May 2026

Read along monthly as we celebrate creativity, local events, shared stories, opportunities and artist spotlights.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month

As we step into May, we’re taking a moment to recognize Mental Health Awareness Month and the powerful role art and creativity plays in our well-being. Whether it’s pausing in front of a public art installation downtown, losing yourself in live music at a local open mic, or simply making something with your hands, the arts offer space to process, connect, and reset. In a place like Truckee, where community and environment are so deeply intertwined, those meditative moments matter.

Two weeks ago, we joined partners from across the state at Arts Advocacy Day at the California State Capitol, including our colleagues at Nevada County Arts & Culture. Over three days of convening, meetings, and a statewide rally, we stood alongside fellow advocates to champion increased funding for the California Arts Council and to highlight the real impact that creative workforce investment has on communities like ours. As a rural region, showing up truly matters. Support for the arts fuels our local economies, strengthens tourism, sustains artists and venues, and helps ensure places like Truckee remain vibrant, healthy and not overlooked in California’s creative future.

Following the rally, we joined delegations visiting Senate and Assembly offices to advocate for increasing the California Arts Council’s budget to $50 million in its 50th year. Kellie had the honor of attended the California Arts Council 50th Anniversary Awards Ceremony on Monday, April 20. 

You may also notice that things are looking a little different around here. The Truckee Cultural District, alongside Nevada County Arts & Culture and our sister district Grass Valley-Nevada City Cultural District, has quietly rolled out a refreshed visual identity. With a shared foundation—and a bold new red—this update reflects a deeper alignment across our region while still celebrating the distinct character of each community we serve.

Thanks for being part of it.

Spring Events

Check here each month to find updates on literary happenings in Truckee and throughout
Nevada County!

The next free Creative Writing Workshop at the Truckee Library, 10031 Levon Ave, is on May 1, Friday morning from 10:30-noon. These workshops are open to all ages and all levels of experience. Join me!

On May 14th, the next Tangled Roots Open Mic & Reading series at Alibi Ale Works in downtown Truckee will feature local author and Poet Laureate Emerita Molly Fisk reading from her latest book release, Walking Wheel, a novel in verse. Following Molly’s reading, the open mic invites poetry and prose writers as well as singer songwriters up to the stage. This event runs 6-7:30pm at 10069 Bridge St, Truckee.

On May 16, Trails & Vistas is sponsoring a special opportunity for teens in Truckee. Poet Petra Molina and myself will be offering workshops on generating new poems and learning techniques for revision at the Church of the Mountains from 10 am–3:30 pm. The free event is called Teen Poetry Workshop: From Generation to Revision – Come Find your Inner Poet. 

→ Come Find your Inner Poet

Karen Terrey is a writing coach, editor, poet, owner of Tangled Roots Writing and the Nevada County Poet Laureate.