Main Street Gardnerville is excited to announce our public art project of 2025, Wish ‘Ewe’ Were Here! Wayfinding meets artists. Local artists design and paint sheep statues inspired by regional culture, heritage, and environmental themes, which will be placed at strategic locations throughout the district.

The public art project, titled “Wish Ewe Were Here,” aims to enhance community pride and cultural appreciation by commissioning local artists to create unique paintings on fiberglass sheep statues. These artworks will reflect local heritage and environmental themes, with the statues strategically placed around the downtown corridor to form an art trail. This initiative invites residents and visitors to explore the area while enjoying artistic expressions celebrating their locale.

The project aims to foster collaboration between artists and local businesses. By positioning the statues near shops, cafes, and business plazas, we hope to boost foot traffic and enhance visibility for local merchants. Business owners can sponsor specific statue locations, potentially integrating their branding into the final designs and hosting events like guided art trail tours to promote local commerce.

Local artists will gain opportunities to showcase their commissioned artwork publicly, raising their profiles and allowing for diverse creativity. The initiative is also designed to attract media coverage and social media attention, further enhancing the visibility of participating artists.

As a unique attraction, the “Wish Ewe Were Here” sheep statue trail is expected to draw visitors from outside the area, positively impacting local tourism and the economy. Increased foot traffic will benefit our downtown district, creating a long-lasting community asset built to withstand outdoor conditions. The project has the potential to evolve into an annual event, introducing new artworks and sheep placement and enhancing ongoing community involvement in the arts.

Are you an Artist interested in designing and painting a sheep or a Business/Property Owner interested in hosting a sheep? Let us know with the forms below! 

Location: Ezell Street adjacent to the Heritage Park Gardens, 1461 Ezell Street, Gardnerville, NV 89410

Artists: Erik & Sheri Majors, Community Members. 

Eric and Sherri Majors, also known as ShEric, have participated in the Santa Barbara Madonnari Festival for eight years and have showcased their work at the Chalk Art Festival at the Atlantis Casino in Reno. Locally, they create a chalk mural for the Bike and Brew event in Minden. With artistic backgrounds, Eric specializes in photo-realism and scratchboard art, while Sherri focuses on mixed media abstract art and jewelry, driven by her passion for bird photography.

• 100% Community Driven project
• Funded through Nevada Arts Council Project funding.

Location: Gardnerville Station, 1395 US Hwy 395 N, Gardnerville, NV 89410

Artist: Cheyenne Renee

Cheyenne Renee is a Virginia-based artist known for her landscape work. Using mainly acrylic and exterior latex paints, she strives to attach childlike joy to each piece using bold color palettes and unique brush strokes.

• The 50in50 Project is Cheyenne’s most recent adventure. The goal is to paint a mural in 50 small towns across all 50 states by the end of 2025,
• highlighting areas that value scenic beauty and small businesses.
• The project also involves creating a Documentary that highlights each community and the people who are doing amazing things for those around them.
• The main goal of the project is to take travelers off the beaten path, create awareness for small-town tourism, and connect fifty communities to each other.

Location: Cheshire Antiques, 1423 US Hwy 395 N, Gardnerville, NV 89410

Artist: Beverly Caputo

Beverly Caputo is a full-time professional artist. Self-taught. “I was born with the talent and perfected my skills myself…must be self-taught, I guess.” Beverly paints murals, portraits, and commissioned paintings for corporate and private clients.

• First Main Street Gardnerville Mural Installation
• Completed in March of 2016

In 2023, Our Public Art Project for the year was the restoration of the Basque Mural.

• We contracted the original muralist, Beverly Caputo, to do the restoration
• The cost of the artist fees for the restoration almost equaled the original artwork
• Most outdoor murals have a life expectancy of about 5 years before needing restoration