Program Note

boom/BUST is an attempt to reconcile some thoughts that I have had since I moved to Nevada from New York in July of 2021, centered around the contentious relationship between human settlement and our environment.

Upon arriving in Reno, I had several experiences that were entirely new to me. I was immediately thrown into an intense summer of daily high temperatures over 100° F and weeks of hazardous wildfire smoke. I had also never lived in a place that was still building and developing so much; the eastern U.S. has been done expanding for a long time now.

I was upset that the land around me was literally burning down, and wanted to blame it on reckless building and consumption of land. But although these two phenomena are undoubtedly related, I had to recognize the need for nuance in this conversation. These places all mean something special to someone: they are homes, places of work, and spots where we gather to spend time with one another.

This work is an exploration of my own emotional memories of the most iconic buildings in Reno—the casinos—paired against my memories exploring our incredible natural surroundings. And while reflecting, I kept coming back to the same question: how do we build sustainably so that we can meet the needs of those who live here, while respecting and conserving the natural environment we all love?

January 2023. Reno, NV.