Kings Beach is a perfect walking town. Along the 1-mile stretch from the Highway 267/Highway 28 intersection to Beaver Street, it’s filled with shops, restaurants and recreational areas. The recent health pandemic created a unique opportunity for it to be more welcoming, with a few key community figures taking the reins on making it better through promoting local art.
If you look closely, you’ll find that Kings Beach has a re-emerging art scene with a lot of exciting things happening. Between the formation of Tahoe Backyard, the opening of the second location of North Tahoe Arts, the art in the town’s roundabouts and The Mural Project, there are many reasons to visit Kings Beach.
Tahoe Backyard & Chickadee Art Collective
A block away from the main drag, Tahoe Backyard provides a welcoming space for families and friends that’s complete with food, art, yard games and good beer. Two years ago, renowned local mandala artist Nicole Stirling left her job as a preschool teacher to pursue art full-time. Stirling was looking at renting studio space near her home in The Grid (KB’s most prominent neighborhood) when she came across the site of the Bear Belly Brewing Company, with a lot of open space to share.
“Like many, I think Kings Beach would be a great art town … There are 40 to 50 artists right here just in this little neighborhood. This is a sleepy town with a lot of hidden talent and now they have a chance to shine and show their work.”
–Nicole Stirling
She rented out what is now Chickadee Art Collective and acts as the site manager to help bring in events and pop-ups. Tahoe Backyard hosts poetry workshops, makers markets, community art classes — and will be a stop on the upcoming Kings Beach Art Tour from July 30 to 31.
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“[The Kings Beach art scene] is gradually growing; I’m really excited about it. Like many, I think Kings Beach would be a great art town; it’d be cool to have this place an art destination. There are 40 to 50 artists right here just in this little neighborhood. This is a sleepy town with a lot of hidden talent and now they have a chance to shine and show their work,” Stirling says.
She admits that she’s living, breathing, eating and sleeping art right now, but she wouldn’t change it for the world.
“It fills my soul. I’m honored to be a part of this,” she says. | chickadeetahoe.com, tahoebackyard.com
North Tahoe Arts Center
On June 17, a barn-shaped building that was a former fireplace store opened to the public as North Tahoe Arts’ second location thanks to the generosity of longtime residents Jane and Ron Jenny. As an artist herself, Jane enjoys working with kids and started holding art camps with North Tahoe Arts when it was located in Dollar Hill in Tahoe City 23 years ago.
“I had a dream that North Tahoe Arts could have a self-contained building to do all its programming. We own properties around here and I bugged my husband to buy something [for NTA], with the criteria that it had to have a storefront artisan shop, offices and a kitchen, as well as a yard for kids to be able to enjoy art classes. This building checked all the boxes,” Jane says. “And so the work began. We patched holes, fixed plumbing, repaired windows and doors, fixed electrical and painted, painted, painted. Ronny and I are used to this as our side careers have been building new or remodeling old properties, so we tackled this job with a deep sense of gratitude that we could offer our beloved North Tahoe Arts — a secure future free from the threat of having to move.”
The nonprofit North Tahoe Arts will continue to operate the Tahoe City location, as well. | northtahoearts.org
Mural Project collaboration
North Tahoe Business Association (NTBA), Arts for the Schools and Día de Los Muertos North Tahoe are collaborating on a project that has been approved to create or refresh murals in Kings Beach.
Up to six murals are earmarked to be placed throughout the town with a focus on dressing up local businesses’ Americans with Disabilities Act ramps. The artwork will be created by professional and student artists to provide an additional opportunity for mentorship to North Tahoe’s youth while creating art outside of the classroom.
“This project will bring both community enrichment and cohesion along with beautification of our area and an opportunity for local students to learn from professionals. The murals themselves will beautifully convey important local themes of environmental respect, stewardship and cultural heritage. And, as one local resident said, ‘The murals will show that the community cares about itself,’” says Alyssa Reilly, NTBA’s executive director.
Arts for the Schools CEO Eve McEneaney emphasizes the excitement surrounding this project.
“We hope The Mural Project will allow everyone in the community and visitors alike to experience art in their daily life. As an added benefit, the murals will highlight small, local businesses. This project is a special way to show how the arts can contribute to making local communities better,” she says.
Businesses interested in participating in the program may register at artsfortheschools.org.
Maker’s Markets
Saturdays until Sept. 24 (dark Sept. 3 & 17) | Tahoe Backyard
Poetry at the Backyard
July 20, Aug. 17 & Sept. 21 | Tahoe Backyard
Kids Art Camps
July & Aug. | Chickadee Art Collective
Adult Art Camp
July 26-28 | North Tahoe Arts, Kings Beach
Batik Watercolor
July 30 | North Tahoe Arts, Kings Beach
Kings Beach Art Tour
July 30 & 31 | Artists’ studios
