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So, by now maybe you have attended a great event at Wingfield Park, or maybe you have been meaning to go to some Artown production, but your summer is getting in the way. I’d like to give you a small nudge to keep going if you are an Artown veteran and to venture out if you haven’t done so already. With so many wonderful visual, literary, music, theater and dance performances happening during the next two weeks, there really is something for everyone.

While Reno’s Wingfield Park remains the heart of Artown’s free programming, there are other venues to explore, too. I like to get the Little Book of Artown and sit with it at the beginning of the month circling events like a kid with a Sears catalog. We love the Monday night Family Series (Monday’s “Story Pirates” will be amazing) and the Friday night movies (“The Iron Giant” is a classic animated tale with a great message) — those are our touchstones, and if you have small ones in your household, I suggest a big blanket, some munchies brought from home or purchased on site and low-back chairs for the best seats in the house.

I would be remiss if I did not mention what Sierra Arts is up to during Artown. We invite you to three different performance series for Artown 2013 at our downtown gallery, 17 S. Virginia St., No. 120 in the historic Riverside building. Tuesday nights will feature Spoken Views Collective, Reno’s premier spoken word poetry collective and hosts of Reno’s longest running poetry open mic, profiling five local performer/writers. Wednesdays see the return of Jazz Night and five different artists and groups. Thursday nights continue the new Concerts at the Riverside series seen monthly throughout the year but switching to a weekly showing of three local singer/songwriters.

The Series Schedule: Spoken Word Nights, Tuesdays: July 23 with Elisa Garcia, July 30 with Steve Elegant. Jazz Nights, Wednesdays: July 24 with Erika Paul Carlson, July 31 with Judith Ames. Concerts at the Riverside on July 25: Colin Ross. All performances are free and run from 6 to 8 p.m.

This year, closing night at Wingfield Park is going to be a party for the ears, heart and soul with Shuggie Otis. Otis is back out on tour with a vengeance, laying down R&B, rock and blues with his signature amazing guitar sound. He will put Artown 2013 to bed with a rattle and roar.

Artown brings together our art community, raises the level of awareness for our great local producing organizations, provides opportunities for audience growth and development and clearly puts Reno at the top end of the festival scale nationally. Don’t let another Artown pass you by without making some time to enjoy our fair city and the talent we nurture here.

For more information, go to www.renoisartown.com.

Originally written for the Reno Gazette Journal.