- In this edition of ARTEFFECTS, celebrating a groundbreaking architect through photography.

- Paul Revere Williams put his ego aside to navigate through racial barriers to give everyone of every socioeconomic class the comfort of a home.

- [Beth] And an award-winning magazine for the next generation.

- We have to be dynamic, we have to adapt to what's going on in the world, and yet the foundational values and principles, our commitment to children remains the same as it was at day one.

- It's all ahead on this edition of ARTEFFECTS.

(bright jazzy music) - [Announcer] Funding for ARTEFFECTS is made possible by Sandy Raffealli with Bill Pearce Motors.

Meg and Dillard Myers.

The Nevada Arts Council.

Heidemarie Rochlin.

In memory of Sue McDowell.

And by the annual contributions of PBS Reno Members.

- Hello, I'm Beth Macmillan, and welcome to ARTEFFECTS.

Nearly 100 years ago, a groundbreaking architect named Paul Revere Williams started his professional journey in Los Angeles.

Over the course of his illustrious career, Williams designed more then 3,000 homes and other buildings.

His journey eventually brought him to Nevada, where he designed many eye-catching structures that we pass by every day.

And now, the Nevada Museum of Art has a new exhibit featuring beautiful contemporary photographs by Janna Ireland that celebrate the work of Paul Revere Williams.

- Paul Revere Williams designed structures that everyone uses throughout their daily lives.

- He goes beyond designing wonderful structures.

He goes into designing communities.

- The thing about his body of work is this extreme attention to detail.

The quality is consistent.

- Williams was really a master, not just at giving his clients everything that they wanted but specifically tailoring his design so beautifully, whether that was a mansion in Beverly Hills or a ranch house in Nevada.

- He put his ego aside to navigate through racial barriers to give everyone of every socioeconomic class the comfort of a home.

I feel that every Nevadan should realize that Paul Revere Williams was a genius that stands the test of time.

(jazzy music) Paul Revere Williams was born in 1894 in Los Angeles, California.

In 1919, he graduated from USC with an architectural engineering degree becoming the first African American graduate of the university.

In 1923, he joined the American Institute of Architects becoming the first African American member of that institute.

Some of the designs that he focused on are Mediterranean, Spanish, Colonial, Neoclassical, and after World War II, he focused more on Mid-century modern.

I'm Carmen Beals, and I am the curator of the exhibition, "Janna Ireland on the Architectural Legacy of Paul Revere Williams in Nevada."

You'll be able to understand the rich history of designs by Mr. Paul Revere Williams.

And you will be able to see it through a unique lens of contemporary art developed by artist and educator, Janna Ireland.

- A lot of my work is about people, whether that is human relationships or the built environment that people create for themselves.

- She has this beautiful, profound way of capturing a linear design, something that's very signature of his piece, such as a curve or a window that has natural light beaming into a specific facility followed by this gorgeous shadow that creates a rich moodiness.

- [Janna] For the exhibition, I came back to Las Vegas.

I also visited Reno and some small cities outside of Reno.

- Janna and I had the fabulous opportunity to visit each of these sites together.

- For me, it was this really exciting opportunity to do this new body of work, to meet these new people, to learn about and really study another person who I wouldn't have thought to look into on my own and to learn a lot about the field of architecture.

- Paul Revere Williams began working in Nevada with his first project in 1934 which was a commission by Miss Luella Garvey.

- Carmen and I showed up hoping to photograph the outside.

And then we met someone who introduced us to someone else and we were able to just photograph it on the spot which is one of the wonderful surprises of working on this project.

- [Carmen] Some of the characteristics of the Garvey residents include iron work in its exterior.

It has the beautiful signature staircases that Paul Revere Williams is known for.

It has many large windows to capture the natural lighting and it is a wonderful L-shaped property that is made in a Colonial Revival style.

- I am very drawn to shadow.

I'm drawn to the way light comes through a particular window at a particular time of day.

I'm drawn to the way that the corners of a room might come together or to things like the place between two rooms where you can see the flooring change from one kind to another.

Just the seams of it, I think are what I keep looking at.

Rancho San Rafael was the first place that I visited in Reno.

So my first morning there, I got into Carmen's car and we drove out there.

- In 1936, Dr. Raphael Herman, his brother, Norman Herman, and his brother's wife purchased 375 acres of land right outside of Reno.

