Capital City Arts Initiative [CCAI]
Carson City, Nevada


===

Capital City Arts Initiative
PRESS RELEASE

August 1, 2004

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Jeanne Jo and Diana Snyder in CCAI UNR BFA Awards Exhibition at Carson City Courthouse

Capital City Art Initiative’s 2004-2005 season launches with its first UNR BFA Awards Exhibition. The exhibition honors graduates of the University of Reno Art Department’s Bachelor of Fine Arts program. Juror Allen Spore, faculty at the San Francisco Art Institute, selected Jeanne Jo and Diana Snyder from an impressive pool of recent graduates.

The exhibition opens with an artists’ reception on Thursday, August 26 at the Carson City Courthouse Gallery from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. A highlight of the opening will be DJ Jen Graham, also a UNR Art Department Graduate. Ms. Graham, part of the two woman DJ team "The Moustraps" will be spinining an ecletic range of tunes from Frank Sinatra to the Spice Girls. Admission is free and the public is cordially invited. The Courthouse is located at 885 East Musser Street in Carson City.

The artists will present new installation work created specifically for the Courthouse gallery space. Both use unconventional materials traditionally associated with the domestic arts. Ms. Snyder uses melted hard candy as a sculpture material to create exquisite floral wall arrangements. Ms. Jo uses wool yarn and crocheting techniques to produce intriguing, patterned, figurative work.

Jeanne Jo was born in Stoneham, Massachusetts. She is currently an instructor at the E.L. Cord Museum School at the Nevada Museum of Art. Her work has been exhibited in Reno at the Nevada Museum of Art and Charterhouse Gallery. While at UNR, she was the recipient of the 2004 Sheppard Gallery Permanent Collection Purchase Prize.

Diana Snyder was born and raised in Reno. Her work has been shown at UNR’s Front Door and Sheppard Galleries, and at Sierra Arts. She was the recipient of a UNR Best In Show award in the 2002 Student Art Exhibition and a Juror’s Award in 2003.

In conjunction with the exhibition, UNR English Department student Ray Hardin will contribute an essay exploring the work of these two promising young northern Nevada artists.

The Capital City Arts Initiative is an artist-centered organization committed to the encouragement and support of artists and the arts and culture of Carson City and the surrounding region through community building and public programs. Its activities include contemporary art exhibitions, live events and arts education programs for the area’s diverse adult and youth populations.

Capital City Arts Initiative and its programs are funded in part by the Carson City Redevelopment Authority; the Nevada Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts; the James W. Calhoun Foundation; Carson High School; Carson City Library; Nevada Hispanic Services-Carson City; University of Nevada Reno Art Department; and by the CCAI Board of Directors, and BrAG, its 'Brilliant Advisory Group'. CCAI extends special thanks to Joe McCarthy, Carson City Public Safety Complex/Carson City Courthouse, Comma Coffee, Capital City Entertainment, Millard Realty and Construction.

For additional information visit CCAI’s website at http://www.arts-initiative.org.

########### 33 ###########

===

caption: Jeanne Jo “Leashes,” from UNR McNamara Gallery Exhibition "Increment" 800 crocheted cats and thread, 2 walls-each 8’ x 17’, 2003
caption: Jeanne Jo “Leashes,” from UNR McNamara Gallery Exhibition "Increment" 800 crocheted cats and thread, 2 walls-each 8’ x 17’, [detail] 2003

. . .

caption: Diana Snyder "Yellow Flower" [dimensions of detail: "6" x 6" x 10"] 2004, mixed media with melted hard candy
caption: Diana Snyder "Garden" [dimensions of detail: "5' x10' x 10" - approximate] 2004, mixed media with melted hard candy