LAS VEGAS -- The public is invited to help shape the direction of a new artist community project for southern Nevada in the second of two community architectural design meetings to be held Sept. 27 from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at the Michael Wardle Gallery, upstairs at the Arts Factory, 107 E. Charleston Blvd.

Goldwell Open Air Museum was recently awarded a $7,544 Design Arts Grant and a $21,065 Challenge Grant from the Nevada Arts Council to initiate a master planning process for the 15-acre property it cares for near the ghost town of Rhyolite, outside Beatty, and for the development of a new artist community.

The museum plans to offer residency and public programs that will provide artists with the facilities and support to create new work.

"Artist-community programs function as research and development labs for the arts," said museum president Charles Morgan. "They provide artists with the opportunity to focus on creating new work by providing dedicated time and space for making art and the opportunity to interact with other artists."

Artists will be selected through a competitive process based on artistic merit for residencies ranging from a couple of weeks to several months time, said Morgan.

Creating a setting for professional artists to produce new work that is related to the unique and inspiring environment of Nevada's Amargosa Desert is an important part of the museum's mission, said Morgan.

The design process supported by the Nevada Arts Council grants will result in a master plan for the museum's property, including structural and landscape architectural design, computer renderings, construction cost estimates, and programmatic and marketing plans.

The process began with a community design workshop in August, held in Beatty, led by the project's architect, Eric Strain of Las Vegas.

"Eric is sensitive to historic structures and has a real desire to see the development of a major artist community program in Nevada," said Morgan.

Strain, the founding principal of assembageStudio, is a distinctive, award-winning architect who has a passion for designing environments in which the visual arts flourish and for integrating historic structures with new facilities.

Recent projects have included the designs for the new Mesquite Fine Arts Center and the new visitor center at the Mormon Fort in Las Vegas.

An interactive webpage on the Museum's Web site will be developed following the meetings to provide progress reports on the design process and to solicit additional community input.

Preliminary and final drawings, models and computer renderings will be developed in late Fall 2006 with a final design to be presented to the public in both Beatty and Las Vegas in early 2007.

The museum's project began in earnest in 2005 when Barrick Gold Corporation, former operators of the Barrick Bullfrog Mine near Beatty, donated a 1.8-acre parcel with a 2,250-square-foot barn-like structure to the museum for development into a community arts center.

The museum needs to raise a minimum of $65,000 to match the Nevada Arts Council's Challenge Grant by 2009, and anticipates needing an additional $325,000 to complete construction on the first phase of the project.

Funding is being saught through federal, state and foundation grants and gifts from individuals.

Individuals interested in attending the Beatty design meeting are asked to RSVP by calling 702-870-9946 by Sept. 25. Space is limited.

Goldwell Open Air Museum is a Nevada nonprofit organization dedicated to encouraging and preserving artistic exploration in and of the Amargosa Desert. It maintains a 7.8-acre outdoor sculpture site near Rhyolite, featuring the work of several notable Belgian artists.

For more information, visit the museum's Web site at www.goldwellmuseum.org.