The 26th annual A Taste for Art, the Nevada Museum of Art’s most important fundraiser, goes green in 2010 to support the museum’s education and exhibition programs as well as the environment. Billed the hottest art party in town, Taste for Art takes place from 6 to 9 p.m. on Friday at the Nevada Museum of Art at 160 W. Liberty St. in downtown Reno. The event will feature pairings from more than 45 local restaurants and wineries, along with a hosted martini lounge and beer garden, a stellar silent auction and live music from two local bands.

Every year, tickets purchased to A Taste For Art benefit the thousands of school children and guests that visit the museum through programming and events. This year’s “green” event features locally grown and organic foods, regional wines, local beer and exciting auction items including artwork from Nevada artists. In 2010, the museum is implementing reduced waste strategies, increased recycling efforts through Waste Management with Greenoloplis recycling machine on-site, no bottled water and many more environmentally friendly measures in order to support the environment and promote eco-consciousness among guests.

Carbon credits purchased by the Nevada Mining Association have been calculated to offset guests’ transportation to and from the event, food production, eating and drinking utensils as well as products, event décor and energy consumption by the Nevada Museum of Art, its guests and the live bands. This year the museum teams with Mary O’Brien Florist to use sustainably-farmed flowers and greenery for event decorations. Water bubblers will be introduced, rather than bottled water. 

“Our goal is to make this a carbon-free event, where all of the resources used for the event, vehicle miles traveled and energy expended at the facility will be offset by the purchase of carbon credits,” said David Walker, executive director and CEO for the Nevada Museum of Art. “This is a unique sponsorship opportunity with the Nevada Mining Association and, paired with the Million Tree Challenge, for each ticket sold a tree will be planted in Haiti to assist in the rebuilding of the country.”

Enjoy the fine art atmosphere, exhibitions and award-winning architecture filled with live music from the museum’s entrance to the rooftop. Restaurants include DISH Café, Washoe Steakhouse, Moody’s Bistro & Lounge and Manzanita at the Ritz-Carlton Highlands in Lake Tahoe. Tastings from more than 25 wineries, representing the West Coast wine regions, include Carrefour, Rombauer and Goulart.

A silent auction in the Reynolds Grand Hall provides participants the opportunity to bid on rare vintage wines, large format bottles, celebrity- and winemaker-signed bottles, a New Zealand travel package, Burning Man tickets and more. In keeping with the art theme, 10 works of art by locally-based and nationally-renowned artists including Joan élan Davis and John Bartlett will be up for bid. Guests also will be able to purchase their favorite wines sampled during the event through Whispering Vine Wine Co. offering cases of wine for discounted purchase to all ticket holders. New this year, guests will be able to mix cases and purchase up to 12 different bottles of premium wines per case.

A Taste for Art is sponsored by IGT, McDonald Carano Wilson LLP and Morrey Distributing. Additional support is being provided by The Charlie Palmer Group.

A Taste for Art takes place Friday. General admission tickets are $75 per person and $65 for museum members. Tickets can be purchased by visiting www.nevadaart.org/tickets. Space is limited, so all tickets are sold on a first-come, first-served basis. Summer evening cocktail attire is suggested. Proper identification is also required – no one under the age of 21 will be admitted. All proceeds benefit the education and exhibition programs at the museum, which serve more than 90,000 school children and guests each year.