7 C U LT U R E
COMMON GROUND A new Nevada Arts Council program aims to cross the state’s urban/rural divide
CLEAN MACHINE At the Clean the World facility, products such as soap, lotion, and shampoo are sorted (top); the soap is shredded and sanitized (bottom right), and then reformed into new bars (far right).
THE NOTION THAT THERE ARE TWO very different Nevadas is most often represented politically, as a map depicting a giant wedge of red anchored by two pools of dense blue that denote the areas around Las Vegas and Reno. But beneath that map is a more structural dichotomy: Nevada has one of the nation’s most pronounced urban-rural divides. This has implications not only politically and economically, but artistically and culturally. Exploring the latter is the point of a new initiative by the Nevada Arts Council. Modeled after a similar program in Kentucky, the Basin and Range Exchange will be a yearlong project bringing together some 50 civic leaders and representatives of arts organizations around the state — from Winnemucca as well as Las Vegas, from Ely as well as Reno. Their first get-together will be April 23-24 at the Mizpah Hotel in Tonopah. (Until that first meeting, the council isn’t releasing the names of attendees.) Participants will talk about shared concerns, the resources they do and don’t have, as well as what they do well. Not on the agenda? Red vs blue, says Michelle Patrick, a community arts development specialist with the arts council. “Everyone is coming together because they love art,” she says. So they won’t spend a lot of time discussing biases. “They love what they do,” she adds. “It speaks volumes about their commonality.” Anyway, there are issues faced by urban and rural presenters. Cliquishness, for instance. “They’re both concerned about how to break down silos.” Other areas of potential overlap include logistics — parking, building access, entrance fees — as well as content. Attendees will team up on projects to address common issues or take advantage of complementary strengths; several of the more promising ideas will be funded. “We don’t want a vanity project,” she says. “We’re interested in impact.” Scott Dickensheets
22 | D E S E R T
C O M PA N I O N
.
APRIL 2019
cities that are home to numerous hotels. Clean the World funds its efforts by charging $6 per room annually to coordinate the collection of unwanted products from more than 5,000 U.S. clients, about 20 percent of the nation’s hotels, officials say. The list includes all Walt Disney properties, most of the Las Vegas Strip, and dozens of hotels in New York and Chicago. Some foreign hotels participate, too. Placards in each hotel room inform guests that their soap will have a second life. The hotel fees are used to train housekeeping staff, repurpose the soap, and pay administrative costs. The Clean the World Foundation works with NGOs and charities such as the Red Cross and Salvation Army to distribute the repurposed soap in recipient countries. The program has received support from U.S. health experts, such as the Centers for Disease Control. “This is a practical approach to provide a needed resource to mothers and children at very low cost, with the goal of reducing disease and improving health,” says Rob Quick, a medical epidemiologist with the CDC. Aaron Weatherly, manager of Clean the World’s Las Vegas facility, says the local rebatching process involves 7,000 volunteers each year. Much of the reprocessed soap is packaged into various hygiene kits that include toothbrushes, toothpaste, and hand sanitizer, which are sent to homeless shelters around the world. The plastic bags are specialized for men, women, veterans, and children, whose kits include a Band-aid, crayons, and a coloring book. Volunteers often write notes with such messages as “We believe in you,” “You are amazing,” and “You are not alone.” The Las Vegas facility also uses the kits in a portable shower unit with four individual stalls it created to visit locations frequented by the homeless around the valley. Brady said the soapy showers improve people’s quality of life. “You see these people after they walk out from taking a shower,” he says. “They feel better. They look better.” On a recent weekday, the warehouse is buzzing with activity. Back from