local Cowboy Arts and Gear Museum bit maker, Travis Clelland, (back row, second from right) and raw hide braider Mike Skinner, were invited to participate in the TCAA Forum in Oklahoma City at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. The TCAA is the premier cowboy artisan organization. This is quite an honor and tells the world who the future stars in the bit making and braiding world are. Way to represent on the biggest stage Travis and Mike!
with- J.M. Capriola Elko Convention & Visitors Authority Western Folklife Center

It’s a Wrap! The 2023 TCAA Forum at - Two Full Days this year for Bit&Spurmakers and Rawhide Braiders. Always a good time.

02/09/2023

This is always a fun event that helps an awesome organization continue their awesomeness!!

with- Ghost Light Productions The Stage Door Elko Elko DBA

02/07/2023

Page A2

What a treat!
The US Navy Band will be in Elko on March 14, 2023 at 7:00, at the Elko Convention Center. Get it on your calendar, military band performances are always must see events. Thanks Elko Daily Free Press for letting us know.
with- Elko Convention & Visitors Authority United States Navy Band

View the Elko Daily Free Press for Tuesday, February 7, 2023

02/06/2023

We are so proud of all these projects and more art in Elko! Thanks for the shout out Elko Convention & Visitors Authority!

with- Travel Nevada Elko DBA Nevada Arts Council Nevada Humanities

02/02/2023

Meet Elko painter Patty Fox - Double Scoop

Double Scoop and Catherine Wines highlight local artist Patty Fox this week. Follow them on Facebook and Instagram!

with- Nevada Arts Council Elko Convention & Visitors Authority Elko Area Chamber Travel Nevada Nevada Humanities Nevada Art

Her landscapes are part of a new group show at the California Trail Interpretive Center

01/31/2023

Fun addition to the National Cowboy Poetry line-up at Mybrary. The kiddos will love this!

with- Western Folklife Center Travel Nevada Nevada's Cowboy Country Nevada Humanities Nevada Arts Council

01/25/2023

Loving the addition of an outdoor, regulation size, ice rink at the Igloo! Outdoor ice skating is now part of our culture, all winter (not just when it's 10 degrees and the river is frozen) 🤣🥶 A lot of time and hard work went into this. Thanks so much to everyone that made this happen!

Good job Igloo & Igloo Board!
with- Nevada Gold Mines Travel Nevada The City of Elko Elko Convention & Visitors Authority Nevada's Cowboy Country

01/24/2023

What is your favorite part of Cowboy Poetry? What's your favorite memory of Poetries past? Let us know in the comments!?!

with- Western Folklife Center Elko Convention & Visitors Authority Travel Nevada Nevada's Cowboy Country Elko Area Chamber

01/22/2023

Fun stuff happening down south, where the snow doesn’t stop outside art projects! Good job Vegas!

01/18/2023

The Western Folklife Center is still looking for volunteers for this years Gathering. Here's your chance to give back to the community and get a Deluxe Pass too!

Why are Steve and Cheri Hill smiling? Because between the two of them they have volunteered for the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering for 50+ years combined! Volunteers earn a Deluxe Pass valued at $80!

Be like Steve and Cheri. Become a volunteer here: https://westernfolklifecenter.volunteerlocal.com/volunteer/?id=68826
Or call 775-738-7508 extension 236

Elko DBA Elko Area Chamber Elko Daily Free Press City of Elko Parks and Recreation Northeastern Nevada Museum Cowboy Arts and Gear Museum California Trail Interpretive Center Elko Convention & Visitors Authority Elko's People Reporting News

01/16/2023

Remembering Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

01/13/2023

The Elko Mybrary is closed until February 6. They are making exciting new construction upgrades. If you need them, contact by phone, social, or go check out the book mobile. By the way... have you seen the book mobile lately?!? It's already had an upgrade, so fun!

01/12/2023

RIP Dirt
Gone but not forgotten.

