HELP BUILD THE VETERANS ART GARDEN
BBQ Dinner & Raffle Fundraiser
Saturday, August 28, 2026
Reno Elks Lodge • Reno, Nevada
The Vision
June 2025 aerial view of the Veterans Art Garden in Northern Nevada.
Help bring the Veterans Art Garden to life. A place where veterans, families, caregivers, artists, and neighbors come together through creativity, connection, and healing. Fundraising efforts are underway to help bring committee-reviewed and approved artwork from concept to completion. Together, we have the opportunity to create something meaningful for the veterans who live at the Northern Nevada State Veterans Home.
Why It Matters
This endeavor is rooted in a simple but profound idea. Healing can emerge from tested hardship.
One of the project's defining symbols is a combat boot giving rise to floral blooms.
“The boot is not a vase holding something beautiful. It is the soil from which beauty grows. - Larry Quinn (1944-2024) veteran, artist, and inspiration behind the Veterans Art Garden.
This concept represents service, sacrifice, and the realities of war. The flower represents healing, renewal, and the possibility that creativity and connection can flourish even undress the stress of and after difficult experiences.
Together, these images remind us that while war leaves lasting marks, it does not have the final word. Through art, nature, and community, renewed healthy growth can emerge.
The Impact
VETERANS
Healing through nature, creativity, and connection.
FAMILIES
A place to gather, celebrate, and create memories.
ARTISTS
Opportunities to contribute creative talent and leave a lasting legacy.
COMMUNITY
A cultural asset for Northern Nevada.
Central Water Feature
Donated by Stan and Heidi Goodin. Anchoring the heart of the Veterans Art Garden, this Circular Water Feature offers a quiet center of gravity. Three upright stones rise from a bed of river rock as water slips over their faces, gathering in a shallow basin before cycling back—an easy, continuous rhythm that softens the space and invites pause. Native, drought-tolerant plantings surround the stones, adding seasonal texture and habitat while echoing the natural landscape of the region.
The dedication reads, “For current and future residents of the Veterans Home and their loved ones to enjoy.” True to that wish, the feature serves as a shared place of reflection and connection—a calm landmark that welcomes visitors from every path.
FIGMO
Donated by Jim Schneider, U.S. Air Force veteran. Named for the moment service members exclaim, “Finally, I got my orders!,” FIGMO captures the surge of energy that comes with new direction. A trio of sweeping uprights lean forward as if catching a tailwind, topped with bright, signal-like squares and accented by round medallions. The playful palette and rhythmic forms suggest formation, flags, and forward motion—celebrating transition, readiness, and the next chapter ahead. This piece stands approximately 11 feet tall with a 4.5-foot square footprint.
Melodies for the Making
The Rainbow Metallophone is an interactive feature of the Garden. A curved array of color-coded metal bars invites anyone to pick up the tethered mallets and play. Each strike releases bright, bell-like tones; simple patterns quickly turn into melodies. Set at an easy-to-reach height, the instrument encourages spontaneous duets between residents, families, and visitors—adding moments of joy, memory, and connection to the garden soundscape.
The Leaf Chime Tree is also an interactive feature of the Garden. Shaped like a stylized sapling, this percussive “tree” carries a vertical cascade of metal leaves. Tap or brush the leaves to create shimmering tones that echo the breeze and rustle of nearby plantings. Part sculpture, part instrument, it blends nature and play, offering a gentle, hands-on invitation to pause, listen, and make music together.
Together, these sound sculptures bring a living acoustic layer to the Veterans Art Garden—part play, part meditation—welcoming all to compose a few healing notes of their own.
Desert Silhouettes in Patina
Wildlife Panels Honoring Nevada’s Native Landscapes. Cut in lyrical silhouettes and finished with a living patina, these three companion panels depict native Nevada scenes—wild horses on open slopes, a desert bighorn at rest, a raptor in flight, sage, and grasses, all framed by sweeping desert trees. As sunlight moves across the day, the perforations cast shifting shadows that ripple over the ground, echoing wind and terrain.
Installed along the staff terrace, the panels offer gentle privacy for the break area while keeping the garden open and welcoming. They frame views rather than block them, allowing residents and visitors to enjoy the artwork and landscape without distraction—quiet partitions that honor both respite and community.
Kinetic Wind Trio
Set beside the Central Water Feature, this Trio of Kinetic Wind Sculptures adds a quiet choreography to the garden. Each vertical spine carries a cascade of leaf-like vanes that turn with the breeze, sending ripples of motion through the air. As the discs rotate, they catch light and cast shifting shadows on the ground, creating patterns that change from moment to moment.
Together, the three forms echo the sound and rhythm of moving water—sometimes lively, sometimes barely perceptible—inviting visitors to slow their pace, listen, and watch the elements at work. The installation adds a sensory counterpoint to the fountain: sight, sound, and air in continuous conversation.
