Tahoe, A Visual History may be gone, but memories to last a lifetime

Recently, I had the chance to visit the much-hyped Tahoe: A visual History at the Nevada Museum of Art. Located in the hip, CalAve District wedged between downtown and midtown Reno, the museum offers locals to the region a taste of world-class art collections. During events like Art Town (a marathon of a hundred-or-so art related events in Reno during the month of July), the museum offers innumerable pieces from local and global artists alike.

The newest exhibit focused on the better part of 200 years of artistic interpretations of the Tahoe landscape. Climbing up the second and third floor (the two floors which hold the exhibits as the first floor is for the gift shop and restaurant), I took in the hundreds of pieces of art work related to early explorers’ first renderings of the Lake.

This area allowed the patrons the opportunity to look upon journals, artifacts, and paintings of the land as it had been during Euro-Americans’ first entry into the Tahoe Basin. The portrayal of Tahoe life exemplified in the works immersed me with its detail and allowed me to visual life for the early loggers, explorers, and, eventually, vacationers.

From there, the latter exhibits traveled in time and showcased Lake Tahoe as an early Sierra gambling Mecca and hotspot for the early 20th century leisure class. Here, innumerable black and photographs allowed the visitor the opportunity to garner a visual insight into the way of life not-so-unlike the visitors of today.
Eventually, the exhibits grew into larger, more abstract representations of different issues or ideas pertaining to Lake Tahoe. From demonstrative displays detailing the watershed of the lake as it spills into the Great Basin (this related to the conservation of water during our immense drought) to the three-dimensional, eclectic displays detailing mankind’s material exertion unto the landscape with actual garbage found in the once pristine, untouched landscape, one can easily see he works’ message upon the often negative affects people have on the land.

Overall, these exhibits showcased a very detailed and colorful display of not only the land and natural resources themselves, but mankind’s relationship to it as well. It demonstratives the different viewpoints of the lake’s inhabitants in terms of how they saw the lake and it sources (i.e., whether they viewed the seemingly ceaseless timber as a means of economic prosperity like the 19th century loggers, or if they connected to Tahoe in a spiritual sense as the museum was fraught with Washoe basketry and artifacts as well).

This was a great experience for me as a native of Tahoe as it allowed to explore these different relationships with Lake Tahoe as they decorated the high, white walls of the museum in an eclectic and immersive showcase of historical and artistic displays.

- Chris Swinger is a 2005 graduate of South Tahoe High and 2011 graduate of University of Nevada, Reno.