Reviews by Reno’s Finest.

Nada Dada Motel at Reno’s El Cortez

June 21, 2009 at 9:45 am (Arts, Educational, Music, Nightlife, Summertime, Weekend) (Arts, downtown, Molezzo, techno)

Experience Date: 6/20/09
Stars: 4

This particular Saturday night, Matt and I decided to explore the underground cultural side of Reno, and headed downtown to visit an art exhibit called the Nada Dada Motel held at the El Cortez.

The view down Arlington from Hotel El Cortez 6th floor fire escape

This was the third year for Nada Dada, and our first viewing.  The gist of the show is that artists, both local and from across the country, each take over a hotel room at the El Cortez and create a space for their art–whatever it may be.  Each room between floors 2 and 5 was completely unique and many really amazing.  My favorite artist overall was John Molezzo.  Molezzo does these wicked digital murals of Reno–and if I had any extra cash at all, I would have loved to buy a print.  (I settled for snagging a couple of his postcards.)  Also showing were my friends Jamie Kingham and Rachel Milon, displaying his photography and participating as players in one of the many weekend productions.

always so smiley

The folks over at Reno Passport and Metromix did a pretty good job summarizing the event, so I’ll suggest reading up over there for real detail.  My final comments will note that this event was completely free and open to the public, and even cooler because you can bring your own beer (or etc….) and sip as you browse, interact and enjoy.  My only disappointment occurred due to my own ignorance–not all rooms are open during viewing hours, so we missed out on some cool stuff.

This is definitely an event I’d go to again in ’10. And I’ll plan to hit it twice.

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