Tuscarora artist creates artwork for Nevada Arts Council 50th Anniversary Celebration
CARSON CITY, Nevada (March 7, 2017) – Honorees at the Nevada Arts Council’s 50th Anniversary Celebration will each be presented a painting by acclaimed Elko County artist Sidne Teske.
Thursday’s sold-out awards ceremony will honor the Office of the Governor, the Nevada State Senate and the Nevada State Assembly, which established the Nevada Arts Council in 1967. The event, which his being held at the Nevada Museum of Art in Reno, will feature performances by Nevada artists and presentations by leaders of the National Endowment for the Arts and Americans for the Arts.
Primarily working with soft pastels, Teske paints on location (en plein aire), depicting landscape with vibrant energy. When weather makes it too difficult to explore the outdoors, Teske turns to her studio easel to create large expressive works that feature the human figure. Although she has taken some workshops over the span of her career, Teske is largely self-taught.
“To have been selected from amongst the many fine artists of the state of Nevada to create awards that recognize the invaluable support for the Arts and Arts funding at the 50th anniversary of the Nevada Arts Council by the Governor, the Senate and the (Assembly) is a great honor,” Teske said.
Teske has received many awards and honors in her career, including a commission by Nevada Humanities to make 11 paintings for their Arts Awards in 2015. In 2014, she was awarded a mentorship by the Nevada Chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators to study under Caldecott Award-winning illustrator David Diaz.
She was chosen by the Smithsonian Institution to represent the State of Nevada at the Folklife Festival on the Mall in June/July 2005 where she made art on location. NAC commissioned her to make the Governor’s Arts awards that were presented in 2004.
A poster she designed for the Bureau of Land Management and Nevada Rock Art Association depicting Nevada petroglyphs won first place at the National Competition of the Society of American Archaeologists in 2003.
The Nevada Arts Council, a division of the Department of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, was founded in 1967 as the state agency charged with ensuring that state and national funds support cultural activity and encourage participation in the arts throughout Nevada. The agency’s programs and services are designed to support creative expression, animate communities, diversify local economies and provide lifelong learning in the arts for all Nevadans. The Nevada Arts Council is funded by the State of Nevada, the National Endowment for the Arts, and other public and private sources.