Dear friends of Holland,

We know that for many, 2011 brought tough times – and usually, we’re in that boat.  We know tough times like the back of our hands, but we’re incredibly happy to announce that 2011 did us right.  Thanks to you, we saw heaps of good fortune in 2011, making it one of Holland’s most successful yet: the year in which we broke both programming and attendance records, and most importantly, found a new home.  Now, without further ado…

THE TOP ELEVEN OF TWO THOUSAND ELEVEN

11. Forage: A Roaming Gallery
This year’s big summertime art event truly outdid itself.  The trebuchet at Virginia Lake?  The homemade root beer floats?  The amazing original film score featuring a slew of super talented musicians of all ages?  The murals at the Lear Theater, Tahoe Street, and Craft?  Yarnbombing the Nevada Museum of Art?  Fortune telling and magical mysteries inside the Holland HQ?  It was all so good, we’re missing summer just thinking about it.

10. Collaborations
As always, Holland is very proud to work with some of the coolest organizations in our community.  A shout-out to the NMA, KNPB, Reno Bike Project, Great Basin Community Food Co-op, Spoken Views, Bootleg Courier, Rainshadow, TMCC High, Hug High School, UNR Dance Department, Black Rock Press, Buffalo Wallow Press, Nevada Humanities, Lear Theater, Reno River Festival, Go For Broke Zine Collective… just to name a few.

9. Photography Crew
All Holland events are documented by a killer group of photographers, and with the addition of Dane Haman and Alisha Funkhouser this year, our photos are better than ever.  Check out what Holland’s been up to through their eyes by clicking here.

8. Workshops
From skate ramps to bicycle jewelry to terrarium ornaments to printmaking and stenciling, this year’s workshop series was super unique and super fun… and we have the quarter pipe in our courtyard to prove it.

7. Posters & Fliers
Showcasing incredible illustration, collage and graphic design, these folks keep Holland lookin’ good and feelin’ good. Hats off to Clint Neuerburg, Megan Kay, Nick Larsen, Omar Pierce, Ashley Westwood, Peter Laxalt, Steve Owens, Aubrey Marie, Jawsh Haggeman, Sophia Pierce, and Sarah Lillegard – thanks for making (and being) the best of the best.  Their work will be reincarnated as wheatpasted wallpaper in the new space, so be sure to check it out.

6. HPHQ
We’d like to give a proper shout-out to the biggest little gallery/office/event space this side of Japan.  Good things come in small packages, and the HPHQ was just that: small and good.  It was our home when we didn’t have one and served as the littlest space that could.  Many a wonderful night was spent at 30 Cheney Street — on the porch or in the living-room-sized space — and we’ll have lots of stories to tell for years to come.  Like the time it turned into a cardboard palace for our installation workshop and exhibit, or when we lined the walls with 20 years of show posters and fliers for Paper Thin, or when we gathered around the fireplace for Punk Rock Storytellers, or the times we silkscreened out of the bathtub and closet, when we planted our edible garden, and the heaps of amazing small shows and exhibits… R.I.P. HPHQ, you’re a wonderful part of Holland history now.

5. November Opening Month
ELEVEN amazing events kickstarted Holland’s new chapter at 140 Vesta Street in the 11th month.  Ten stellar music events that included King Tuff, The Spits, Buster Blue, Audacity, Who Cares, Young Lions reunion, Cathedral Ghost, Spitting Image, My Flag is on Fire, Don’t Panic’s last show, two hardcore shows, and a day-long music festival.  PHEW (and nicely done Clark and Julian)!  Also, the second annual Stranger Show in the Holland Gallery with wall-to-wall folks celebrating the collaborative efforts of Hug High students and a slew of local artists.  140 Vesta Street is officially christened and ready to serve as Holland’s new home.

4. New Holland Gallery
Big white walls.  Lots of space.  Wonderful exhibits every month.  Sarah Lillegard and the Gallery Committee have outdone themselves in every aspect, amping up Holland’s visual arts program to be nothing short of stellar, inspirational, and awesome.

