- In this edition of ARTEFFECTS, go behind the scenes into a haunted house.

- [Holly] You will encounter monsters jumping out at every corner to give you a Halloween experience.

- [Beth] Meet an artist whose creations are the melding of art and science.

- When I started doing the bronze, everything just kind of clicked as something I enjoyed doing.

- [Beth] A theater company through the years.

- The biggest impact is that the presentations that we bring to the stage is the plays, is the playwrights.

- [Beth] And a look at Halloween paper mache.

(playful spooky music) - [Joanna] Our theme for the studio is basically Scarecrow Jo's Studio where every day is Halloween.

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

(bright upbeat jazz 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.

Once the leaves start to change and a chill Lingers in the air, you know it's approaching that time of year when ghosts and ghouls come out to play.

This year a team of dedicated artists have worked for months to put together a haunted experience in the heart of Reno.

One of these artists is ARTEFFECTS producer Guinevere Clark, whom you can see in the haunt as a scare actor.

Let's go behind the scenes with Guinevere and see how the Dark Corner Haunt came about.

- The story you are about to see may contain graphic images of blood, gore, flashing lights and sharp noises.

But hey, it's all in fun.

(upbeat pop music) - [Guinevere] Hi there, my name is Guinevere Clark and I'm a PBS Reno content creator.

I'm about to go inside the Dark Corner Haunt in downtown Reno at the National Bowling Stadium.

As a scare actor for this haunt, I get to take you behind the scenes with me.

So come on, let's go.

So we just got a tour of the place, walking around now, getting a feel for it.

This is gonna be really cool.

Like, they put a ton of work into this place.

It's gonna be awesome.

I'm really looking forward to opening night when we get to scarce some people.

But in the meantime, let's meet the artist who organized this whole thing and put it all together.

- I'm an artist.

I went to art school at Savannah College of Art and Design for fine art sculpture, and during college I got involved in Netherworld Haunted House.

Little did I know, I was working for one of the most wonderful and elaborate productions in the haunt industry.

This form of creativity and the people I met and the family that I got out of it and the way it helped me push my creative endeavors, has always affected me as an artist.

The people you can meet and the friendships you can make and, really, the family environment that I have had working in the haunt industry is something I want to bring to Reno.

Junkee's Dark Corner Haunt is an elaborate, immersive walkthrough experience for Halloween lovers.

It will be a theatrical production where you walk through sets and fabricated environments where you will encounter theatrical trained actors and monsters jumping out at every corner to give you a thrill and a Halloween experience.

- [Jonathan] This year we'll be located in the National Bowling Stadium, downtown Reno.

It's a great location.

It's in a building that a lot of people know about, but drive by and have never been in.

- [Holly] The plot of Junkee's Dark Corner Haunt takes place in a haunted antique mall.

So the audience will go through an antique mall, reach some tragedy in the storyline, and wake up in the hospital where Dr. Stain will bring them back to life and the audience will escape the hospital to get out of the haunted house.

In this show, everything you're gonna see was created or fabricated by us.

We made the walls, we've fabricated the props, we've built the pneumatics, we've distressed the deco.

I think we decided to do it in February of 2022 and we hit the gas pedal in March.

- I've been hard at this since June with them nonstop, pretty much every weekend, every available time that I get.

I've helped out with building, fabricating.

I've helped design one of the major scenes here.

I've also helped with wiring, electronics, speakers.

Yeah, everything.

- [Holly] Wynn, who's gonna edit this video that you're watching now, has been on the team since the middle of the summer, as well.

And as a scare actor, you're gonna see her implanting some of the storyline into your head At the beginning of the haunt.

We learned from Hollywood Set Design how to make walls.

So they're built in a panel construction that's lightweight and bolted together where they can move in any placement we need them to.

So in following years, we could redesign this haunt with a different wall layout.

Since spring, we've been working on fabricating props so we could decorate in between the walls.

And quickly after that we knew, because we wanted to be an actor-driven show, we would need an amazing cast.

So we quickly started calling out for anyone interested in being a scare actor.

- Well, downtown Reno is literally buzzing with street vibrations.

