Land Carson City art studio sits on for sale

Timeless Sculptures may be running out of time.

The art studio is located at the busy intersection of Highway 50 West and South Carson Street, on a triangle-shaped, 1.5-acre parcel now up for sale.

Matthew Welter, sculptor and owner, has been leasing the building on the land since 1999. With a sale pending, Welter is offering a tour on Thursday evening to give people a chance to see his work before it possibly leaves Carson City for good.

After the tour, he’s packing up nine pieces on his truck in preparation for Burning Man, where he has sculpted and burned some of his work for the last 10 years.

Six pieces will go on the central playa, said Welter, where they will be burned out in the tradition of the event, and three will be located at Camp Gallavant, a pirate-themed encampment.

Welter’s sculptures are big, from 8 to 30 feet high, and most are made from cedar. Many revolve around the theme of liberty.

“Freedom is the bread of life,” said Welter. “And liberty is the crust that protects it.”

He calls 15 pieces in his collection the Liberty (R)evolution. Welter has hopes of installing it as a public garden called Liberty Gateway, possibly at the current location if a friendly buyer purchases the property.

The Thursday tour will include the 10-foot Nexus, a Statue of Liberty sculpture, that was burned by an arsonist at the 2007 Burning Man, the same year the Man was attacked.

He now calls the work Reign of Anarchy, or Anarchy for short.

“I was still sculpting it,” said Welter. “All my tools were melted.”

Welter said he was inundated with emails and calls afterward and the Burning Man community banded together and helped him replace his equipment.

A 30-foot Statue of Liberty called Hand of Order, part of the Liberty (R)evolution collection, is also on view.

Another piece on the tour is Minute Man, a sculpture commissioned by Jim Marshall.

“The Minute Men were dedicated to the cause of liberty,” said Welter. “Without them we’d be a British colony.”

After commissioning the piece, Marshall’s health began to fail, and he soon died.

“He wanted me to have it,” said Welter. “It is very meaningful to me.”

To take the tour, being held Thursday at 7 p.m., contact Welter at 775-230-1718 or timeless.sculptures@gmail.com.