- In this edition of "ARTEFFECTS," a fun-loving child prodigy from Sparks.

- To me, an artist is a person who has an idea in their head and they just share it with the world.

(orchestra music) - [Beth] Capturing a community's evolution on film.

- We wouldn't have been able to do it without the support of so many people.

Everyone got behind it and they were excited.

- What's your favorite idea?

- [Beth] Books transformed.

(jazz music) - I don't pre-plan anything.

I try to ask myself a question, what would happen if I tried thus and so.

- [Beth] And a pinball wizard shows off his incredible collection with electrifying results.

- [Rob] The ball has a mind of its own and no two games are the same.

- It's all ahead on this edition of "ARTEFFECTS."

(bright music) - [Narrator] Funding for "ARTEFFECTS" is made possible by Sandy Raffealli with Bill Pearce Motors.

Heidemari Rochlin.

Meg and Dillard Myers.

In memory of Sue McDowell.

The Carol Franc Buck Foundation.

Chris and Parky May.

And by the annual contributions of PBS Reno members.

- Hello, I'm Beth Macmillan and welcome to "ARTEFFECTS."

In our featured segment, we meet Juliette Lee-ong, a decorated painter and violinist from Sparks.

Her artwork raises thousands of dollars for nonprofit organizations.

She has won nearly 20 international competitions and she has performed violin with both the Reno Philharmonic and the Reno Chamber Orchestra.

If that's not impressive enough, it's even more impressive to know that Juliet is just eight years old.

Juliet shows us not only her talents, but how she just loves to laugh and play like any other child.

(playful music) - My name is Juliette Lee-ong and I'm eight years old.

My most favorite thing to do is play with my friends.

Second is reading.

I like graphic novels, fiction, nonfiction.

I love reading so, so much I get in trouble for reading.

And I love painting.

(playful music) I started painting when I was eight months old.

My parents put me on the dining room table and gave me paint on paper to play with.

I guess they wish they didn't really do that because I made a mess on my table.

I just like splatted my hand in the paint and like basically fingerprinted the whole table.

(playful music) I use color pencils, acrylic paints, watercolor paints, and garage paint.

And I tried oil paint, but it took forever to dry and I don't like waiting forever.

I'm impatient.

(laughs) (playful music) Gathering materials is kind of the first step of painting but an idea is really the first step.

I paint landscapes, abstracts, animals, and portraits, oh, and abstract realism.

Sometimes I feel stressed when I'm doing it in live competitions or I have to like paint in person with other people that are not kids.

But when I'm just painting for fun, I feel happy and excited.

(playful music) I donate the proceeds from the sale of my paintings to raise money for nonprofit organizations that help others such as AADP or Asian American Donor Program.

Race to Erase MS, Ladies Who Rock for a Cause, and many more.

It makes me feel great helping people and trying to save their lives.

When I'm not painting, I'm usually playing my violin.

(playful music) I first saw a violinist play at San Francisco City Hall when I was about two years old, and then after I saw Ray Chen perform, then I really wanted to play the violin.

So that's what got me started.

(classical music) I love practicing my violin while roller skating.

You learn how to hold your bow straight and it has to be straight and not like crooked because then it'll go off the fingerboard, it'll be all over the place.

(ambient music) I got to play with the Reno Chamber Orchestra because I won the Concerto competition in March, and it was so exciting.

(audience cheering and applauding) They like made a big box for me to stand on.

(laughs) That was funny.

("Mozart Violin Concerto No.3 in G Major") My favorite concerto is the Mozart Violin Concerto No.3 in G Major.

("Mozart Violin Concerto No.3 in G Major") The Reno Chamber Orchestra is really fun orchestra.

I get to meet some of the solo violinists.

They always come out and I love the Reno Chamber Orchestra.

("Mozart Violin Concerto No.3 in G Major") I wasn't nervous because I just think of it as another public performance, or if I'm practicing at home.

("Mozart Violin Concerto No.3 in G Major") I love performing so much.

To me, an artist is a person who has an idea in their head and they just share it with the world.

