Chalk the Walk

On Sat, June 16, 2007 I participated in a calk mural project called Calk the Walk. This Artown event was sponsored by the Reno Rodeo, and this year’s theme was “Wild West Nevada".
I along with other local and out of state artist and art organizations like YAW and the NMA created western themed chalk drawings in the Reno City Plaza.

I won best of show with my chalk mural.

RGJ Artical about the event below:

Chalk the Walk

Brilliant and unique pastel colors splashed the City Plaza in downtown Reno on Saturday morning for Reno's first Chalk the Walk, featuring dozens of colorful murals celebrating the Wild West.

Erika Cole O'Malley, director of Reno Chalk the Walk, moved to Reno six months ago from her hometown of San Antonio, Texas, where they often hold mural festivals.

"Mural Festivals are everywhere in the country, so it was time Reno had one for the rodeo and Artown." O'Malley said. "The event was planned three months ago, which was not nearly enough time, but we did pretty well."

The Reno Chalk the Walk partnered with the Rodeo Community Spirit Committee.

"I couldn't do this without (Reno Rodeo Association Chairperson) Jari Sutton, who gave us half of our budget," O'Malley said. "The other half was given by Councilman David Aiazzi, who is also taking part with the Tour De Nez bicycle race."

The organization also supports Artown.

"It's a great way to show people they have a beautiful downtown."

O'Malley had been at the downtown plaza since 6 a.m. Friday, only leaving for sleep. To create the project, she set out calls for three professional artists for commission and local professional or amateur artists who also wanted to volunteer.

She invited local schools and local programs, like Big Brothers and Big Sisters, for volunteers to create the murals.
The theme was Wild West of Nevada.

The three professional artists were Ray Valdez, Larissa Sokolova and Genna Panzarella, who won the top award at the world's oldest street painting festival in Grazie, Italy. Her piece in Reno is of a young cowboy.

Valdez, a local artist and fine arts teacher at Coral

Academy of Science Charter School, created a nature composition featuring an American Indian and a horse.

"I wanted to take a different perspective on what I know best," Valdez said. "I feel fortunate and honored to be part of this, and it's nice to see the city include art with the rodeo."

Valdez also works with Youth Artworks, an eight-year program that teaches art for young people. Many in the program also took part.

"The Youth Artworks program is solid, we always get a good group of kids." Valdez said.

Larissa Sokolova has been in Reno for eight years after leaving Russia. She received her master's degree in arts and architecture in her home country and has been creating art all her life.

Her mural was entitled, "A High Noon Duel between the Old West and the New West," depicting cowboys on horses of the Old West and the kayakers and bicyclists of today.

Her husband Greg Kusik, a Citifare bus driver who's been in Reno for 15 years, gave her the idea.

"He gave me the idea of the old and new West combination," Sokolova said. "So the piece is a family project."

Rossitza Todorova, a professional artist who volunteered for Chalk the Walk, was working on her piece featuring an action scene of a cowboy chasing a calf.

Originally from Bulgaria, Todorova is received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Nevada, Reno, in 2005.

"To me, the rodeo is so romanticized to represent America," Todorova said.

Chalk the Walk was partnered with other events of the day including the Wine Walk, the Reno Rodeo and rodeo parade.

"We wanted this day to have so many different events so people could be here all day doing something." O'Malley said.

Todorova plans to spend the rest of her weekend in downtown Reno.

"With Artown, the rodeo, and the Tour de Nez, this has created a great melting pot of the West."See Ray Valdez's

Patagonia Warehouse Gallery

During August 2007 I was lucky enough to turn Patagonia’s Warehouse in Verdi, Nevada into a permanent gallery for some of my large paintings.
With the help and support of Patagonia and the Abeloe family I was allowed to hang six large scale paintings 20 feel above the warehouse floor.
It took two forklifts and 4 amazing members of the Patagonia staff but the artwork went up in one day.

Thank you Patagonia, Ryan and Mr. Abeloe!

Artist Statement

Rossitza Todorova depicts the ever-changing landscapes of Northern Nevada in her abstract, black and white drawings. In her artwork she morphs natural and architectural lines to create vast, overlapping landscapes.

“For the last sixteen years I have seen the Reno/Carson Valley change, pushing further into the surrounding hills and valleys. Roads, highways and homes stretch out into the dessert transforming our natural landscape. At the same time structures and paths that man once dug and build are overtaken by the snow, sun, and desert, leaving man and nature in a symbiotic relationship of creating and reclaiming,” says Rossitza Todorova. “I am fascinated by man’s drive to change and adapt his surroundings. I find man’s desire to take charge of his own life visually inspiring. I try to capture man’s momentum in my drawings. My lines of ink are an abstract representation of how man uses his tools to re-define his world but also represent his desire for movement and travel. In my drawings I try to capture the motion of man in one landscape; the road and the body that created it.”

Ms. Todorova’s works have been exhibited throughout the Reno area; including recent solo shows at the Nevada Museum of Art and the Sierra Arts Foundation. In 2005, she earned her B.F.A in Painting/Drawing with minors in Business Marketing and Management from the University of Nevada, Reno. Presently, she works at the Nevada Arts Council as the Nevada Touring Initiative Assistant.