They immediately named it Rancho San Rafael.

They were able to connect with Williams to commission him to design their property.

- The Herman house is a really good example of how Williams was very precise in his architectural drawings of delineating very specific character defining features.

And that's found in everything from the curvature on the mantle to the pediment above the doorways and even the specific design of the iron work in the staircase.

- Photographing in black and white really allows me to focus on the architecture and kind of strip out detail that I feel is extraneous, whether that is color or texture or furniture.

It's just one way to zero in on what I'm really looking at.

Another really neat set of properties that I photographed was the El Reno Apartments.

- We're in one of the El Reno Apartments, which are actually self-contained homes but they were treated as apartments when they were built in Reno in 1937.

One of the things that makes these homes so unique is that they look from the outside like they're made of wood when it's actually steel.

These Lea Steel Homes came out of this philosophy that good architecture should be available to everyone.

- The ones that we were able to visit are being used in really different ways which is something that was really interesting to me.

So there are some that are private homes.

There are some that are kind of abandoned.

Nothing's really being done with.

Maybe they need some extra care.

There is one that is sort of half museum, half office space.

Another one is a restaurant.

So it was fun to travel around the city and look at these different places.

And the way that the same architecture is just being used to do different things and seeing the same architectural details repeat in these different contexts.

- The First Church of Christ, Scientist is another Paul Revere Williams facility.

Today it's known as the Lear Theater.

It's located downtown along the Truckee River.

It has twin balustrades that lead up to a beautiful entry portico.

And the facility is supported by four thin columns.

As you go into the facility is two stories and you can see his signature elements of bringing in natural light that bathes the walls.

Janna and I went to visit Central Nevada Circle L Ranch, the Tharpe Residence, along with the Lovelock Inn, which still stands today.

- The experience of getting into the car and seeing this brand new landscape, trying to find Dyer, Nevada, this little town that I hadn't heard of before and then having the opportunity to spend hours and hours wandering around this unfamiliar space, which is something that is exciting to me every time I get to do it.

- Las Vegas was an area in the middle of the Mojave Desert.

It was almost primitive in the beginning.

Paul R. Williams comes here and is able to take a place like that and not just construct buildings and communities to house people, but he was able to construct buildings on the Las Vegas Strip.

There are two places that Paul R. Williams designed that are just amazing.

One is the La Concha hotel lobby.

- The building is a architectural style called Googie architecture, which is this really fascinating jet aged, sleek futuristic style.

- That lobby is amazing.

It shows what Las Vegas can be.

It shows what the future is of the Las Vegas Strip.

There is also another thing that he did and this is not just because it's so elegant but because he did it for the African American community, Berkley Square.

- Berkley Square is the first middle class suburb of Las Vegas.

And it's located in the historic west side which is the community that was segregated in red line for people of color to stay.

- [Claytee] The 148 houses are three bedroom, two bathroom.

- The homes are single-story homes and they have low-pitched roofs.

- And these were designed for middle class Black Americans who didn't really have any development in the west side community that they could really buy into.

- [Janna] I think this building that we're in right now, the Guardian Angel Cathedral, has been my favorite building to photograph in Southern Nevada.

One thing that I really love about this building is the way that the art and the architecture feel so firmly integrated.

- [Carmen] The stained-glass and mosaics were designed by the Piczek sisters, Isabel and Edith Piczek.

- My favorite window personally is the window directly behind me in the sanctuary on the south side.

It shows casinos that were the neighbors of this building when this building was built.

It's a threshold between what was, what is, and in the eyes of faith, what will be.

And I think that speaks well of how architecture serves both the function that it needs to serve to be a worthy place for people to gather but also forms its own identity as part of what it is in a living metaphor.

- I am hoping that this exhibit is just going to blow your mind and just teach us something.

- It's only by learning more about the incredible architecture of Williams in Nevada that we can gain more appreciation for that architecture, for its beauty and for the momentous life of Paul Revere Williams and everything that he can teach us.

- If you think about it, a lot of the designs that he has, they were so superior that they are still standing today and we are still talking about them right now.

- I hope that people see this as just kind of the tip of the iceberg, that it is a little tiny introduction to this enormous body of work that Paul Williams put out in his lifetime.

