Interested parties are invited to attend this month’s Healthy Communities Coalition (HCC) of Lyon and Storey public meeting, which addresses three topics including: pro-and-con presentations on State Question 3 (known as the Education Initiative or the Margins Tax); a discussion of arts and culture as powerful engines driving economic growth in Nevada; and presentations by youth who participated in Comstock Youth Works summer job and leadership training in Storey and Lyon communities.
Tray Abney, Director of Government Affairs at the Chamber of Reno, Sparks and Northern Nevada is speaking on behalf of the “Coalition to Defeat the Margin Tax Initiative.” Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada volunteer Doug Smithson is speaking in favor of State Question 3.
Stephen Reid of Dayton will introduce the exhibition by elaborating on why artists and the arts are vital forces in society and essential parts of thriving communities.
Reid has a master’s degree in sculpture from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, but his art spans the disciplines of ink and watercolor painting, sculpture, installation and printmaking.
Reid’s work has been shown locally, nationally and in Japan in juried exhibitions, and some of his work is at the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical College as well as in private collections. He has taught film and sculpture at the University of Massachusetts, Keene State College and at the Virginia Commonwealth University.
The August HCC meeting includes presentations by youth who participated in Comstock Youth Works summer job and leadership training in Storey and Lyon communities.
Each year about 50 teens from the Storey and Lyon regions participate in Comstock Youth Works, a program that includes paid summer job internships, career exploration field trips, job skills training and coaching in academic success. This program is sponsored through Community Chest Inc, and staff from Healthy Communities, Central Lyon Youth Connections and Community Chest implement the program. It is funded through NevadaWorks.
In addition, the August meeting will include a “pop-up” exhibit showcasing the art, photography, writing and fine crafts by Coalition volunteers, partners, staff and board.
The pop-up show also serves as a way to introduce the upcoming Fall release of a new Nevada Arts Council and NEA funded “Cultural Resource Inventory” of the Comstock region.
The meeting takes place on Thursday, August 14, 9 a.m., at the Dayton Community Center at 170 Pike Street, in Dayton.
For more information, contact HCC at 775-246-7550.
HCC is a private nonprofit composed of hundreds of dedicated community volunteers and dozens of group partners working together to strengthen communities and share resources. The Coalition convenes for public meetings on the second Thursday of each month at 9am in various locations in Lyon, Storey and Mineral communities. Working together to achieve common goals, representatives from local, state, federal and tribal agencies join community volunteers to carry out strategies that increase access to good nutrition, health care, job training, wellness education and arts in public spaces.
