CSN ARTSPACE GALLERY to present Some Pigeons I Know

The College of Southern Nevada, School of Arts & Letters, Department of Fine Arts will host a group exhibition featuring artwork in a variety of media including visual art, sound, and verse by six regional and national artists curated by artist and CSN Art and Art History faculty member, Myranda Bair. Featured artists include Myranda Bair, Angela Bromell, Lauren Grant, Melissa Russell, Sean Russell, and Gavin Watts. Some Pigeons I Know: Curated by Myranda Bair will open on Friday, March 25, and run through Saturday, April 30. In addition, an Artist Talk, Poetry Reading, and Reception with light refreshments will take place in the Artspace Gallery on Tuesday, March 29, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Reflecting on the exhibition, Bair reveals, “During the summer of 2019, my daughter had a habit of waking at 5:30 a.m. alongside the sun. On one such morning, I awoke grumbling and opened the bedroom shutters, glancing down at the early morning street. The world was quiet save two pigeons walking side by side. The site was strangely comforting, like two friends lost in a conversation of head bobbing and coos. This moment stuck with me, and I continued to think of them for the remainder of the week. This is how Some Pigeons I Know was conceived.

“Pigeons, like people, love the comforts of home and have evolved to always return, despite the obstacles. Utilizing this skill, man crafted a pigeon that unintentionally affected technology, communication, combat, and companionship. For millennia, they’ve survived and shaped the world in tiny and powerful ways, yet we consider them pests and do everything possible to rid our cities of them. As we criticize the pigeon, we chastise a creature who builds homes, co-parents, and provides for their mates and offspring; a life we strive for ourselves. This exhibition parallels pigeons and humans, utilizing stories to highlight each bird as an individual. The six artists presenting in this show are wonderful educators, each blessed with the gift of storytelling. The visual art, music, and poetry create magic befitting the world’s most common and most underappreciated bird.”

“When I proposed this exhibition, I had no notion of the impending pandemic or how the world would change. However, it is the purpose of the future to change in ways we cannot conceive. The pigeon has been our companion through pandemics, wars, natural disasters, and the collapse of societies … the pigeon has been our companion.

"I no longer wake at 5:30 a.m. as I did in 2019. The future blessed me with another unforeseeable change; a new baby welcomed in late 2021. So now, I find myself up through the night, catching the hooting of great horned owls.”

Myranda Bair is an artist, educator, avid rock climber, natural space advocator, animal lover, and mediocre farmer. Her work focuses on conservation and how community education can lead to a richer outdoor experience for all while simultaneously reflecting the importance of preserving natural areas. She received her MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) and her BFA from the University of Texas at Austin. Myranda has exhibited work across the country and participated in various residences, recent ones including Red Rock Canyon NCA (2014), Wildlife Divide (2013), and The Vermont Studio Center (2012). She continues to partner with the Red Rock Canyon Interpretive Association and the Desert Tortoise Habitat. Currently, she is a faculty member for the College of Southern Nevada in Las Vegas. Myranda has two French bulldogs, a wonderful husband named Craig, and a new baby, Penelope. She lives and works in Las Vegas with frequent trips to her family’s land in Texas and Colorado.

The CSN Artspace Gallery is free and open to the public. Gallery hours are from 8 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. The Artspace Gallery is upstairs above the main entrance lobby on the North Las Vegas campus located at 3200 E. Cheyenne Ave., one mile east of I-15 North.

For more information, please call (702) 651-4146 or visit www.csn.eduartgallery