I also hope that people understand it as my interpretation of the work and that they realize that if they visited these spaces, they would see completely different things and have a completely different experience of the work.

- The exhibit "Janna Ireland on the architectural legacy of Paul Revere Williams in Nevada" will be on display at the Nevada Museum of Art until October 2nd.

After that, it will head to Nevada State Museum Las Vegas at the Springs Preserve and will open December 3rd through May 30th, 2023.

To learn more, visit nevadaart.org.

Since its founding in 1946, Highlights magazine has been committed to helping children learn and grow.

Using their imaginations, the Highlights team creates engaging stories, puzzles, and more for their readers.

Let's visit the Highlights magazine headquarters in Columbus, Ohio, and learn more about the magazine, its history, and its effect on children.

(baby laughing) - [Andy] That infectious laugh belongs to Josie Bailey.

She's a rambunctious four-year-old who loves playing with her younger brother in her backyard, just outside of Columbus.

It's sometimes a challenge though, to get Josie to slow down and take a break.

But one thing that manages to capture her attention is a magazine.

- It's so pretty.

- [Andy] It's called High Five and it's the younger sister publication to the long running Highlights magazine.

- Josie will look at the same magazine every day and find new stuff.

She gets really excited just recognizing different animals in the magazine.

- And foxes and bunnies.

(indistinct) - Josie really loves taking a marker or pen and she likes to draw her own illustrations.

- He has two eyeballs in there.

- [Andy] Something that the Baileys love is that they also read Highlights growing up.

- I think the coolest thing about Highlights magazine is it still looks the same, it still feels the same.

So whereas a lot of other things have kind of changed over time, I feel like they're enjoying the same magazine that we enjoyed as kids.

- Hopefully they'll turn out as great as us.

- [Andy] That same look and feel Mallory describes isn't an accident.

- There are certain things that appear in every issue of Highlights.

We call those our legacy features and they're non-negotiable, they're in each issue.

So for example, we always have a hidden picture in every issue of Highlights.

In fact, there's been a hidden picture in every issue of Highlights since June 1946, the very first one.

- [Andy] You heard it right.

June 1946, nearly 75 years ago, Highlights debuted its first magazine and its longest running feature: hidden pictures, the visual puzzle that pushes kids to focus and find small pictures inside a larger scene.

And that's not the only feature to stay consistent for generations.

Still, in every issue is The Timbertoes.

A simple illustrated story centered around a wood carved family, which debuted in Highlights in 1951.

And of course, the wholesome Goofus and Gallant, a comic featuring two contrasting characters, Goofus, modeling bad behavior, and Gallant, modeling good.

They first appeared in the pages of Highlights in 1948, and are still a legacy feature today.

- Goofus and Gallant in 1951, Goofus and Gallant 2019, there is an evolution in animation and everything but there's still a very common theme between the two of them.

- Part of its appeal to young children is its lack of ambiguity.

I mean, it's a little black and white.

It's practice for the big harder moral decisions that are gonna come later.

I love that kids still love it today.

- We're always aspiring to be our Gallant, but also if I do something that's a little Goofus, how do I make up for it?

How do I apologize?

How do I make things right?

- [Andy] Highlights CEO Kent Johnson knows a thing or two about Goofus and Gallant, his great grandfather, Dr. Garry Cleveland Meyers created the comic and founded Highlights magazine with his wife Caroline, just after World War II.

- I like to say I did everything I could in my life to not join the family business and I failed at it.

- [Andy] According to Johnson, the mission of the business he runs today, headquartered in Columbus has essentially stayed the same.

- We have to be dynamic, we have to adapt to what's going on in the world, and yet the foundational values and principles, our commitment to children remains the same as it was at day one.

- [Andy] Something else that hasn't changed according to Johnson, kids.

- I think adults believe that everything's changed for kids, the world's changed so quickly, like being a child now is gonna be so different.

We've got devices, and it's busy and all of these things.

But what we know is kids still have some of the same issues they've had since 1946.

How do I get along with my siblings?

What happens when I have a falling out with my best friend?

Those things are universal, those things aren't changing.

And French colleagues says Highlights knows kids well, not through consultants or focus groups, but by communicating directly with them the old fashioned way.

- How do you find out what kids want to see?

- One of the things we do that I think is the best way to keep our fingers on the pulse of our readers is that we answer every letter and email we get from children, and we've done that for years.

