Twenty Artists, a Disappearing Lake: A Free Desert Show at Walker Lake

Walker Lake NV – July 7, 2026

By Contributing Journalist Micky Kim

WALKER LAKE, Nev. — This July, a show of some twenty artists takes over The Bighorn Crossing — a local landmark and restaurant on the shore of Walker Lake, two hours south of Reno where US-95 meets the water — for a month of art about a desert lake the state is letting disappear.

“Resilience in the Desert: Walker Lake & Bighorn Sheep” brings together painters, printmakers, ceramicists, and metalworkers — some local, some from across the country — around a single subject: a lake that has given up more than 150 feet of itself within a lifetime, and the bighorn herd, Nevada’s largest, that still crosses the road nearby. Outdoor metal sculptures by Ricardo Breceda, including a Paiute lake-serpent, stand on the grounds year-round.

The show runs the full month of July, free to the public, indoors and across the outdoor grounds, in connection with Reno’s Artown and in partnership with the Walker Basin Conservancy, which works to return water to the lake.

“I grew up on this lake,” said Tony Ruse, co-owner of The Bighorn Crossing and a lifelong Hawthorne resident. “Watching it recede is personal for everyone in this town — this show is our way of saying the lake, and the people who stayed with it, still matter.”

Gallery hours are Wednesday–Saturday 11–7 and Sunday 11–5; the outdoor sculptures can be seen any day. An Artist Day is planned for the end of the month. The Bighorn Crossing is at 847 Frontage Rd, Walker Lake. Details: walkerlake.events.

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