Artwork planned for former Adele’s site in Carson City

Work by the artist of Reno’s Believe sculpture is planned for the former Cafe at Adele’s site.

The Cultural Commission on Tuesday approved a plan for the art installation presented by Frank Lepori Construction Inc., the contractor for the Jacksons Food Stores and gas station expansion into that now vacant property.

“I put him touch with an artist named Jeff Schomberg,” said Mark Salinas, director, Carson City Department of Arts & Culture. “I think we all concur in helping businesses and the economy reboot we need a wow factor.”

The sculpture will be an outline of the state of Nevada with an aluminum brush finish and will stand 7 feet tall and 4 feet wide with edges 10 inches deep and 6 inches wide. It will be installed on a small sitting wall at the corner of Carson and John streets.

The sculpture will also have cutouts throughout and be illuminated by LED lights.

The commission asked if one of the cutouts could be a star, for the state capital, and illuminated with a colored light. Dominic Gonzales, design project manager, Lepori, said he would speak to the artist about the possibility of adding that.

The art will be owned and maintained by Jacksons and was one of the conditions of approval for a special use permit for the site expansion.

Salinas said the sculpture will be on the Nevada Day parade route and he expects it to become a photo opportunity for visitors as well as for marketing materials for city tourism.

Some of Schomberg’s other work includes a Home sculpture, with the O designed as the state of Nevada, commissioned by the Reno Aces baseball team, and a Love sculpture recently installed at Renown Health in Reno.

Also at the meeting Salinas presented a draft public art policy that will go to various other departments and to the District Attorney’s office before final approval.

The policy outlines guidelines for acquisition, placement, maintenance and other details for public art.

The city currently owns about $67,000 in public art, including the “Inside the Mind of da Vinci” sculpture by Carson City artist Mischell Riley installed at the corner of Roop and William streets.