When the city of Fernley held its second annual Music, Murals and Margaritas Festival on May 19 and 20 this year, Nevada State Bank celebrated along with the city by unveiling a large mural at its Fernley branch. Sponsored by a group called ACES (Art Culture Event Squad) the festival featured two days of live music, street performances, art displays, food trucks, kid's activities, and much more. An important part of the “much more” was the creation of several murals around town, including the one at NSB’s Fernley branch, located at 250 US Highway 95.
In the days before the festival, the Fernley branch got some very unusual prep work - mysterious graffiti stretching across one side of the building. Artist Jesse Melanson (@JMELART) created the graffiti in preparation for the real mural. The fun started on May 17, when Melanson applied primer to the bank’s south wall and then created a doodle grid – a method of mapping and scaling his artwork – giving the impression that his graffiti-style lettering was the final mural. The doodle grid was filled with random words and illustrations. Once complete, he invited Fernley Branch Manager Tracy Johnson to add her finishing touches to the “graffiti” before beginning work on the actual mural.
“Meeting Jesse and watching him create this beautiful piece of art was an experience I will never forget,” said Johnson. “It was funny to hear client and community comments when he first started his doodle. But now that it is completed, the community and everyone from the ACES are thrilled with the result.”
Created in just 4 days, the Fernley mural showcases Melanson’s low polygon artwork style featuring the beautiful colors of the natural world, but the highlight is a magnificent horse, depicted in 10 shades of brown, gold and grey--representing Fernley’s own family of wild horses.
This is the second Melanson project for NSB. He also painted a 1,748-square-foot installation on the bank’s West Liberty Branch in Reno during Artown 2021. Melanson is a multidisciplinary artist whose eclectic work explores relationships between how we can and do experience space and time. He believes that the more beautiful, colorful and creative our world is, the more happy and vibrant communities are. “I want the art to help ground people and make them feel welcomed while recognizing the beauty of the area,” he said.
“This mural captures the region perfectly,” added Johnson. “The family of wild horses and little foal Peanut Butter are forever memorialized for our Fernley residents. I’m so thankful to Jesse and Nevada State Bank for adding this beautiful art to our community.”
For information and photos of the NSB murals, please visit www.nsbank.com/mural.