Capital City Arts Initiative

Click here Here to read. Alicia Barber, PhD, wrote the exhibition essay for Najera’s show. She is a historian, educator, and author working at the intersections of public memory, historic landscapes, and community identity. She focuses her work on the history, culture, and built environments of the city of Reno, the state of Nevada, and the American West. Barber is the founder/owner of Stories in Place LLC. Her independent and collaborative exhibits and historical markers, oral histories, and digital projects include Reno Historical, Illuminating Reno’s Divorce Industry, and the 4th Street-Prater Way History Project. She wrote Reno’s Big Gamble: Image and Reputation in the Biggest Little City (University of Kansas Press, 2008), and articles and columns for a variety of academic and trade publications. Barber produced and hosted the history feature “Time & Place” for KUNR Public Radio from 2017 – 2019. From 2003 to 2013, she taught in the Core Humanities Program and Department of History at the University of Nevada, Reno, where she also directed the University of Nevada Oral History Program. Dr. Barber holds a B.A. in English from Stanford University, a M.A. in English from the University of Utah, and a PhD in American Studies from the University of Texas at Austin. The Nevada Writers Hall of Fame awarded Barber its Silver Pen Award in 2014.