'Believe' sculpture placed permanently in City Plaza

The "Believe" sculpture has hopped around for the past three years, but it finally has nestled into its permanent home.

Using cranes, city of Reno crews are relocating the former 2013 Burning Man sculpture from the ReTrac Plaza, near the Reno arch, to the City Plaza letter-by-letter on Monday and Tuesday.

The City Plaza, located at the corner of First Street and Virginia Street, is the former home of the historic Mapes Hotel. The sculpture formerly was in the same location in July 2014 to serve as the backdrop for the filming of the American Idol summer bus tour.

"Believe" is one of a series of 12-foot-high rustic, block letter word sculptures made of 4-foot-thick steel. In all, the letters span 70 feet together.

The city bought the sculpture for $70,000 last year after the Jeff Schomberg and Laura Klimpton piece was featured in the inaugural Reno Sculpture Fest in May 2015.

Since, it has been the centerpiece for downtown Reno, standing in the ReTrac Plaza on Virginia Street, attracting passersby to gather around it.

Schomberg and Klimpton began their word sculpture series in 2010 with "Mom." The first sculpture was followed by "Love," which the Paradise Ridge Winery out of Sonoma, Calif. purchased last year, and "Dream" which debuted at Burning Man last year and now is located in in Arlington, Texas.

Each of the sculptures has a rusty hue and is imprinted with hundreds of cutouts of birds. When Klimpton's father died several years ago, she watched a flock of birds fly by her father's window simultaneously. The bird stamp serves as a reminder of her father.

The "Believe" sculpture is one of several pieces of Burning Man art scattered around Reno. In all, the city is home to more than 170 pieces of public art, and the number is rising.

_________