Reno is proud of its commitment to public art, including the many beautiful murals on buildings, mainly in gentrifying parts of town.
If you cross the street from the Riverwalk and look down at your feet you can often find more public art in a series of lively little images, often with bugs and cheerful flowers as the subject.
Using the medium of chalk, artist and life coach Beth Hefley makes vignettes in a style she calls “woodland fairy”. For the last four years every two weeks she sets out to decorate the sidewalk along the river.
She grew up in Florida, where she and her brothers discovered their artistic talents. One brother chose realism photography, another is now a Reno tattoo artist and Beth felt drawn to chalks. After leaving school she wanted a change and moved to Reno, which now feels like home.
Beth’s art is for the public in a very free and open way. “I really just want to make people happy and smile,’’ she says, looking up from a nearly finished little red mushroom. "There's so much pain in the world. If I can create something to make someone happy, why not?”
After living in Reno through many changes for the city socially and economically she says: “I have to adapt to them, right?”
Beth picks another color to add. “I try to go to heavily trafficked areas so I can get as many smiles as possible,” she says.