Anjeanette Damon

adamon@rgj.com

Surrounded by cheerful artists shivering on a frigid New Year's Eve afternoon, Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve dedicated the city's newest piece of public art on Thursday-- the iconic Believe statue.

"Did you know one word can be more powerful than an entire sentence or resolution?" Schieve asked, standing in front of the 12-foot high steel sculpture that is temporarily installed on the public plaza adjacent to the Reno Arch in downtown Reno.

Complementing the theme of the day, Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" blared on speakers before and after Schieve's remarks. RGJ 2015 Citizen of the Year, Jeff Bryant, read the proclamation declaring the day “Believe in Reno Day.”

"We had a lot of incredible accomplishments (in 2015), but I'm ready to turn the page and make this city even better," she said.

Reno purchased the Believe sculpture for $70,000 from Burning Man artists Jeff Schomberg and Laura Kimpton. It will be permanently erected outside city hall on City Plaza next spring after construction of the Virginia Street Bridge is complete.

Until then, the sculpture will welcome tourists and residents alike who visit the Reno Arch.

Kimpton said the Believe piece is the first word sculpture she and her partner have sold to a city, joking that their "price has gone up" since Reno bought the piece of art.

Kimpton, who said she is dyslexic, said she understands the power of words, which have always posed a difficulty for her. She says the Believe statue is meant to encourage people to have faith in the good.

"It's meant to take away the worry our world is falling into," she said.

For Schieve and other civic leaders, the statute represents the ethos she is striving to create in a city emerging from a difficult recession as "a leader of creativity and innovation."

"As we say goodbye to 2015 and we welcome a new year this is a perfect time to Believe in Reno," City Manager Andrew Clinger said.

The Believe sculpture is one of 170 pieces of work collected by the city since a 1992 ordinance began requiring all new city parks and buildings to have a piece of public art featured on the property. Five of those pieces were first displayed at Burning Man, an annual weeklong gathering in the Black Rock Desert.