("Mozart Violin Concerto No.3 in G Major") (audience cheering and applauding) - To learn more about Juliette, visit julietteleeong.com.

Up next, we hear from the team behind "The Sarasota Experience," a documentary that shares the story of Sarasota, Florida and explores its exciting evolution through the years.

(upbeat techno music) - Growing up in high school, I was a vinyl DJ and I loved it.

I loved taking the audience on an emotional rollercoaster.

And around 21 years old, that lifestyle didn't suit me anymore.

That's how I got into filmmaking.

Film has all these different avenues of picture and sound and people and being out and about and learning new things.

And so that's it.

It's taking the audience on an emotional rollercoaster, and that's where it's taking me today to filmmaking.

(excited music) Growing up in the '80s and '90s, Steven Spielberg was the dude.

Steven Spielberg still is my dude, and so he inspired me to create wonder.

So in 2001, I packed up my bags.

I moved to Los Angeles.

I went to the Columbia College of Hollywood and studied directing and writing and producing.

I started my own production company called Triforce Pictures.

We didn't wanna wait for people to give us opportunities to make films, so I created commercials and we did short films and all these things for Triforce.

But most of the time on the big shows, I worked as a production assistant.

And I truly believe that if anyone really wants to get into the film business, you should try being a production assistant because first and foremost, you learn all the jobs.

I lived there and worked for 11 years working on tons of television shows like "The West Wing," "ER," "Six Feet Under," movies like "Where the Wild Things Are," "Little Miss Sunshine."

And that's where I really got the opportunity and the privilege to create who I am today.

I said there's opportunity to come back to Sarasota and work hard, meet people, and create great content.

The Sarasota experience is a WEDU PBS original documentary feature about the past, the present, and the future of Sarasota, while exploring what creates a thriving community.

(lively music) ♪ It's magical for all if you believe ♪ ♪ There's hidden gem, there's mystical and meed ♪ ♪ From little in Lemberg ♪ From the sigh she has to keep ♪ ♪ Sarasota is unique - Being a local, I just, this was everything I ever wanted to do was make a film about the town that I love.

The town that I grew up in.

- We wouldn't have been able to do it without the support of so many people.

Everyone got behind it and they were excited.

- What's your favorite idea?

- I would describe "The Sarasota Experience" as a look into a little beach town, not so little anymore.

You can see the ups and downs and how similar we are to other communities in all parts of the country.

For me, the biggest thing that I learned was how history just repeats itself.

We have a lot of history makers living right now in our timeframe that we interviewed that are living amongst us and walking amongst us that we'll be talking about in 100 years.

- By creating this documentary that gets to the heart of the issues of things in Sarasota, we're really getting to shed light on things that I wanna show how beautiful Sarasota is and our potential.

Action.

(lively music) - The Burns court sequence was really something to watch.

- This 300-foot one-shot cinematic scene is now the opening shot and it involves highlighting many of the performing arts organizations of Sarasota and we follow and go and pass them and it's just this dynamic shot.

The reason why you do one shot is to show the comradery, to show everybody's together at one time.

And I believe that this was showing a microcosm of Sarasota.

It took a month to prep.

(playful music) - [Lena] The night started at 11 AM when the barricades got dropped off, and then it was kind of just a really all systems go at that point.

- [Shaun] We rehearsed it for the first like four hours.

- [Lena] The whole neighborhood was pumped.

You could feel the energy the whole time on the street.

- All the performers donated their time.

(playful music) Thank you so much.

It took us 12 times to get the shot, and I'm really, really happy with what what we accomplished.

I think that many things are gonna resonate with people.

Take four.

And if you take one thing home about this documentary, I would want you to take home that life is bigger than just us.

And I really hope that this documentary is galvanizing for people to reach out to one another, to be more loving, to be more civil.

It's not what your community can do for you, it's what you can do for your community for now and for our future.

- Thank you, guys, so much.

I'm really fortunate that, you know, we live in a community that really supports the arts in the way they do.

Filmmaking is honestly the most interesting thing I've ever done in my life.

When you watch these things, it's very exciting.

And to know that I got to be part of it was really special.

- The question is, am I proud of this project?