We are at the National Bowling Stadium today for the first official day of training.

Very exciting.

Very excited to see how the haunt goes, and yeah, should be fun.

- [Jonathan] What makes a good scare actor is somebody who's willing to just wait for the perfect moment.

Who's willing to sit there and watch the crowds and learn from the reactions and know that, oh, I scared the front of the group this time, didn't quite work.

And then wait, scares the middle of the group next time.

Oh, that worked a little better.

Learns and grows and adapts.

(Guinevere laughs) At the end of season, that final walkthrough, when you go through and you see it all together, it's really magical.

You can transport people and take them to a different place.

You can suspend their disbelief for, you know, 20 minutes and scare the crap out of 'em.

(gentle uplifting music) Some people haunt one day a year, and some of us, we haunt 365 days a year, just one day a little bit more.

Getting a bunch of people who come together and they have a collective goal to make something cool and fun and an experience for other people and watching all of these people come together to make this is just absolutely the best part to me.

- [Holly] Being here, I want it to be a safe place and a family environment and where people that feel like maybe they're weirdos or outcasts or artists or just not like everyone else, can come and meet people the same and different as them and be accepted.

- [Jonathan] And some people are more actors.

Some people are more makeup, some people are more design and build.

Some people are more deco.

There's all these different facets, though, that bring everybody together.

And by the end of the season, you always walk away with a friend or two, if not a family of a whole bunch of people who love you for the creativeness that you are or the acting that you do, or the, you know, something that makes you, you.

I want everybody to know that, like, this is just year one and it only gets better from here.

So I have high hopes that all of us in the future are gonna keep scaring Reno's pants off.

- It's really incredible what we've pulled off this year.

We've all worked so hard and I can't say thank you enough to my team who's helped me put this together and has really seen the vision and helped make it a reality.

- This experience has been way more creative than I ever would've imagined.

I hope the special behind the scenes look has made you wanna check it out for yourself.

Thank you, Dark Corner Haunt for the spooky time.

And here's to a spooky future.

- Learn more at darkcornerhaunt.com.

For some of us, our love of creating started at an early age, whether that be in the kitchen or in the art room.

For Fred McMullen, his fascination with metal started by experimenting alongside his older siblings.

This combination of art and science is an important part of who he is today.

Let's take a look at how Fred uses found objects and his love of nature to create unique works of art.

(bright soft guitar music) - [Fred] I had several older brothers.

When we were little, of course, I followed their path.

One of the things they did was they melted lead in the basement.

My Dad would come home with this box of tire weights, probably figured he'd use the lead for something.

We would melt those down and pour 'em into molds.

I think one was called Creepy Crawlers or something like that.

They make great molds for the lead.

And so I'd pour those in there and it would be shaped like what the mold was.

I think that started my fascination with the metal.

I remember trying to melt nickels with a propane torch to see what it would do.

And that experimentation was just always something we did.

(bright string music) I've worked a lot of different jobs, management positions, supervisory positions, and for someone who's creative, that can become kind of a grind.

When I started doing the bronze, everything just kind of clicked as something I enjoyed doing.

(gentle inspiring music) I like the bronze process 'cause there's so many steps in it.

It kind of uses all parts of your brain, you know, melting the metal to about 2,100 degrees.

It's gotta be skimmed off.

(gentle uplifting music) The molds have to be designed so that the metal will flow in correctly.

The bronze will solidify quite quickly.

We've busted out molds, you know, within 10, 15 minutes.

I like to wait at least half an hour.

They're still extremely hot when you pull them out of the molds.

A lot of times we'll just have a bucket of water.

We'll dip it in there and that's exciting too.

(Fred mimics small explosion) (saw whirring) And then that's when you get down to doing the fine finishing.

A lot of times people pour stuff and they just like it the way it is.

Other times, people wanna sand it and buff it and polish it.

That's just a personal preference.

It's a great process to play around with.

(chuckles) What I like about it is it's figuring things out, using that part of the brain where you're figuring things out, you're solving problems.

I like the creativity.

I'll have an idea and I like solving the problem to get my idea to be made.

