2. Displays of Art in Las Vegas
1944 - The Huntridge Theater opens
as the first non-segregated theater
1912 - The Airdome, the first
outdoor theater in Las Vegas,
opened on Fremont Street
1928 - The El Portal Theatre
opens on Fremont Street
1941 - The first neon sign was installed
to attract patrons to the El Rancho
Casino
1998 – Bellagio opens Las Vegas' first
art gallery
3. The Appreciation for Art is Growing in Las Vegas!
The art on display in Vegas
ranges from fine art exhibits,
like those found at the
Bellagio or Cosmopolitan,
to modern galleries in
Vegas' growing downtown
district.
The diversity has
allowed artists to
create what
inspires them, as
opposed to other
big art cities, such
as Los Angeles or
New York, where
the demand for
certain types of
art is greater.
- Matt Finn
FoxNews
“Vegas hotels
have added the
art for culture, and
to make money.
But the overall art
scene in Vegas is
growing because
it attracts artists
who think outside
the box.”
- Jerry Schefcik
University of Las Vegas
Art Galleries director
Tourists in search of art don't
have to venture beyond The
Strip because museums and
galleries are located right on
Las Vegas Boulevard.
4. Being free-formed and independently thinking, Las Vegas
is able to successfully display a wide variety of art.
5. But isn’t everyone in Las Vegas a tourist? Las
Vegas isn’t known for art, where can you actually
go to see art in Vegas?
7. Summerlin
Summerlin Art Group
The Summerlin Art Group had its
grand opening the weekend of June
26, 2014 to celebrate the opening of
its art school and gallery at 7885 W.
Sahara Ave., Suite 108.
More than 40 pieces of framed
artwork line the walls of the gallery.
The gallery offers art classes
Monday-Saturday to adults and
children.
8. Summerlin
Annual Summerlin Art Festival
Summerlin offers an Annual Art Festival
located at the Summerlin Centre
Community Park.
The Summerlin Art Festival allows artists to
display and sell their pieces of work as well
as do live demonstrations.
Along with paintings, the festival has live
dancers, glasswork, pottery, jewelry, metal
works, sculpture and mixed media.
9. CityCenter
CityCenter is located in the heart of the Las Vegas Strip. It consists of galleries and
open-air artwork at the following locations:
Mandarin Oriental
Vdara Hotel & Spa
ARIA Hotel & Casino
The Harmon Hotel
Veer Towers
10. CityCenter
There are art galleries within these spaces as
well as works of art that are meant to be
stumbled upon while traveling throughout the
many hallways and corridors of the massive
buildings.
CityCenter presents the first major permanent
collection of art in Las Vegas to be integrated
into a public space, and one of the world’s
largest and most ambitious corporate art
collections in existence today.
“The fine art collection
is the first initiative of its
kind to merge public
and corporate interests
on this grand scale,
and we’re proud to
deliver this prominent
force in contemporary
art and culture to Las
Vegas.”
-Jim Murren,
Chairman and CEO
MGM Resorts International
11. Downtown
Local Street Art
On just about every corner in
downtown Las Vegas you can
find amazing murals and street
art done by local and
international artists.
The Life is Beautiful Festival
sparked some of the first
installations of the massive
murals.
Street Art News described Las
Vegas as “being the hottest city
in the United States right now for
Street Art”.
12. Downtown
Container Park
The most notable of several
public-feeling private spaces
the Downtown Project has so
far produced.
A variety of small businesses
operate in this arrangement
of shipping crates.
Centered around a full-
featured playground with
four-story slide and fronted
by a 55-foot-tall scrap-metal
praying mantis, originally
built for Burning Man, which
at night periodically shoots
fire from its antennae.
13. Downtown
First Fridays
One of the most popular events in downtown Las
Vegas is First Fridays at The Arts factory.
Debuting in October 2002 as a way to spark a
downtown renaissance.
A 20-block event that brings out the city’s best
artists and puts their work on display in the streets as
well as in galleries.
Located in the downtown Las Vegas arts district
and surrounding neighborhood, more than 80
indoor arts, food trucks, drink and shop venues
open their doors and 50 outdoor artists, and
entertainers showcase their work.
14. The Las Vegas Art Scene
With the head of Zappos, Tony Hsieh, investing $350
million in The Downtown Project, it is on the rise
drawing more and more attention towards it and
away from the strip.
First Fridays intends to bring the public
to an environment which turns on the
excitement and intrigues the event-
goers to dig deeper into their art
community.
New modern bars and restaurants are
sprouting up and a following of the
younger generation is emerging in
downtown and sparking a new
interest of the “what was”.
15. Summary
Because within the last 25 years, 90 percent of the population of Las
Vegas arrived, the art scene is still a work in progress.
By walking the streets of either downtown Las Vegas or the strip you
are surrounded by different forms of art, whether it be local street art
or a billion dollar skyscraper, you have no choice but to be engulfed
by art.
There are a variety of spaces throughout the city that one can view
pieces of art. CityCenter and Summerlin offer galleries and classes,
however they fail to bring people together the way downtown can.
Downtown Las Vegas is currently blossoming into the largest art
scene in Las Vegas and First Fridays is a huge reason for the
emergence.
16. Conclusion
There is more to Las Vegas than its flashy lights and high-stakes gambling
halls. Las Vegas has a strong up and coming art scene that strives to get
more of the residents involved. From its art classes in Summerlin, high-end fine
art galleries housed in billion dollar casinos or lining the old streets in
downtown Las Vegas.
There has been more opportunity for art to emerge in downtown Las Vegas
than in any other part of the city. It gives you the feel of old Vegas as well as
the energy of the up and coming art scene.
While Summerlin and CityCenter are easily accessible for people living on the
east side of town or staying in a casino, downtown is holding its position as
the predominant local art scene in Las Vegas.