I've never been so proud of something in my life.

I don't think there's anything that I can show of how lucky I feel to be able to collaborate with all these people to make this documentary that I'm so proud to share with everyone.

- To learn more, visit triforcepictures.com.

Now it's time for this week's art quiz.

French Magician and filmmaker George Melies created more than 400 films from 1899 to 1912.

Which of his films is widely considered to be the first science fiction film ever made?

Is the answer, A, "The Impossible Voyage," B, "The kingdom of the Fairies," C, "Whimsical Illusions," or D, "A trip to the Moon?"

And the answer is D, "A Trip to the Moon."

(lively music) Gene Epstein transforms books into works of art by cutting and folding their pages into a variety of shapes and designs.

Let's meet the artist and discover her creative process.

- [Narrator] Gene Epstein has been altering books for nearly 20 years, cutting through the pages and folding them into unique shapes and designs.

- My method of working is I don't pre-plan anything.

I try to ask myself a question, what would happen if I tried thus and so?

What would happen if I folded the books in a certain way?

If I made a cut and then made two folds in the book?

- [Narrator] She says she first started altering books when a friend offered her and several others some old books, a local library no longer needed.

They found new life for those books as art.

- The group of us met every month, and we still do, this is like 17, 18 years later.

We still meet every month and do something with books and make art out of them.

- [Narrator] Epstein has created pieces that hang on walls as well as sculptures and works you page through.

- Mostly, when I'm doing an altered book, these days, I'm using a knife.

And sometimes, I use a straight edge or a ruler.

Often, I'll use a bone folder to make the creases, but often, I just use my hands for that.

So those are my main tools.

Knife is the main tool, and I go through a lot of blades.

- [Narrator] While this rendering of Mother Earth is intentional, many of her carvings are spontaneous.

She's currently working on a series using travel books with colorful photo spreads.

- I cut out parts of the pictures and then layer down to other pictures and other pictures in the book and get a palette of color coming through.

Use the shapes that are in the pictures themselves as a starting point.

- [Narrator] The daughter of two artists, Epstein received her master's in fine arts from Kent State University.

She's worked in a variety of mediums throughout her life.

And in addition to altering books into works of art, she also creates art books.

- The difference between book art and other forms of visual art is that you have the ability to make a sequence of things.

It's not just something that you either look at on a wall necessarily, although it could be, or walk around it.

It's something that you experience in time.

There's the element of time in it.

if it's got pages that you turn, you're turning pages and getting an experience over a period of time.

- [Narrator] As a member of another group, Art Books Cleveland, Epstein says she develops new ideas often around a theme the group explores together.

- People think artists are, they can do anything they want.

They have this expansive list of possibilities.

But when you have an unlimited amount of possibilities, it's very hard to do anything.

You know, where do I start?

So having a focus, like a topic to work toward is really helpful.

- [Narrator] Her book Art includes different ABC books, including one about books weaving in some of her background in binding, which she also does professionally.

- I came across some wood veneer in I think it was a furniture store we were in, or a hardware store, I think it was a furniture store.

And I thought, "Wow, you could make book pages out of this."

So that was the impetus for that.

And then I thought, "Well, I'll just put the letter, you know, cut out the big letter and then do something related to books or paper for each letter."

Each of the letters has its own little explanation of in book binding, when you have the gold letters on the spine, that's done with gold foil and a hot stamp press, - [Narrator] Whether creating new books or designing something new from old books.

She compares her process to music improvisation as she also plays jazz.

- I get surprised all the time, and that's the fun of it.

I think if there weren't those surprises, if it were, you know, I'm going to do a book and this is what it's gonna look like at the end, and then I just go and do the steps that I would get bored real quick with that and I would lose interest.

(jazz music) - There's a new pinball machine mecca in the Buckeye State that's attracting fans to Gerard, Ohio.

It's the brainchild of Rob Berk, who wants the world to see and play his Guinness World Record holding collection.

(lively music) - [Rob] Over 1,000 games in my collection.

We cover every era from the '30s all the way up to today's modern game.

- [Announcer] Ladies and gentlemen, this is a special report.

