BELIEVE 70-foot sculpture (City Plaza)

Reno, Nevada, United States

Public art

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Listed, not yet checked · Oct 2026

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BELIEVE is a 70-foot-long mild-steel word sculpture on City Plaza beside the Truckee River in downtown Reno, Nevada. Made by Laura Kimpton and Jeff Schomberg and shown at Burning Man in 2013, it was bought by the City of Reno and moved to the plaza in May 2016.

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BELIEVE 70-foot sculpture (City Plaza)

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Approximate location · 39.530° N, 119.814° W

FIELD GUIDE

The story

Downtown Reno has a one-word motto in letters 12 feet tall, brought in from the Nevada desert.

BELIEVE stands on City Plaza, at First and Virginia Streets beside the Truckee River, where Visit Reno Tahoe lists it with the Space Whale, another sculpture that began at Burning Man. According to the City of Reno's 2015 announcement, officials first noticed it at Burning Man in 2013. It is 70 feet long and made of mild steel, with letters 12 feet tall, 7 to 10 feet wide and 4 feet deep. Each letter is cut with bird shapes, and Visit Reno Tahoe says it belongs to a series of word sculptures that includes MOM, LOVE and DREAM.

Credit varies. The city's release says BELIEVE was designed by Laura Kimpton in collaboration with Jeff Schomberg. KOLO described Kimpton as its creator and Schomberg as its fabricator, while KUNR credited it to Schomberg alone.

The city first showed it on the plaza in July 2014 as the backdrop for an American Idol photo shoot, then bought it and dedicated it on 31 December 2015 on a temporary site on the ReTRAC plaza near the Reno Arch. It was moved to City Plaza on 24 May 2016 and lit that evening, with a $15,000 NV Energy donation approved for the lighting. YESCO, the installer, says the lighting was set up with seven pre-programmed shows.

The plaza has gone by other names: KUNR called it Art Plaza in 2016, and KOLO called it Believe Plaza in June 2026. KUNR notes it stands where the Mapes Hotel was before its demolition in 2000. KOLO reported in 2016 that the Virginia Street Bridge art, which includes topographic maps, was at water level behind the sculpture.

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WHAT TO EXPECT

An open downtown plaza on the Truckee River; the sculpture was lit when installed in May 2016 and installer YESCO describes it as fitted with colour-changing lighting. The Space Whale sculpture stands on the same plaza.

ACCESS

City Plaza, corner of First and Virginia Streets in downtown Reno, beside the Truckee River. An open public plaza; KOLO reported in 2016 that the Virginia Street Bridge art could be reached at water level behind the sculpture.

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