It is with a very heavy heart that we report Dirt, our Boss Shop Cat, passed away yesterday. He was 15 years old, and beloved by everyone here at the railroad and around the world.

Here’s Dirt’s story. In the spring of 2008, a little kitten of orange and white fur was found in the engine house by himself. The mother and any other kittens were long gone. The crew at the time would sit for hours each day with cans of tuna and soft cat food, to get the little fur ball to trust them.

When he finally came around to trusting them, Al, the railroad’s Master Mechanic, took him to the vet for a checkup, shots, and eventually he was neutered. It was live and let live. The shop guys did their thing, and the little kitten did his thing. The warmest place in the shop is in the cab of a coal-fired steam locomotive. There is coal dust everywhere. Over time, our little ball of fur started picking up some of the black coal dust, and he was named Dirtbag. As our visitors started discovering the shop’s cat, it was decided to shorten his name to Dirt.

The engine house and machine shop are very dirty, noisy environments. In addition to the locomotives and railroad cars being moved in and out. Repair work goes on all the time. Dirt got very wise, very fast, quickly figuring out where not to be when locomotives and cars were moving, or work was being performed.

He grew into a large rough-and-tough tom cat that ruled the shop and surrounding neighborhood. We saw him playing fetch with gophers and bats. Don't ask us how he got them, he just did. He hated being cleaned up, but loved being a railroader. It was not uncommon to find him rolling around in the dust outside the shop.

The shop knew he was special, and did what they could to protect him. When Angie, our superintendent, went to work in the mechanical department she became one of his caretakers. She became his nemesis, since she took him for his vet visits. She cleaned him as much as she could, which Dirt did NOT like at all. To make amends, she would sneak him turkey dinners on the holidays.

Mike Calchera, our grizzled track guy, got to scratch Dirt’s ears and would make sure he had clean warm beds, it was Al who was his favorite. Al was our master mechanic at the time, had a soft spot for Dirt. Dirt could do no wrong and was given the run of the shop and the engine house.

The arrangement of Dirt doing his thing, while the shop guys did theirs, would have stayed that way, had it not been for the keen eye of photographer extraordinaire, Steve Crise. It was during the 2018 winter photo shoot; Steve was walking through the machine shop. He happened to notice Dirt, sitting regally, in front of locomotive 40. He laid down on the machine shop floor with his camera, and grabbed the shot with Dirt posing the whole time.
It was a great photo, but there are thousands of great photos out there. What Dirt needed was a publicist, enter Eric Mencis, who was our Guest Services Manager at the time. Eric posted Steve’s photo on our page and the rest, they say, is history!

Who knew that a semi-feral cat, living at a National Historic Landmark Railroad, in the middle of the “Big Empty” of Nevada, would become so famous? We sure didn’t, but boy howdy did Dirt become famous! Google “Dirt the Nevada Northern Cat,” and stories, videos and articles pop up. Dirt has been featured in the Washington Post, Trains Magazine, and newspapers in Europe, not to mention the thousands of individual posts of our visitors that got to take his picture.

All this publicity brought people to Ely to see him, many traveling hundreds, if not thousands of miles. This stunned the staff and volunteers. After all, Dirt was just Dirt, right? Nope! Dirt was a media and social media sensation, and Dirt knew it!

As part of the experience at the Nevada Northern Railway, we offer scheduled guided tours of the machine shop and engine house. Dirt knew the schedule. He would hide away all morning long, but let the 2:30 pm tour come into the machine shop, and Dirt was there to greet them. When the tour was over, Dirt would wander off to one of his many hidey-holes until the next tour.

Dirt has fans that love him from all over the world. But we few at the Nevada Northern Railway Museum are the lucky ones. We got to love him in person. As he aged, we found a vet that loved him as much as we did. Dirt also received more care takers including Jasmine, who would be his last. He never missed a meal, or a head scratch. As he aged and slowed down, he learned to love watching shows on our phones while he was sitting in our laps. After the show, he would leave streaks of dirt on the pants of his visitors, or drool on their boots.