- Yeah, we're around 640 games between pinball and video games, and there's an additional double that storage.

Pinball's for the family man.

It's a family deal.

Pinball is fun for everybody.

(lively music) Probably the first members of pinball was growing up as a young guy, maybe five or six years old, going in the basement of my home, parents' home and seeing this contraption down there, not knowing what it was, it was a pinball machine.

We're talking about the early 1960s, but there was a machine there and it was set for free play.

So every once in a while, I'd play it, intrigued by it, didn't know how it worked or anything, but as I got older and older, I liked it.

It was a fun entertainment.

(upbeat music) The ball has a mind of its own, and no two games were the same.

Artwork was fun, the themes were fun.

And that really got me intrigued about pinball to the point where I started reading about it, learning more about it, and learning about the players behind the industry.

(upbeat music) I started collecting a mid to late '70s.

So I had the warehouse for the company, for the family business, and that's where I was storing the machines.

(upbeat music) So I knew sooner or later, I had to find another place to store the games.

And over time, I came upon this grocery store.

And it had been a viable grocery store for years, but then they closed down for whatever reason.

And at the time the price was right, I figured maybe I'll buy it, store my games in there.

Thinking to myself, "This is such a crazy thinking."

I'll put the games in there.

I'll have a key, maybe once a week, I'll come here and play a couple games and turn the lights off and go home.

So my wife said, "You're crazy.

If you're gonna build this place, why don't you build it for the general public to come and enjoy?"

(playful music) Well, the game in the '30s, among historians, the very first game was a game called Wiffle, which was produced right here in Youngstown, Ohio.

So I have the game here, very simple game, very simplistic, no electricity, no flippers.

And actually, it fits on the countertop.

It's maybe two feet wide by three foot long.

Not much to it, but it was the beginning of pinball as we know it.

(playful music) It was called Humpty Dumpty made in 1947.

It was created by a guy by the name of Harry Mabs.

And he came up with this thought, this idea of these flippers.

And when he put that on the game, it just turned the industry upside down because all of a sudden, you can keep a ball alive longer, a gameplay, and a lot of other people start copying the flippers.

(excited music) There's arcades all over the US coast to coast, but none of them have the breadth of variety we do.

And not only that, but the international presence.

There's a whole aisle here about 40 games that were made in Spain and Italy.

(excited music) So this row here is all the games from Spain and Italy.

This is my heart and soul right here.

We've got 40 games here made in Europe for the European market.

And you're seeing it right here.

And these games are very unique, the artists are unique.

The play field design is unique.

But that's what makes this hobby to me so interesting, is those oddball games you just don't see everywhere.

And this is a good example of what we have here in this row here.

(techno music) So when we celebrated our one year anniversary here about a month ago, my daughter says, "Hold on a second.

I wanna give my dad something."

And she hands me a package and I open up, and here, it's a certificate from the Guinness Book of Records recognizing me and honoring me for having the largest single collection of pinball machines.

So that was a great honor, a great surprise.

And it's one of the few times that caught me off guard.

(techno music) The community's been very, very supportive.

They didn't really know, I mean, this building was empty in such a long time.

So for someone to come here and bring it back to life again, they were very excited about that.

But the more the people come here, they're just awestruck by it.

They really didn't know what to expect.

But once they see it, they're just enthralled.

Like, this is unbelievable.

So you gotta see it to believe it.

(techno music) - To learn more, visit pasttimesarcade.com And that wraps it up for this edition of "ARTEFFECTS."

If you want to watch new "ARTEFFECTS" segments early, make sure you subscribe to the PBS Reno YouTube channel, and don't forget to keep visiting pbsreno.org to watch complete episodes of "ARTEFFECTS."

Until next week, I'm Beth Macmillan.

Thanks for watching.

- [Narrator] Funding for "ARTEFFECTS" is made possible by Sandy Raffealli with Bill Pearce Motors.

Heidemari Rochlin.

Meg and Dillard Myers.

In memory of Sue McDowell.

The Carol Franc Buck Foundation.

Chris and Parky May.

And by the annual contributions of PBS Reno members.

(playful music)