From an online Burning Man multiverse to chats about bats, there are plenty of September things to do in Reno and Sparks. We looked high and low to find a variety of September events and activities in Reno and Sparks. So, without further ado, here are 17 things you can do this month either in person or virtually.
16 September Things To Do in Reno and Sparks
Burning Man Multiverse
- When: Sunday, August 30, 2020–Sunday, September 6, 2020
- Where: Virtual
- More Information
Pack your virtual playa gear and get ready to burn in the Multiverse. Although this year’s event in the Black Rock Desert was canceled due to COVID-19 concerns, Burning Man’s organizers hope the virtual event, themed The Multiverse this year, will still deliver creativity, community and moments of serendipity. It will include an ever-expanding virtual Burning Man Multiverse comprising eight Universes, a virtual Temple, and a globally-distributed round-the-clock burn your own Man event. To visit Virtual Black Rock City, participants will need a web browser and Zoom.
Empathy Co-Op Art Installation
- When: Sunday, August 30, 2020–Sunday, September 6, 2020
- Where: Downtown Reno or Virtual
- More Information
The Empathy Co-op presents a free, participatory art installation that people can experience in both downtown Reno and online through the Burning Man Multiverse. The project enables people to engage and connect to a deeper, intrinsic understanding of empathy, self-awareness, and belonging within communities. At the art installation, people will be guided through three experiences to help them gain clarity around their desires, purpose, and explore skills that contribute to a happy, meaningful life. The art installation has been designed to create emotional closeness while still adhering to COVID-19 physical distancing requirements. The Empathy Co-op art experience, created by Sharon DeMattia and Thomas Kohler, consists of three interactive elements using curiosity, art, and play as tools to foster empathy. The Empathy Co-op will be located in the City Plaza downtown Reno from August 30 to September 6. Simultaneously, the Empathy Co-op will launch in the Burning Man Multiverse, inviting global participation.
It Starts with Hello – Virtual Gathering Series
- When: Tuesday, September 1, 2020–Tuesday, September 29, 2020
- Where: Virtual
- More Information
The Hello Project is hosting a virtual community gathering called “It Starts with Hello,” every Tuesday and Thursday at noon. Each virtual gathering will feature a different topic of interest with a local expert, factual information and a chance to chat with others in our community. The discussions will focus on wellness-related topics such as mindfulness, exercise, nutrition and mental health to help you live your best life. Stay connected while you are at home and join us from your computer or phone. The Hello Project is a partnership of Renown Health, Truckee Meadows Healthy Communities, and The Washoe County Health District, and delivered with the support of The BUILD Health Challenge. This event is a part of Renown Health’s Sterling Silver Club, a free program offered for men and women ages 55 and over. Learn more and sign up to be a member at renown.org/SterlingSilver.
Virtual Educator Evening
- When: Wednesday, September 2, 2020
- Where: Virtual
- More Information
Join the Nevada Museum of Art for a virtual Educator Evening. Dr. Donald Easton-Brooks, Dean of the College of Education at the University of Nevada, Reno, and an award winning author will address equity in education. Dr. Easton-Brooks is best known for introducing the concept of “ethnic matching” to the field of education and his book by the same title, Easton-Brooks. Educator Evenings is a free professional development series on the first Wednesday of every month, excluding January and July, offering state-approved professional development hours for participation.
Virtual Early Childhood Education Roundtable
- When: Wednesday, September 2, 2020
- Where: Virtual
- More Information
Educators are invited to these free monthly informative roundtables incorporating and following the Educator Evenings. These Zoom discussions provide participants an opportunity to further discuss the presented topics as they relate to early childhood education.
Heartfulness Meditation – Learn How to Meditate – Virtual Only
- When: Wednesday, September 2, 2020–Wednesday, September 30, 2020
- Where: Virtual
- More Information
Learn to use meditation as a powerful tool and experience the benefits for the body, mind and spirit. Meditation is a way to quiet the mind. This class can help participants reduce stress, enhance creativity, discover mindfulness, become more aware of their breath and body, create inner peace, connect to their spirit, improve relationships and awaken their intuition.
