“I just finished a 4x8 ft mural for the RTIA that’s been rejected by all involved,” artist Mallory Kate Mishler wrote to us today about the Biggest Little Housing Crisis Mural photographed here.
Mishler was hoping that after spending time painting the mural during a live artist event at the recently concluded Reno Tahoe International Art Show at the Reno Sparks Convention Center, and spending personal money on the materials, the art work would be displayed at the airport, or elsewhere with a partner organization with high visibility, as part of the deal. Instead, it was unceremoniously dropped off at Mishler's garage this week.
“This piece is about Reno’s housing crisis and more importantly, its invisible homeless population. Confrontation of Reno’s preferred image and the dialogue of what is ‘appropriate’ are also involved. The unhoused and overlooked, the ones who don’t make it into the tourist brochures but live under the arch’s shadow every day deserve much more and this is an opportunity,” she wrote.
In emails forwarded to us, Briana Dolan from the RTIA this week wrote to the artist: “I appreciate you sharing your thoughts on the experience. And while everyone respects and appreciates authenticity, we did have a specific prompt to work with in regards the display at the airport. I’ve been in communication with our contact there, Annie Turner, and as we were concerned about, the final artwork does not fit within the assigned parameters for this exhibition.”
According to the application text which was sent for the murals, it was indicated “Designs are at the discretion of the artist, with the placement at the airport in mind. If subject matter is deemed inappropriate, the mural will not be included in the airport display. Selected muralists will be featured in RTIA promotion and well [sic] as direct promotion by the elected charity before and during the event.”
In a follow up Instagram audio call, Mishler indicated print outs or sticker iterations displayed at local mutual aid events could be a possibility to make sure more people see versions of this important work.
In a press kit she included an expanded artist statement which indicated eloquently:
“I don’t make art for decoration.
I make it because survival, memory, and truth demand it. My work shifts across themes—cityscapes, archetypes, ghosts, neon, portraits—but the through-line is always the same: I refuse to look away from what others erase.
Sometimes that means painting the grit of Reno’s streets.
Sometimes it means diving into personal archetypes and myth.
Sometimes it means painting a free portrait of a friend so their loved ones can mourn their loss.
Other times it’s satire, humor, or intensity that cuts against polite culture.
My practice is about exposing the fractures in what’s called “normal” and insisting that art should provoke, connect, and demand presence. This mural is one expression of that larger practice: rooted in the same urgency, carried by the same refusal to smooth things over.”