Bullfrog Rock

Nestled in the Bullfrog Hills above the Ghost Town of Rhyolite, Nevada, is The Goldwell Open Air Museum. It was created to “Preserve, present and encourage artistic exploration”.

"Bullfrog Rock" is a sculpture I designed in my Intermediate Sculpture class at UNLV. Through this class, I was invited to create a work of art for an outdoor exhibition at The Goldwell Open Air Museum. The assignment was to create a site specific work of art that would interpret the theme of:

Mining the Landscape, Mining History, Mining the Soul.

When viewing mining from a cultural point of view a number of ideas arise - for instance, what impact did the mining industry have on the landscape itself, what about the history of the region: indigenous people, early settlers, boomtowns, railroads... Mining is an environmental issue too, an ecological issue... Mining can be approached on an emotional level, what depths can we reach when mining our emotions - how do any of these things relate to art?

I chose to mine for history. This Google Site is a compilation of historical treasures that testify of the people who established then abandoned the town, the practice of mining and what that did to the economy in the late 19th Century, how Rhyolite has evolved since its demise and other tidbits - mostly related to frogs.

The curious concrete bullfrog sculpture will live in the desert for a time - it will lead curious museum goers to this site, which is dedicated to informing visitors about why a “Bullfrog Rock” has anything to do with mining.

Please feel free to drop me a line if you have any questions, comments or suggestions. Thanks for visiting ! Anne Savage, annewsavage@gmail.com