Virtual Walking Group
- When: Weekly on Fridays, September 4–25, 2020
- Where: Virtual
- More Information
Improve your health and stay connected by participating in this virtual walking club. Participants will say hello, do a couple of safe stretches and then all head out on a walking path in their neighborhood for 50 minutes. When the walk is over, participants are invited to connect again and discuss how the walk went.
Keeping Active Seniors Active
- When: Tuesday, September 8, 2020
- Where: Virtual
- More Information
Are you interested in maintaining an active lifestyle during and after the global pandemic? Join Sanjai Shukla, MD, orthopedic surgeon with Reno Orthopedic Clinic to learn how to stay healthy through exercise as a way to reduce injury, build your muscles and improve quality of life. Dr. Shukla will also share exciting news of the new partnership between ROC and Renown Health to enhance orthopedic care in northern Nevada. This event is a part of Renown Health’s Sterling Silver Club, a free program offered for men and women ages 55 and over. Learn more and sign up to be a member at renown.org/SterlingSilver.
Memory of a Landscape
- When: Thursday, September 10 – Sunday, September 27, 2020
- Where: Sierra Arts Gallery, 17 S. Virginia St., Reno
- More Information
Sierra Arts Gallery presents Memory of a Landscape, an exhibition of new work by artist Rossitza Todorova. In this new series of paintings and videos, Rossitza Todorova reflects on how landscape embodies the idea of time, past, present, and future. The landscape reflects our memories by helping us recall and associate place with the past. It captures our present by allowing us to let go and be in the moment. And shows us our future, metaphorically, and literally as it reveals the journey ahead. A reception will be held on Thursday, September 17, 2020, from 6 – 8 p.m. at the Sierra Arts Gallery. The exhibition is free, and the public is welcome. 30% of all sales benefit Sierra Arts Foundation. Social distancing and face masks will be required. Limited numbers of guests will be allowed in the gallery at any given time. Attendees are encouraged to visit our neighbors at Wild River Grille and The Eddy for drinks and food afterward to discuss the exhibition with Rossitza Todorova.
Sounding the Visual: Jean-Michel Basquiat and Early Hip Hop
- When: Friday, September 11, 2020
- Where: Virtual
- More Information
Join the Nevada Museum of Art as Ruthie Meadows discusses the ways in which the visuality of Jean-Michael Basquiat’s work mobilized and referenced emergent sonic techniques in DJ, house and hip-hop culture as they arose in New York in the 1970s and 1980s. Jean-Michael Basquiat (1960-1988) first gained fame by tagging the streets of New York City in the late 1970s and 1980s—a time when rap, breakdancing, and street art began to define early hip-hop culture. Critics have often compared Basquiat to a DJ, writing on the ways in which the visuality of his works resonates with early hip-hop culture. Ruthie Meadows is an assistant professor of ethnomusicology at the University of Nevada, Reno. Her research focuses on poetics and aurality in the Hispanophone- and circum-Caribbean, including Cuba, the Dominican Republic and New Orleans. The Art Bite lecture series is supported by Nevada Humanities with additional sponsorship and free admission for students supported by the Core Humanities Program at the University of Nevada, Reno.
David R. Harper: My Own Personal Ghost
- When: Friday, September 11, 2020
- Where: The Lilley Museum of Art, 1664 N. Virginia Street 0224, Reno
- More Information
The scene is reminiscent of a marvelous feast, a brimming banquet hall that appears in a state of interruption from completion. It is as though someone was called to the kitchen in the midst of setting the table. The air of incompletion may be jarring to a viewer accustomed to entering a museum or gallery space with the expectation of encountering “properly” displayed, fully resolved works. This very notion is one that artist David R. Harper confronts in his installation “My Own Personal Ghost.” Harper challenges his audiences to experience his work as a snapshot of a studio space frozen at the height of productive fervor. Harper’s vision is of that moment of high gear, full capacity rumination, and the visual cacophony that surrounds the cultivation of ideas and very busy hands. It is not the tidy, quiet wrapping up of a conceptual thought, but the idea in its moment of full bloom. There is yet more room at the table for potential and discovery.
