By VERNON ROBISON
Moapa Valley Progress
Moapa Valley residents were met with an embarrassment of artistic riches in three presentations made by competing artists at the Moapa Valley Town Advisory Board (MVTAB) meeting held Wednesday, March 15. Each artist was vying for the opportunity to bring his/her unique conception to full realization on the west wall of the Overton Community Center.
The three contestants comprised the top finalists in a county wide art competition, explained Clark County cultural program supervisor Patrick Gaffey. The county released a Request for Qualifications for the project back in September.
“We had a large number of applicants for the project,” Gaffey told the audience at Wednesday’s meeting. “Our jury selected three finalists who were sent to come up with some detailed proposals.”
The three finalists included local artists Joan Day and Heidi Leavitt, as well as Las Vegas artist Gig Depio. Each had been paid $1,000 to create a full design proposal, including a miniature model of the mural, which would be presented to the jury and the community for consideration.
At the meeting each artist had 20 minutes to present his/her conception. After that the audience was given five minutes to ask questions.
Gaffey explained that the winner would receive a total budget of $27,000 to complete the project, which comprised of a mural 12 ft high and 36 ft wide to cover the entire west wall of the meeting room.
The goal for the project was to select an original art piece that would capture the unique cultural aspects of the Moapa Valley community, Gaffey explained.
The first to present was Joan Day. Her presentation depicted a vast landscape taking in all of the Moapa Valley from Warm Springs to Valley of Fire.
“I was impressed by this narrow strip of green along the river vs. the vast expanse of desert all around it,” Day said. “It shows just how difficult this environment must have been for the first settlers here.”
Day said that she had surveyed many local people as they frequented downtown businesses, to learn what they would most like to see in the mural. The elements that people most often mentioned included Valley of Fire; area wildlife; the valley’s unique history, including puebloan, Paiute, farming and ranching traditions; and outdoor recreation.
Day said that her plan was to apply paint directly to the surface of the wall so it would be a permanent fixture of the building.
Gig Depio was next to present his work. He talked about his ongoing work as an advocate for public art. He showed examples of a number of large murals that he had created for various public places and exhibits.
Depio explained that he would be painting on large panels in an oil medium. That way the mural would last longer and could be relocated if ever the community center should change locations.
Depio’s proposal was a vast collage of beautifully depicted historical detail.
“Early on in my research, someone told me about the book of Beazy,” Depio said, referring to volume 1 of the local history book entitled Muddy Valley Reflections by Beezy Tobiasson. “I got a copy of it and I read it three times until I started to form a cultural narrative in my head.”
Depio said that he drew from images and stories from the book for his painting. The work included images of early Mormon pioneers crossing the perilous Virgin River waters to arrive in the Muddy. It also paid tribute to both early Puebloan and Paiute history. The mural depicted the construction of the Lost City Museum. It also depicted many iconic and historic buildings including the St. Thomas School, Gentry Hotel, the Arrowhead Store and others.
The final presentation was given by Heidi Leavitt. Leavitt pointed out that she was born and raised in the community and that she had been studying and creating art for most of her life.
She said that she was inspired by the motto currently appearing on the community center wall which professes to value a rural lifestyle. Her proposal was her interpretation of what a rural quality of life truly means, she said.
Leavitt said that she had begun by sketching some of the old buildings that had made up early Moapa Valley. But she soon realized that, while they had a certain beauty, there was something missing.
“It just looked kind of empty, like there was no soul in it,” Leavitt saids. “Then I started to realize that the heart and soul of this community is the people.”
She began pouring through local histories looking for the stories of people. She found many interesting stories about individuals and families whose experiences exemplified important community values like Determination, Service, Work Ethic, Perseverence and more. Including depictions of these stories in her mural began to give the work the soul that she had been missing, Leavitt said.
Leavitt said that she also planned to paint on panels that could be removed. The painting would also be waterproof because she had observed some moisture and dampness in the old building while preparing her proposal.
Her installation also included a rustic wood trim, and an incorporation of the existing architectural features of the wall, such as doors and other features, into the mural’s design.
After all presentations were complete, the audience left the hall and the jury remained behind to deliberate on who the finalist would be.
Gaffey explained that the finalist would not be announced that night, but instead would be recognized at a later time. The winning artist will have roughly to the end of the year to complete his/her work in the community center.
Photos of all three artist conceptions may be viewed on the Progress website at www.mvprogress.com.
