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Engage
Written by Don Cox
Photos by Alicia Santistevan
Meet residents of the Riverside Artist Lofts
If Zoltan Janvary spills paint on the concrete floor of his fifth-story
apartment in downtown Reno’s Riverside Artist Lofts, the landlord
doesn’t get mad. “That’s important for artists,” says
Janvary, a painter and printmaker. “We are not always the cleanest.”
The lofts are made to be a little messy. Painters such as Janvary live
there. So do a variety of other artists, such as sculptor Craig Smyres.
“It’s great having so many different art forms in a single building,”
Smyres says. “Everybody is doing something a little different.”
There’s even a dancer, Martina Young, the first tenant, who moved
into the former hotel casino on Oct. 20, 2000. “It gave a sense of
place for arts in Reno,” Young says. “It focuses and fertilizes
it. It gavea sense that it’s active.” The Riverside is in its
sixth year as a successful redevelopment project and important part of
the growing downtown arts district. It saved an old piece of Reno and
helped push the city in a new direction. “It’s been a fundamental
part of thedevelopment of the downtown in general,” Smyres says.
“With the arts kind of centering in downtown, it’s played a
role that way.”
Landmark project
The lofts opened in October 2000 in the former Riverside Hotel, a stately
gem built in 1927. The building underwent a $10 million rehabilitation
to save it from demolition, the fate suffered by another downtown architectural
treasure, the nearby Mapes Hotel, which was destroyed in January 2000,
despite years of proponents’ efforts to save it. “The word ‘grimy’
comes to mind,” says Jill Berryman, executive director of Sierra
Arts, describing conditions in the Riverside’s neighborhood before
work began on the red brick building’s restoration. When the Riverside
finally was ready for Smyres, Young, and Janvary to move in, a vibrant
arts community near the Truckee River with galleries, coffeehouses, restaurants,
and people living downtown in upscale condominiums was an idea. The reality
was vacant lots and abandoned buildings. “It was pretty derelict,”
says Smyres, who grew up in Sparks and taught adult special education
for 10 years before switching to art full-time. “I think there was
one bar. There wasn’t much (near) the river in general.”
Preserving history
The Riverside was a start. But the building, which closed in 1986, was
headed the way of the Mapes, with demolition permits prepared, until administrators
at Sierra Arts, which funds and promotes art in Northern Nevada, decided
the Gothic-revival style structure was worth saving. “There was an
opportunity to do something different without destroying the building,”
says Berryman, who swam in the Riverside pool as a child. “It was
a way to restore the building and a way to start the creative momentum
downtown.” Sierra Arts bought the Riverside from the city’s
redevelopment agency for $350,000 and arranged financing for rehabilitation.
Berryman helped convince Artspace Projects, Inc., a Minneapolis-based
nonprofit company that renovates endangered urban buildings, to invest
in the Riverside.
The project qualified for tax credits and public financing as historic
preservation and affordable housing.
Promoting the arts
Small hotel rooms were transformed into 35 apartments big enough for
artists and the elements they need for their work, such as the 18-by-22-foot
bamboo dance floor Young had installed on top of the concrete in the living
room of her 1,200-square-foot loft. “I had wonderful carpenters,”
says Young, who practices daily and performs internationally. The Riverside’s
concrete floors are a foot thick, so Young doesn’t disturb her neighbors.
While some historical aspects of the building remain, a lot was modernized
for tenants. “The floors are original,” says Berryman, whose
office, along with the rest of Sierra Arts, is located on the Riverside’s
ground floor. “All the plumbing, all the electrical, all the interior
walls, all of that (was built) brand new.” It’s the original
concrete that Janvary, a native of Hungary who teaches art at the University
of Nevada, Reno, occasionally drips paint on. “It’s much more
comfortable if I spill paint or sprinkle here or there,” says Janvary,
who lives in a 900-square-foot loft.
Even more than the concrete, Janvary likes his view, one of Northern Nevada’s
best, from his living room picture window. Below is the Truckee River
flowing through downtown Reno.
Beyond is the whole valley. “(I can see) all the way out to Sparks,”
Janvary says.
Downtown renewal
In the neighborhood surrounding the Riverside, the landscape has changed
from “grimy” to a combination of shops, restaurants, and construction
cranes. Luxury condos are being built along the river. Redevelopment is
taking place.
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Home is where the art is Zoltan Janvary, an artist and teacher,
poses
in his Riverside Artist Lofts apartment. Below, a piece by Craig Smyres.
Creating art Craig Smyres works on a sculpture in his loft.
Free movement Martina Young practices her art daily and performs
internationally.
Dance space Martina Young practices on her
bamboo dance floor.
Construction zone Zoltan Janvary lives in one of the 39 apartments
in the Artist Lofts.
Precious pieces Craig Smyers poses amidst
some of his creations.
Restoration aide Jill Berryman, executive
director of Sierra Arts, helped convert the
Riverside Hotel into the Artist Lofts.
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