It's like solving a puzzle, but three dimensionally, creatively.

With my sculptures where I have a found object, I really enjoy those because it'll sit around for a while until something kind of hits me and I'll figure out, oh, I'll make a a figure doing this with that piece of found object.

And you know, it's very gratifying when it works.

And then when someone else likes it, that's even better.

(bright uplifting guitar) So this is my junk shelf and this is where I throw things that I'll find that have an interest to me.

Mostly machine parts, things like that.

And people will bring me things.

Someone brought me a couple of these, which I haven't decided what to do with, but they're a great form.

Old cast iron fence part, I think.

This is something I found in a barn that I had on a property.

You know, it's a hand-forged hook.

It's just really interesting because it's not perfect, it's not machine made and it has a lot of character.

I don't let any interesting metal thing go to waste.

(bright string music) So the series is called Toil.

I like the human figures just because, you know, what is man's life, but kind of toil and getting through life.

So I ended up making figures that climbed or were laboring over something.

People that work hard for a living, do their jobs well, I find that as an inspiration too.

And I think that's reflected in my Toil series.

You know, kind as a tribute to them.

This is a figure I did recently.

I was thinking about solitude and so I wanted to make my representation of Rodin's "The Thinker."

I found an image of this older African-American guy sitting on a bench contemplating, mostly about the times we're in.

I'm curious what someone like that's perspective would be, who's seen so much through the last decades in America.

That's him.

That's my version of "The Thinker."

I love birds and find a lot of inspiration from those.

They're just amazing creatures.

We'll go to the park and we'll walk and I'll just see a branch that is really interesting, just the way it's formed.

That starts me with, you know, I'll make the branch outta metal and then I'll find a bird.

And so, I'll add those to the branch.

I'm just stealing from God.

But I think it's cool.

When you find something and it comes together, it really scratches that itch of, yeah, that's what I was after.

And then the best part of all, is when someone else falls in love with it and they talk to you about it.

It spoke to you when you made it.

It's spoken to them, and that's worth more than any financial gain.

- To see more of Fred's incredible creations, visit his website at bentreestudios.com.

And now it's time for this week's art quiz.

Although people have been fascinated with scary stories for centuries, the modern haunted house wasn't considered a cultural icon of Halloween until 1969.

Which theme park made the haunted house attraction take off?

Is the answer A, Knott's Berry Farm, B, Disneyland, C, Universal Studios, or D, Six Flags?

And the answer is B, Disneyland.

Formed in 1971, M Ensemble Company is the longest running African-American professional theater company in Florida.

With their productions, they bring impactful stories to the stage for audiences to experience.

- She gave me her recipe.

(audience laughs) - [Shirley] My name is Shirley Richardson and I am co-founder and Executive Director of M Ensemble Company.

We are the oldest, not just African-American theater company, but the oldest theater company here in Miami-Dade County.

M Ensemble Company started in 1971.

That's a long, long story.

(laughs) Under the direction of founder, the late TG Cooper, and he decided to come to the University of Miami and pick up his master's degree.

And while he was there, he had to do a project called "Purlie Victorious," and he needed a black cast and a white cast.

Unfortunately, there weren't many black students on campus at the University of Miami during that time.

I think there were about three of us.

So he recruited the three of us.

TG left, but before he left, he left some money and he left a a staff in place.

And we maintained that relationship with him, you know, until his passing.

We're here now at the Sandrell Rivers Theater after being bounced around from one place to another.

I can't even tell you how many places we've been, there've been so many, you know, trying to keep up the legacy.

(actors singing and harmonizing) Being in this space, it allows the company to show the audience the technical aspects because in many places that we've been in, we have not been able to really see it.

Like, we really want to see it, you know.

When we did "Kings of Harlem," we had, all these seats were out, and they were conformed into a basketball stadium.

The space was set up, you know, to give you that ambiance.

You know, being back in that time, in this old stadium where the first basketball, black basketball team played and the story behind all of that.

But the biggest impact is that the presentations that we bring to the stage is the plays.

It's the playwrights, you know, the plays that people never heard of.

Stories that they never heard of.