Art Adventures
- When: Monday, Tuesdays, Wednesday and Thursdays, September 14, 2020– Thursday, October 1, 2020
- Where: Lake Mansion, 250 Court St. & Arlington Ave., Reno
- More Information
A locally-loved after-school program, Art Adventures, is now available at the Lake Mansion Arts & Cultural Center in the newly remodeled Art Happens Here! Classroom. Children in grades K-5th will explore a different fine arts medium each week with one of Arts for All Nevada’s talented teaching artists. Each session is three weeks long. Class size is limited to 8 participants to ensure social distancing & participants will be given their own supplies so materials will not be mixed among students. Face coverings are required to attend this class.
Ask A Ranger: Demystifying Bats
- When: Friday, September 18, 2020
- Where: Virtual
- More Information
There are a lot of myths and misinformation surrounding bats. How much do they eat? Where do they live? How many species are there? What do I do if I see one? Join Ranger Josh and special guest expert, Christy Klinger as they answer all of your bat-related questions, live on Facebook. Christy Klinger is a Wildlife Biologist at the Nevada Department of Wildlife, where for more than 20 years she has worked with many different species, from reptiles to desert bighorn sheep. Ranger Josh has almost a decade of public lands experience across multiple agencies, including the National Park Service, US Forest Service, and the Smithsonian Institution. He has been with U.S. Fish & Wildlife since January 2019. Josh has experience working with snakes, bears, & bats.
The Chinese: Heroes of the Transcontinental Railroad
- When: Saturday, September 19, 2020
- Where: Virtual
- More Information
Learn more about the history of Chinese immigrants and the Transcontinental Railroad during this virtual Sierra Speaker Series. Jerry Blackwill, president of the Truckee Donner Railroad Society and acting chair of the new Museum of Truckee History, will speak on the topic. Blackwill has researched, written articles, and presented about the Transcontinental Railroad, the Truckee to Lake Tahoe railroad, and the areas logging railroads. He also teaches economics at Truckee’s Sierra College. Previously he was board president of the Sierra State Parks Foundation.
2020 Donor Walk
- When: Sunday, September 20, 2020
- Where: Virtual
- More Information
Join Sierra Nevada Donor Awareness for its 13th Annual Donor Walk to raise awareness for the tremendous need for organ and tissue donation and honor Donors and Donor Families. The walk is virtual this year making it even easier to participate. Walk in your neighborhood or even on your treadmill. The donor walk will support education opportunities for individuals whose lives have been significantly impacted by organ and tissue donation and will provide support to individuals seeking or supporting organ transplantation as well as transplant recipients.
Dog Fest Reno
- When: Saturday, September 26, 2020
- Where: Virtual
- More Information
Join the University of Nevada Reno and the City of Reno for DogFest Reno, an online event benefiting Canine Companions for Independence. DogFest is a virtual community event that raises money for a great cause. It’s sure to be a blast for humans and canines alike. Help Canine Companions continue to place expertly trained assistance dogs with adults, children and veterans with disabilities free of charge. Learn more about Canine Companions and our mission from the comfort of your home. Enjoy fun canine activity demonstrations, meet a local Canine Companions graduate and their assistance dog and more.
MC Believe 5K Run And Walk
- When: Sunday, September 27, 2020
- Where: Somersett Club At Town Center, 7650 Town Square Ln, Reno
- More Information
MC Believe in Education is more than a 5K run and walk. It’s a celebration of the importance of education, and a tribute to the person whose life inspired the event, the late Michele Cervantes. Michele was a master elementary school teacher who believed in lifelong learning and literacy, a vision that continues through her students, family, friends, and all who participate in MCBelieve. Proceeds from the event go to a scholarship for a McQueen High School graduate. The course begins and ends at The Club at Town Center and in between it winds through some of Somersett’s most beautiful streets. If you’re not a runner, grab a few of your friends and neighbors and enjoy a walk through the neighborhood and support this great cause together.
