Culture & Arts

Nevada Museum of Art
160 W. Liberty St.
329-3333

It’s pretty easy to see why readers vote the NMA annually as Reno’s best art museum. When it presents such prominent shows as 1998’s Auguste Rodin exhibition and last year’s Alphonse Mucha exhibition, it tells Renoites that they don’t always have to travel to San Francisco to see some of the world’s most famous art. The recent opening of Dale Chihuly: On Site continues the museum’s commitment to featuring at least one major show by a world-class artist every year.

Bigger shows may be on the horizon as the NMA prepares to construct a brand new building on its current site. The museum received a $10 million grant from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation in August, which will allow it to expand its facility to four times its current size, according to Amy Oppio, director of communications. The NMA plans to shut down the museum next summer to begin the project, she says. The old building will be demolished and the new structure will include an expanded gallery space, which will allow the museum to display its permanent collection for the first time in its 70-year history.

Although there’s no word on what the building will look like, Oppio says it will be different.

“It promises to be a very distinctive, architectural landmark,” she says.