Artist, civic leader Thelma Calhoun dies

Ed Koch and Cy Ryan

Wednesday, Oct. 28, 1998 | 11:57 a.m.

Thelma Davis Calhoun, a former Carson City councilwoman who worked on numerous state committees and was instrumental in preserving art and history in Northern Nevada, has died. She was 85.

Calhoun, a well-known Nevada artist, died Sunday at Life Care Center in Reno.

Calhoun spearheaded efforts to get legislation passed to create the State Council on the Arts and procure the public works grant for the Brewery Arts Center at 449 W. King St. in Carson City.

A tribute to celebrate Calhoun's life will be held at the Brewery Arts Center at 1:30 p.m. on Nov. 14.

Calhoun served on the Carson City Council from 1967 to 1969 and the Carson City Board of Supervisors from 1975 to 1978. Her gubernatorial appointments included the Virginia City Centennial Commission, State Land Commission and the Nevada State Council on the Arts. She was known for her efforts to preserve historic buildings and for fights to maintain open spaces.

Calhoun also served on the Nevada Day Committee for 12 years. Her death came just six days before the 134th anniversary of Nevada's statehood.

Her paintings covered a variety of subjects, including the historic homes in Carson City. In 1989, she received the "Governor's Art Award" for distinguished service to the arts. She was a member of the Nevada State Council on the Arts from 1967 to 1969, again in 1972 and then from 1982 to 1988.

James McCormick, professor emeritus of art at the University of Nevada, Reno, said Calhoun turned out thousands of paintings and drawings during her life. Most were of landscapes and architecture.

"One of her lasting gifts to Nevada is her documentation of old Nevada buildings -- homes, businesses and state building, many of which no longer exist," McCormick said.

She was born in Warren, Ohio, Aug. 19, 1913, to Grant F. and Mary Harrah Davis.

In 1940, Thelma and Jim and their two small children became Nevada residents when they exhausted their gas ration stamps in Carson City.

Calhoun's other jobs included assistant to the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, deputy to the Director of Indian Education, research assistant in the first Legislative Counsel Bureaus in 1948, and U.S. Deputy Marshal.

She also served on the Carson City Tourism Authority, Senior Citizen Advisory Committee, Carson-Tahoe Hospital Fund Raising Committee, Carson City Growth Management Committee and Carson City Planning Commission.

Her awards included the Distinguished Nevadan Award at UNR in 1978, Carson City Chamber of Commerce "Women of the Years" Award in 1979, and the Carson City Board of Supervisors Citizenship Award and Key to the City award in 1988.

Her late husband, Jim Calhoun, was director of the Nevada State Museum from 1951 to 1973, when he retired. He preceded her in death in 1993. Her brother, Grant Davis, and sister, Betty Barney, also preceded her in death.

Calhoun is survived by her daughter, Patricia Ariaz of Reno; a son, James Grant of Carson City, and five grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

DONATIONS: In Calhoun's memory to the Brewery Arts Center or the Nevada State Museum.