3. Home is on the Horizon
From small events, benefit shows, raffles, dessert galas and backyard bbqs to one-night-only pop galleries, a poker tournament, make-up workshops, venue walk-throughs, restaurant openings, and the support of many, many individuals and a few awesome foundations, Holland achieved its $50,000 fundraising goal and secured its new home.  A giant thank you to all of those who made this campaign successful.  Thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

2. Venue Transformation
Holland’s new digs are so rad that it’s hard to contain our excitement.  The gallery’s looking top notch and the show space is on its way to being everything we ever imagined with killer sound, good lookin’ walls, hand-crafted sound booth, one-of-a-kind recycled window wall that lines the library, Holland poster wallpaper, and so much more.  Every bit of this space is made with true love and sweat, and we couldn’t thank our team more for making our home so great.  Next up for 2012: fully functioning workshop lab, opening the library, urban garden, and outdoor gallery, and a great big sign.  Yippee!

1. Community & You
We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: Holland is nothing without the support of our community, and dang it, we have an awesome community.  We’ve never been more proud or more honored to call Reno home — and we have you to thank.  All our of programming, everything we do, the success of Home is on the Horizon, the transformation of the venue, the promotion and documentation of our events — none of it, not one piece — is possible without you and the support of our community.  Thank you for standing by Holland, for supporting us, for participating.  Together, we do this and make this happen.  Together, we’re making positive and lasting change.  It’s powerful and exciting and we thank you for being a part of it.

THE STATS
Holland Project produced more than 136 all-ages events in 2011, averaging more than 11 per month, and including more than 65 music shows, 17 art exhibits, 12 workshops, 10 special events, 10 poetry events, 2 dance events, 2 film screenings and more.  We hosted 52 events at the HPHQ, 30 at Rainshadow, 29 in our new home, and 25 at venues city-wide including NMA, KNPB, Bibo III, The Studio, and UNR.

IMPORTANT THINGS!
Did you know that Holland has a store?  Well we do!  Get art prints, swag, posters, auction items and more at www.hollandreno.org/store.  It’s the easiest way to support Holland and get cool stuff in return, and every cent goes to providing all-ages events — WIN WIN.  Also, subscriptions to Holland Editions: Year 3 are officially available.  Only 30 lucky subscribers get in on the action, receiving 12 incredible, original, limited edition artwork from emerging and professional artists and printmakers for pennies on the dollar.  For more information or to see the Year 3 artists, click here.  And lastly, we think you should definitely know about the “Homebodies (…and you will know us by the trail of the thread)” exhibit opening in the Holland Gallery on Friday, January 27 at 6pm featuring the work of the incredibly talented Bryan Christenson, Jen Graham, and Leah Ruby.  If you haven’t seen the new space or visited the gallery yet, THIS IS A PERFECT OPPORTUNITY.

SPECIAL THANKS
Each and every one of you are deserving of the biggest thank-yous imaginable for the support you’ve given Holland, but we’d like to take a moment to recognize just a few folks who went above and beyond this past year, including: Redfield Foundation, NV Energy, Hawkins Foundation, EL Cord, Edna and Bruno Benna, Heidemarie Rochlin, Bretzlaff Foundation, the Satre Family, Tim Conder (and all his friends), Bob Cashell, Jon Ray, Amber Sallaberry, the Williams family, Mike Mechanic, Megan Berner, Dennyse Sewell, Rebecca LeBeau, Nettie Oliverio, Gretchen Bietz, Industrial Properties, Deane Albright, and Chris Fairchild.  Also to Joe Ferguson, Holland’s co-founder, who left Reno for Portland over the summer, for five years of work, passion, endless energy, and vision. We heart you all.

With love and respect,
Britt Curtis and Holland Project

PS. Be sure to check out our Year-in-Review Slideshow here.

Please RSVP to sarah@hollandreno.org to save a spot.