The Local Lens – Admiring Incline’s Public Art

This is my favorite time of the year, when things start to quiet down but the weather is still nice and the lake is as warm as it’ll ever be before the snow starts to fall. It’s also the perfect time to catch up with friends at the farmers market, bike or hike along the East Shore Trail, or simply stroll around the streets of Incline taking in the public art. 

As an art aficionado myself, I love that Incline Village has no shortage of public art and in recent years more has been coming on the scene. Therefore, now is the best time to check out these vibrant public art pieces scattered throughout town. Here are a few new and popular ones:

Highway 28/Highway 431 Roundabout Critters

Ten years ago, locals petitioned to fix the bottlenecks at highways 28 and 431, and then one of Nevada’s largest roundabouts was installed. To fill in the middle of the circle with something pleasing to look at, the Incline Roundabout Public Art nonprofit enlisted the help of June Towill Brown, a local sculptor. She created a bronze bear, deer, and coyote sculptures (donating about $250,000 of time and materials), which still stand today amongst the sagebrush and native plants. 

“5 Kids in a Tree” at the Incline Village Library

If you can’t wait to crack open that book after you leave the library or are trying to finish one you’ve got, then the benches in front of the “5 Kids in a Tree” sculpture out front is a good place to relax and tuck into a novel. The detailed rambunctious bronze statue was created by Ken Ross and donated by longtime residents/book lovers Andrew Whyman and Barbara Perlman-Whyman.

“Buddha’s Eye” at UNR at Lake Tahoe

Originally established as a liberal arts college, 20 years ago, sculptor Robert Wick created and donated a bronze sculpture called “Buddha’s Eye” to the college. Wick’s public art sculptures reflect the union of land, architecture, and art, and this dynamic piece can be viewed in front of the Prim Library. 

Trash to Treasure Painted Bear Boxes

Two years ago, Incline Middle School collaborated with the Incline Education Fund and UNR at Lake Tahoe to create a “Trash to Treasure” initiative, which involved promoting and participating in community cleanup days and then taking that collected trash and turning it into public art. This year, the school has expanded the effort, working with IVGID to paint bear boxes around town. The painted boxes represent a canvas for change and sustainability; a couple of them are at the softball fields and the Recreation Center.  

New Tunnel Creek Café Mural and Signage

Those hiking or riding the Flume Trail above Tunnel Creek Cafe may notice a new forged metal sign and mural leading up to Flume Trail Bikes. Local artist Ryno had some paintings hanging up in Tunnel Creek Café, and the folks at Tunnel Creek worked with Flume Trail Bikes to hire Ryno to paint the mural.

The signs leading up there were recently created by Sustain Tahoe’s Jacquie Chandler and her partner to better direct people up to Flume Trail Bikes; the one at the entrance has a nice bench to sit under. 

Around the same time that Ryno created the Flume Bike Trails mural, he also painted two colorful mountainscapes on the front of the Incline Storage buildings on Highway 28.

“I painted them both late last fall… it snowed a couple days right in the middle of each one which dragged it a little longer than expected. My inspiration came from old retro ski posters from the 70’s Everyone just wants either Tahoe landscapes or bears up here so I try to at least paint them differently than the normal since I’m rarely able to paint in my forte.”

Natural Grocers Community Mural

Last year when the new Natural Grocers opened, the Colorado-based company teamed up with Kings Beach artist Sara Smith, known for her intricate animal portraits, to paint a mural on the side of their new building facing Highway 28. With the help of some high scaffolding, she filled the top part near the roofline with an image of our crystal clear blue lake and Tahoe’s animals/pollinators, then invited the community to come out and leave their mark on the lower half. In late August of 2024, people picked out stencils and paint then got to work on their creations, filling in the blank wall. If you ever drive by, look at the wall and find the brown bunny sitting in the grass…it was created by yours truly. 

Get Out and Find Some Art

There are a few other public art pieces in town, but these are some of the newer, more well-known ones. The best thing to do is to get out, walk around, and see how many you can find!