Roadtrippers who prefer a taste of culture while driving down the open road will find Nevada to be the perfect location. While exploring the numerous public art installations scattered throughout the desert, visitors can stop, stretch their legs, and refuel their spirits.
The state’s “Free-range Art Highway,” which connects Las Vegas and Reno and the “Cowboy Corridor,” which runs from Reno to West Wendover, offers visitors a chance to see everything from iconic sculptures by well-known artists to works that seem to have appeared out of thin air.
- 7 Magical Mountains
Seven Magic Mountains, a permanent and recognizable presence in the Nevada desert, were created by renowned Swiss artist Ugo Rondine in partnership with Nevada Museum of Art. The three-story towers, which are made of desert-sourced rocks that have been painted in a rainbow of vibrant colors, are visible from Interstate 15 and stand out against the surrounding scenery. With its materials and colors, the sculpture aims to represent the natural and man-made worlds. Its location, sandwiched between mountain ranges and Jean Dry Lake, contributes to its prominence by offering artistic visual pleasure for travelers between Los Angeles and Vegas.
- Forest of the Last Church International
The International Car Forest of the Last Church is one of Nevada’s most distinctive sights, and it’s situated near Goldfield just off Highway 95. collection of abandoned vehicles displayed with their noses down, decorated by artists and past visitors. Mark Rippie, a longtime resident of Goldfield, built the automobile Forest in an effort to surpass the previous record for the largest automobile forest in the world. Chad Sort and Zak Sargent, two more artists, helped the three create the forest of cars by burying the noses of more than 40 vehicles. Each car now has a distinctive design, some of which are balanced atop one another, and new artists are regularly hired both locally and internationally to produce an ever-changing gallery that is open to the public for free exploration.
- Museum of Goldwell Open Air
Its nearly eight acres are home to seven enormous buildings made by a group of well-known Belgian artists who were lured to the lonely site to pursue their artistic ideals free from convention. This strange and wild sculpture park is located just off the road towards Death Valley. The park’s sculptures, which are open to visitors around-the-clock and are free of charge, are enduring symbols of the Mojave Desert. They include a 25-foot pink woman, a 24-foot prospector made of steel, and a penguin. A spectral replica of Leonardo Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper,” which was initially intended to last two years and was built in 1984, is one of the park’s most recognizable artworks. Because of its likeness to Middle Eastern deserts and its proximity to Death Valley—a not so subtle allusion—the artist Albert Szukalski was drawn to the Mojave Desert.
- Monument at Thunder Mountain
Thunder Mountain Monument, a substantial handmade outdoor gallery and sculpture garden built by the late Frank Van Zant, also known as Chief Rolling Mountain Thunder, is located right by Nevada’s Interstate 80. Van Zant built the gallery using artifacts and other things he discovered in the Nevada desert as a monument to the “Great Spirit” who, in his words, was keeping him there and as a tribute to American Indian ancestry. Visitors can now explore the sculptures Van Zant built at Thunder Mountain Monument. Donations are welcomed to support the site’s preservation even though admission is free.
Source- Travel daily