It may be hard to remember, but there once was a time when locals didn’t go downtown. In 1996, the Culture in the Year 2000 Reno Arts Commission (“C.I.T.Y. 2000”) went looking for a way to draw Reno locals back downtown. Their idea was an event called “Uptown Downtown ARTown.”

“They went to all the arts organizations and said, we have this three-week chunk of time in July, can you come down to the park and present something? All they had was a poster, and 30,000 people came,” remembers Beth Macmillan, executive director the event now simply called Artown.

But there still were plenty of doubters. Bill Kolton, executive director of Sierra Arts, was one of them.

“I was hesitant to take my family to Artown activities for the first couple years,” he says. “But after being around it for eight years now, I think it’s dramatically affected not only the arts community, but the community as a whole.”

Last year, this little arts festival drew more than 140,000 people. Now on its 10th birthday, Artown has much more to celebrate than the crowd.

NATIONAL EXPOSURE

At first, Artown primarily consisted of local artists. But as the years passed, Reno began hosting several national and international acts as well, including Mikhail Baryshnikov, Marcel Marceau, and the San Francisco Ballet. The 10th anniversary of Artown will welcome the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, the Chieftains, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Nâ Lei Hulu dance company, the East Village Opera Company, and the Pilobolus dance company, among others. Though, the big names are only a small part of Artown’s attractiveness.

“Artown creates a critical mass, because it keeps arts top of mind for people during that month. It’s been a wonderful event for us,” says Bill Kolton. He says Sierra Arts’ biggest crowds happen during Artown, and that’s led to increased business year round, not just for Sierra Arts, but for all arts organizations.

Pamela Bobay, partner in the River Gallery and Gallery Cui-ui, agrees.

“Sometimes that voice of everyone together is louder than just one voice, so that month has helped everybody’s exposure,” says Nevada Museum of Art’s Deputy Director Amy Oppio. “That exposure helps the community feel proud of its art.”

Oppio was involved in the development of Artown from the beginning in 1996, and in her 13 years with NMA, she’s seen its tremendous growth, in great part due to Artown.

“I think one of the most important things we can say about Artown as a whole, beyond the collaborative effort, is that it has helped the downtown river corridor reposition itself within the community’s mind as a place to spend an evening or go to an event ... it’s that community-building that’s been really rewarding,” Oppio says.

While NMA doesn’t plan its exhibits strictly around Artown, like many art galleries do, and, therefore, doesn’t measure foot traffic specifically during July, Oppio does credit Artown with an overall increased interest in the arts. She says 40 percent of NMA’s yearly 100,000 visitors are tourists.

“I do think people are looking at Reno differently, and recognizing that there’s a host of things here, between arts and culture and recreation, so that as we grow, that’s becoming more distinctive,” she says. “And it’s not the image that we had 13 years ago, so that’s great for all arts organizations, NMA included.”

Steven High, director and CEO of NMA, adds that while the museum’s physical attendance increases for July are hard to document, staff members have seen Artown direcly benefit the museum in a different way.

“Artown has gotten people to understand that the arts can actually make an economic impact and get tourists in hotel rooms. When the museum was looking to grow and trying to justify the need for new facilities and more of a presence in the community, we actually referred to Artown as an example of what the arts can really do for a community, and in turn, what the NMA could possibly bring.”

High points out that the arts and culture industry is unique, in that the organizations within it don’t compete.

“The more organizations you have, the more attendance all of them draw,” High said. “In that way, I think Artown’s been incredibly important for this community. It’s helped us all get better and better.”

PROMOTING LOCAL ARTISTS

Amanda Coulson, owner of Dancin’ Performing Arts Center and Artistic Director for the Reno Irish Dance Company, agrees. The Irish dance performances in Wingfield Park now regularly attract up to 1,500 people. Preparations and performances for Artown now consume most of the company’s time. Word has spread rapidly, and Artown has made her business grow beyond her wildest dreams.

“The ‘big guys’ come into town now, and they watch us,” Coulson says. “The business is now more demanding. But Artown is an incredible thing for the arts and culture here in Reno, and I think it’s one of the reasons people are moving here. They’re hearing about this great arts festival.”

For artists in particular, that’s sometimes the key to their success. Jonathan Dummar, a 21-year-old dancer from Winnemucca, has been with Ballet Memphis, under the direction of Dorothy Gunther-Pugh for two years. Last July, while home for a summer hiatus from the company, Dummar heard the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago was at Artown. He enrolled in their master class, and was asked to audition for the company in Chicago. He begins his contract with Joffrey this August.

“It was providence,” Dummar says. “I just so happened to be home that summer. It was the first time I’d participated in Artown, but it had a huge effect on my career.”

Dean Burton, a local photographer and research associate with the University of Nevada, Reno art department, has participated every year since 1999.

“I found some campus exhibit space a few years ago, in the Sheppard Gallery,” he says. “I created a business card and passed it around at the Nevada Museum of Art. That space is now a regular exhibit space. It wouldn’t have happened without Artown.”

ECONOMIC IMPACT

But what about the impact on the community at large? Java Jungle, perfectly situated beside the river, looks forward to July every year.

“Artown benefits us with a phenomenal amount of business,” says Jon Jaramillo, Java Jungle’s general manager. “There’s no rest that month. That goes for all Riverwalk merchants, across the board. We do about $10,000 a month better during July.” Java Jungle isn’t alone. The entire city of Reno benefits economically from Artown in a huge way. A study conducted by UNR reports an economic impact in 2004 of about $11 million in indirect revenue. The average Artown attendee spends about $70 on lodging, $59 on shopping, and $32 on restaurant dining. And 82 percent of Reno visitors during Artown have said they would recommend Northern Nevada as a cultural destination.

“Because the city made arts and culture a priority, they also made sure they supported all the other arts organizations,” Macmillan says. “The changes in our arts and culture facilities in the 10 years have been enormous. You’ve got the renovated McKinley Arts and Culture Center, the Riverside Lofts and Sierra Arts Gallery, the new Hawkins Amphitheater at Bartley Ranch, the Pioneer Plaza, the new museum, Stremmel Gallery’s been completely redone ... I think Artown’s been a major player in all of that.”

ARTS GROUPS UNITE

Plus, with funding for arts education slowly dwindling, the banding-together of Reno’s arts organizations helps stress the importance of the arts.

It seems Artown is getting a buzz in the arts community nationwide. When Marcel Marceau participated in Artown, his only stops that season were Paris, Reno, and Los Angeles; the Joffrey Ballet stopped in New York, Reno, and the Hollywood Bowl. Reno, a cultural mecca?

“Frankly, I was shocked when I made my first trip to Reno in 2001,” says Travis Fritsche, company manager for the Baryshnikov Company and Ballet Hispanico. “I had expected a backwards, dusty, almost sleazy community with nothing but casinos and strip clubs. How surprised I was to find that not only did Reno have a thriving arts community, but an exceptional one. I have never visited a place before where every member of the community seemed to embrace the arts.”

But as Bill Kolton points out, if you bring them, they will come, and “it damn well better be good. It’s a challenge for local arts groups and the Artown folks, to put their best foot forward. So it’s raised the bar for all of us. And I think I can say with a great deal of pride that all of our colleagues in the arts community have accepted the challenge and become better.”

What’s next? How do you top what’s already been done?

“People have been going on about the 10th anniversary,” says Macmillan, “but I see the 10th year as the beginning of where we’re going.”

For more information about Artown, visit renoisartown.com or call 322-1538.

Jessica Groach is a Reno-based freelance writer and an English instructor at the University of Nevada, Reno.