You might be surprised to see the kinds of letters we get from kids.

They write to us about their deeply held hopes and dreams and fears, it's as if we are their really, very best friends.

We learn a lot about kids from what kids tell us.

I think we really are the publisher with the most authentic dialogue with kids.

- [Andy] Rather than take their word for it, we decided to visit our own panel of experts.

We're talking about Highlights magazines.

Has anybody seen Highlights magazine before?

Yeah?

Well, we have a bunch of Highlights magazines for you to read today, and then after a little bit, we're gonna talk to you a little bit more.

Does that sound good to you?

- [Children] Yeah.

- Okay, cool.

Miss Burkehalters' third grade class at Evening Street Elementary School not too far from Highlights headquarters had a lot to say about the magazine.

- God, look at it!

- I learned about the sea slug because I didn't know about this yet.

- I liked how it has like articles and then it also has stuff that you can make and it has little word searches.

- I like Goofus and Gallant because Goofus shows you him misbehaving and Gallant is showing you how to behave.

- They always have a couple silly things in there.

There's also some serious things like, oh, this is funny.

- [Andy] But they were pretty unanimous about what they liked best.

- I like the Hidden Pictures, there's the butterfly back there.

Well, I like them because you have to focus on the little things instead of just the big things around.

- For the hidden pictures, it's not easy, like it's not in like a corner like a corner, it's like in people, or on people.

- It's challenging and it's fun.

- [Andy] Hidden pictures, the longest running feature in the magazine, was also the most popular among this crowd.

Miss Burkhalter's class was no stranger to the magazine.

In fact, it's been a familiar sight in classrooms and in doctors' offices by design since the 1950s.

- So the dentist's office, the school program, those were ways to reach kids where they are.

- [Andy] But being where the kids are, in an increasingly digital world means expanding beyond the physical pages of a magazine.

- We get to play games, the majority of our day, so can't complain about that.

In terms of digital, we definitely bring the same experience that the magazine brings to life in a digital format.

We are creating those deeply engaging, fun, enriching experiences.

It just happens to be in a different medium.

- [Andy] Highlights has two websites, a podcast, a handful of apps and is further expanding its digital presence, one feature that's translated seamlessly to digital media?

- See how bad I am at it?

(laughs) - That's right, hidden pictures.

We've seen through a lot of companies who find success in evolving and growing but there's also this push pull of not straying too far from your original message, not straying too far.

So how do you deal with that push pull?

- So I often say inside of the company, I say we're not a magazine company, and in fact, we never were.

People look at me and say, "What are you talking about?

"You started as a magazine."

And I think the founders were about the impact they wanted to have on children.

So if we keep in mind that we're not committed to magazines, we're not committed to a particular channel, we're not committed to a certain product type or technology.

What we're committed to is making a positive impact on children.

That frees us up to think what has to stay the same?

Certain values, certain beliefs about children stay the same, everything else can change.

- Oh, I like this.

- To learn more, visit highlights.com.

Before we wrap up the episode, I want to take a moment to tell you about another way that you can entertain your curiosity about the arts in our region with Art Views.

pbsreno.org has launched a brand new online writing column we're calling Art Views, featuring contributions from local arts leaders posted online every week.

Rosine Bena, Founder and Artistic Director of Sierra Nevada Ballet; Scott Faulkner, the principal double bassist of the Reno Phil and Reno Chamber Orchestra; Steve Trounday, published author of three mystery and thriller books; and Chuck Reider, a founding member of the Reno Jazz Orchestra.

Each of these talented professionals represent a rich variety of backgrounds in the arts.

If you enjoy ARTEFFECTS, then you'll also enjoy Art Views, posted every week on pbsreno.org/artviews.

And that wraps it up for this edition of ARTEFFECTS.

For more arts and culture, and to watch past episodes, head to pbsreno.org/ARTEFFECTS.

Until next week, I'm Beth Macmillan.

Thanks for watching.

- [Announcer] Funding for ARTEFFECTS is made possible by Sandy Raffealli with Bill Pearce Motors.

Meg and Dillard Myers.

The Nevada Arts Council.

Heidemarie Rochlin.

In memory of Sue McDowell.

And by the annual contributions of PBS Reno Members.

(bright jazzy music)