Art and nature hike in September

Experience art and nature in a completely new way during the Trails and Vistas "Reflections and Rhythms" art hike on Sept. 17 or Sept. 18 at Spooner Lake in the Lake Tahoe-Nevada State Park. Tickets are available at www.trailsandvistas.org. The cost is $30 for adults and $10 for children when purchased before Sept. 1.

"The purpose of Trails and Vistas is to reestablish bonds between individuals and between individuals and nature," Trails and Vistas Artistic Director, Nancy Tieken Lopez, said. "Nature belongs to all of us and putting art in this context changes the experience and the audience."

Musicians, poets, sculptors, dancers and performers interact with participants to create a cherished experience between people and between individuals and place. In "Reflections and Rhythms," audience members will walk along a gentle two and a half mile single-track trail, with an experienced guide, pausing at creative, artistic expressions.

While earning her masters in fine arts degree at San Jose State University, Lopez's thesis project was Spring Streams, an art hike held at Alum Rock State Park. Spring Streams evolved into the Truckee-based nonprofit organization now called Trails and Vistas. Today the art hike, in its eighth season, is collaboration between artists and nonprofit collaborators including the Truckee Donner Land Trust, InnerRhythms Dance Theatre and the KidZone Children's Museum. Trails and Vistas 2011 sponsors include Christina and Kent Young of The Richardson House, For Goodness Sake, Cedar House Sport Hotel, and Tahoe Mountain Resorts Foundation.