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Seven Magic Mountains Drawing Lots Of Roadside Attention

Despite some recent vandalism, a new public land sculpture installed by the Nevada Museum of Art and several partners is quickly becoming a roadside attraction outside Las Vegas. Our contributor Bob Conrad of ThisisReno made a trip down south to check it out. 

Yamile Lo Dico and her boys are checking out the exhibit on a scorching evening near Jean, Nevada. These last minutes of daylight are highlighting several giant colored boulders.

They're called the Seven Magic Mountains, and they're stacks of towered boulders painted fluorescent colors about 10 miles south of Las Vegas.

"It's something different to see, some color in this desert," Lo Dico says. "Last week a friend of mine came and said it was really nice and something different to do besides the strip."

For many who visit the site, the towers are selfie magnets. They're more than 30 feet high, and you can see them from Interstate 15.

Amanda Horn of the Nevada Museum of Art says the sculpture builds upon previous land art that appeared in the area historically, including petroglyphs.

“You look at, you know, the earliest examples of humans engaging with the environment in a creative way," Horn says, "and then you have this contemporary notion of land art making these big gestures outside of museum or gallery walls in the landscape.”

The creator is Ugo Rondinone. His work is recognized for blending the natural and artificial, which is why he placed the multi-colored boulders by both the nearby interstate and a dry lake bed.

Bob Conrad, PhD, APR is a media professional with more than 20 years of experience in journalism, public relations, marketing and publishing. He’s the co-founder of ThisisReno.com, a locally owned and operated online news website.
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