It only took 10 days for Charly and Sam Malpass to flip the old City Hall parking garage into a new piece for the city of Reno's public art collection.
The artists' inspiration? Nevada's state bird, the mountain bluebird, and state flower, the sagebrush.
The sisters began painting "Bluebirds Among Sage" on May 10 — even through unexpected snowy weather — and finished the project on May 19.
"My sister hates heights, so it was a challenge, but we got through it," Charly Malpass said.
On Wednesday, the city dedicated the artwork into its public art collection in an event at City Plaza attended by Mayor Hillary Schieve, the artists and other officials.
The city bought the 50-year-old parking garage from the Club Cal Neva in 2015 for $10.
Reno City Councilwoman Naomi Duerr told the audience at the dedication that she helped push for the rejuvenation of the aging garage.
"Now, it needed a lot of work ... but we had to do something. It was so important to me for both our constituents, our customers and our employees to have a cleaner, nicer environment to come into," Duerr said.
The Reno City Council decided to hire a special artist to paint the garage.
On Jan. 24, the Reno Arts and Culture Commission approved the recommendation from the Public Art Committee to bring the sisters in for the project. The city council then approved $70,000 from room taxes for the artists.
The Malpass sisters, Truckee locals, collaborated with Encore Paint to paint the mural with recycled materials. The company collects material from hazardous waste centers and turns discarded paint into usable paint for artists to maintain sustainability in their creations.
"They pick up all this discarded paint and some of it hasn't even been touched," said Charly Malpass.
The design covers almost the entire exterior of the garage, extending from the south wall and the southwest corner, with some details wrapped into the Lincoln alleyway.
Schieve said the mural and other arts are a good way to promote Reno.
"I think its really a testament about place making and also about art. Art's an incredible component to transform a city and I always say arts are the way to package a city," Schieve said.
"I was just hoping it would just bring a little life and color to the block. I mean this is such an epic art center already that I think it just needed to be revamped," Charly Malpass said.