Dirt was one-of-kind. He was the Boss Shop Cat at the Nevada Northern Railway. Con, our Trainmaster, selected a spot on the grounds in between the Depot, and the Freight Depot in the shade of a pine to serve as his final resting place. His burial site is opposite where all our excursion trains’ locomotives sit prior to departure, and it gives a view of the yard, that in addition to the shop, was Dirt’s domain.

But be forewarned, if you’re visiting the Nevada Northern Railway Museum and you’re admiring one of our steam locomotives just prior to departure, don’t be surprised, if, out of the corner of your eye, you see a lanky old guy, holding an orange and gray cat, looking over the locomotive. The old guy will be cursing a blue streak at the crew, while the cat just looks on knowingly. If you turn to confront them, they will have disappeared. But don’t fret, that was just Al and Dirt checking out the locomotive, making sure that everything is running smoothly. After all, they don’t call us the Ghost Train of Old Ely for nothing.

We are all saddened with the passing of Dirt. He will be missed. The machine shop and engine house won’t feel the same without him. His last days were spent with the crew that loved him best. Gathering around, our crew laid him to rest while a Nevada snowstorm blew through. They shared their memories and thanked him for his service. Knowing that they were laying to rest one of their own, a part of the Nevada Northern Railway family. They will all tell you, this was one of the hardest things they have done here.

To commemorate Dirt, we will be having two life size bronzes cast of Dirt. One will serve as his gravestone, the other will be placed in the machine shop, so Dirt can continue watching over the shop. As details become available on the bronzes, we’ll keep you posted.

And don’t forget, Dirt was teaching his protégé DJ, Dirt Junior, the ins and outs of being the Boss Shop Cat. We knew this day was coming, DJ now has big paws to fill.

We will be posting stories on Dirt, and his time at the railroad in the coming days and weeks. Please feel free to post your stories in the comments for all to read.

Sincerely,
The Nevada Northern Railway Crew

Mark, Joan, Angie, Charish, John Henry, Lennox, Josh, Nick, Carlos, Mike Hughes, Con, Mike Hejny, Kurt, Gary, Ron, Bill, Kelvin, Kemper, Ellie, Jasmine, Kat, Jim, Roger, Will, Brian, Zech, Derek, and Michael Green.

01/11/2023

Here's another great event, this one for the kiddos during Cowboy Poetry! Love this!!

with- The Star Hotel Western Folklife Center Elko Convention & Visitors Authority Elko Area Chamber Travel Nevada Nevada Arts Council Nevada Humanities

01/10/2023

Of all the events happening in Elko during Cowboy Poetry, the actual poetry and performance art is, without a doubt, the star of the show! And TICKETS ARE STILL AVAILABLE!

with- Western Folklife Center Elko Convention & Visitors Authority Travel Nevada Nevada Arts Council The City of Elko Elko Area Chamber Nevada Humanities Nevada's Cowboy Country Double Scoop

01/10/2023

Another 'don't miss' during Cowboy Poetry. Award winning plein air artist Phyllis Shafer will be exhibiting during Art of the West at the Northeastern Nevada Museum. There will be a reception on Wednesday, February 1st, at 5:00. Phyllis paints in the environment, depicting very unique interpretations of the Sierra Nevada and the Great Basin.

photo: oil on canvas 'Above the Carson' 30"x26" 2013

with- Western Folklife Center Elko Convention & Visitors Authority Nevada Arts Council Travel Nevada Nevada's Cowboy Country

01/07/2023

Construction workers and an unknown photographer, in Chicago, recreated a classic photo from the 1930s. American grit and ingenuity hasn’t changed but we’re glad to see steel toes and hard hats today. Fantastic!

Have a great weekend!

01/06/2023

Here's another great event you should put on your schedule during the 38th National Cowboy Poetry Gathering!

with- Western Folklife Center Elko Convention & Visitors Authority Nevada's Cowboy Country Elko County Fair Elko County Fairgrounds Caretaker Travel Nevada Nevada Arts Council