Whip Craft: Illegal Art in Downtown Reno
March 13 – April 18, 2026
Around 2017, the sonic booms of bullwhips became ubiquitous in downtown Reno. Over the coming years, this underground culture of handcraft braiding and wrapping, completed by some of Reno’s most vulnerable residents living on the banks of the Truckee River, would become a flashpoint in the city’s housing crisis.
Unlike traditional bullwhips, which are typically made of leather or rawhide (and, for Australian whips, kangaroo hide), the bullwhips of Reno’s unhoused community are made with scavenged materials, including string, rope, chain, and, on most of them, neon and day glow shades of para-cord. This exhibit will feature whips as art objects and tell the story of their unlikely origins and criminalization.
Whip Craft comes from The Department of Theoretical Public Works, a new artist collective based in the American West. This collaboration features exhibit designer Eleanor Qull (independent designer, sound artist, and maker), and Fil Corbitt (radio journalist and audio artist // The Wind, NPR, BBC, 99% Invisible, Snap Judgement, Radiophrenia).
