Teens check out Carson City’s art scene as part of entrepreneur class

Carson City’s art and culture director is looking to the youth for insight and suggestions into the community’s mural program.

“We have five murals in Carson City,” Mark Salinas explained during a tour of the murals Monday afternoon. “I want the sixth one to be unlike the rest. I want to know your opinion.”

Students enrolled in the New Entrepreneurial Network’s Summer Game of Life Series toured the murals as part of the six-week program to teach entrepreneurial skills.

“I think it’s pretty cool that Carson opens their art to the community,” said Reanna Hennessey, 12. “It’s cool that they let this happen to general walls. I think it adds culture to the community.”

Kevin Haws, a University of Nevada, Reno intern, runs the program as a partnership through the Adams Hub for Innovation and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Western Nevada.

“We’re teaching them that they have options, that their ideas are valid,” Haws said. “We’re helping them get in with local businesses and get connections with the community. We’re trying to create an entrepreneurial drive in the area.”

Monday’s tour was part of the section dedicated to how to be a consultant.

“I really like the idea of getting to look at all the murals,” said Josie Verive-Cain, 11. “It really gives more of a sense of community. I think it makes the town just really pop and be colorful. It helps to attract tourists and make the town better.”

Other sections included how to apply for college and how to start a business. Local business collaborated with the group to give real-world experience.

Andrew Benson, 15, and Clay VanZura, 16, are using the course in hopes of launching their own business, Cheesecake Bros.

“We tried it as a fundraiser to get enough money for a Six Flags trip,” Benson said. “People told Clay his cheesecake was so good he should make a business.”

VanZura said the program has given him practical tips.

“Last year, we talked a lot about saving money,” he said. “This year, we’ve focused more on making an actual business. It’s helped me tremendously.”

Salinas asked participants to draw visual similarities and differences among the murals and recommend something new that they would want to see.

“I think they should do something about the native plants,” Verive-Cain said. “So far, we have animals and people. Plants would be something that sticks to that theme.”