MARY BALDASANO / Special to the PVT Marilyn Bridges' work reflects the impact of highway building on the surrounding landscape. Advertisement

Jan Lindsey promotes and supports the Pahrump Arts Council in its continuing efforts to bring a variety of cultural media to the area. She pulled out all the stops by working with the Nevada Arts Council to bring its "Altered Landscapes" collection to Pahrump.

The collection is a photographic essay of man's impact on the landscape through the altering, adding to or removing from the land. The photographs are a telling document concerning the change that has occurred since the Industrial Age.

Marilyn Bridges' "Highway Emerging," a gelatin silver print, captures the changes made through the engineering development of a new highway. Although the exact location is not provided, it can be related in some respects to those changes made by the building of Hoover Dam or other large highway building efforts one might recall.

Michelle Van Parys' gelatin silver print, "Teepee Rest Stop," adds a bit of humor to our need to change our environment by capturing the irony of large Native American style teepees with portable toilets in the foreground. In times past, teepees would line an area, usually near a water source, but in this photograph, one may think of a nearby service station/souvenir shop under construction.

These are but a few of the photographs on display at the Pahrump Courthouse. The display will be available for viewing through early December. The collection was made available for viewing through the use of several art specific grants which allowed both councils to bring us something unusual and exciting to see. Closer review encourages reflection on the changes being made in our area.

It is hoped that the collection will bring attention to local galleries, where different aspects of art can be seen and appreciated by everyone, especially our younger local people and visitors. "It's a new presentation of a photo essay of how we alter our landscapes, which is mostly ignored due to local activity," Lindsey said. "The Nevada Arts Council is great to work with and provides great support, funding, and our ability to branch out into new areas such as the inaugural video competition held after the Wild West Extravaganza."

Catherine Wainman, a visitor to the show, stated, "It's a beautiful exhibit, and shows how we tend to change everything."

Turnout for the viewing was great and those visiting the courthouse for other reasons stopped to appreciate the exhibit.