Mary McNair Mathews' memoir, Ten Years in Nevada or Life on the Pacific Coast, established her as an early chronicler of life in Virginia City, Nevada. Mathews was born in western New York in 1834 and attended Oberlin College in Ohio.

Mary Chadwell's distinctive miniature paintings have been shown in countless exhibits in Nevada and across the United States, including the Smithsonian Institution. Her skills as a miniaturist, including resilient eyesight, dexterity, and patience, are reflected in still lifes including locales ranging from Lake Tahoe to Pyramid Lake to Lamoille Canyon and in studies of Nevada characters.

Lyle Ball (1909-1992) was one of the most prolific painters in the history of the visual arts in Nevada. Following his retirement in 1968 as owner of the Ball Sign Company in Reno, Ball pursued a second career painting architectural landmarks throughout northern Nevada. He was often referred to as an "artist-historian." 

During the thirty-five years he owned Ball Sign Company, Ball usually laid out the designs for his clients' signs in watercolor, a medium that he would explore more freely in his retirement years. 

The University of Nevada, Las Vegas first opened its doors in 1965 as Nevada Southern University, a branch of the University of Nevada, Reno. The Department of Art began its mission by offering service courses for other disciplines with its four faculty members Rita Deanin Abbey, Eric Gronberg, Peter Myer, and Dick Wist. The program, along with the Department of Music, Speech and Theater, was housed in Archie Grant Hall, one of the first buildings on campus, constructed in 1959.