These are the stories, these are our stories, these are our words.

And so, that's important.

(actors chattering) It's a lot of work, but you know, it's the passion that keep us going.

And hopefully when it's time to pass that torch, we will be able to identify those people who has that same kind of passion and willing to make the sacrifices to keep it going.

You know, we are 50 years old now, so there is the legacy and we are an institution.

(actors singing and harmonizing in staccato style) - Learn more at themensemble.com.

Pumpkins, witches and trolls.

Oh, my.

These are just a few characters that come to mind when you think of Halloween.

But for Joanna and Yvette, the artists behind Scarecrow Jo's Studio, Halloween is more than just a seasonal holiday.

Let's see how these artists transform simple materials into spooky sculptures.

(playful spooky music) - [Yvette] The great thing about Halloween is that there's no exclusivity to it.

It's completely inclusive to any kind of train of thought or personality or person or your own personal background.

- [Joanna] With Halloween art, you can be gruesome, you can be vintage, you can make happy kind of sculptures or really spooky and scary things.

And I always wanna create something bigger.

(laughs) Something more monstrous or hideous.

(laughs) Well, our theme for the studio is basically Scarecrow Jo's Studio, where every day is Halloween.

- [Yvette] We make all of our artwork out of paper mache.

- [Joanna] Our number one thing that we make are jack-o'-lantern sculptures.

We make trolls, monster busts, life-size sculptures, like witches.

Most recently, we started making gargoyle sculptures.

- [Yvette] Scarecrow Jo Studio is a think tank for Halloween awesomeness.

(playful spooky music) - I basically start everything out with the old-fashioned newspaper dipped in paste.

And then I apply that over an armature that I build.

I use strips of cardboard to give it a three dimensional look to the eyes and the nose and the mouth.

And then once that process is done, we make our own homemade paper mache clay and we sculpt in the details that way.

After that hardens, that's when Yvette goes in and works her magic with the paint and brings it to life that way.

- [Yvette] First thing, it gets sanded to kind of even out the different layers and so that the paint goes on smoothly.

Then it gets a complete coat inside and out of a white primer.

Then it gets a complete coat of black and then after that all dries, it gets what's called a dry brush effect over top of the black with another layer of white to get a three dimensional look.

And then from there, after that dries, it gets at least four to five layers of different colors of orange.

Each layer gets either brighter or darker and each layer gets less and less and less paint.

Then I finish the stems and then the whole thing gets sealed with polyurethane.

- [Joanna] And when I'm making that piece of art from start to finish, I get very involved in it.

- [Yvette] It takes months for a piece to be finished.

So I'm watching it come to life.

To watch something go from just a round ball of nothing to this caricature that is animated in a way, is something that kind of gets in my heart.

- Sometimes it's a little bit sad too.

You reach that point where you're, that piece is finished.

- [Yvette] The pieces become kind of like part of the family.

They really do take on a personality and a life of their own.

It drives her crazy because I, half of them I want to keep all the time.

And she's constantly telling me we don't have room to keep them all, (laughs) which is very true.

But I do, I get very, very attached to the pieces, especially by the time I'm finished painting them.

- I have a really great support system for my crazy art studio.

Yvette, my wife, she'll ask me, "What crazy thing are you making?"

And then of course, you know, when I'm done, she's excited to take over from there and paint.

- Besides it being therapy and a way to meditate, it is a family affair.

My wife and I have been doing it together for six years and the beautiful thing about that is that we still love each other and we haven't killed each other yet.

(laughs) - [Joanna] It creates kind of a strange bond when you have that partnership with the person that you're married to.

That you're creating anything with that person.

It's very special and it makes me very happy.

I don't think I would be as happy if she wasn't involved in it, to be honest with you.

- It's not so much about the fact that it's Halloween, it's about the fact that we do it together.

- Learn more at scarecrowjos.com.

And that wraps it up for this edition of ARTEFFECTS.

If you want to watch new ARTEFFECTS segments early, make sure to check out the PBS Reno YouTube channel, and don't forget to keep visiting pbsreno.org/arteffects for complete episodes.

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 jazz music)