| Architecture Studies Library |
 
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Avery Index ARTstor RefWorks ASL A-Z Index |
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| Architecture Studies Library |
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Avery Index ARTstor RefWorks ASL A-Z Index |
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Compiled by Jeanne Brown, UNLV subject librarian for art and architecture
Information about Las Vegas and art is for the most part scattered, being found in book chapters, periodical and newspaper articles, and websites. The information collected here will hopefully be of use to the researcher, and to the art enthusiast as well. These web pages serve to suggest approaches to finding information, to collect information on Las Vegas artists and art into one place, and to highlight specific pieces of art.
 Image provided compliments of UNLV Libraries Special Collections |
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The UNLV Libraries have books and articles on Las Vegas and art. For books, a keyword search is best, since much of the material is a chapter here and a chapter there [http://webpac.library.unlv.edu/search~/]. "Las Vegas Art" will get you started. Subject headings include Las Vegas Art, Las Vegas Artists, and Las Vegas Arts.
Articles on the topic of Las Vegas and art can be found by searching Art Index Online and Art Full Text [http://library.unlv.edu//search/eralpha.php], available to UNLV faculty and students only. There are a couple of theses on the topic, including Metaphorically Speaking: Putting Las Vegas on the Cultural Map by Ester Sara O Fearghail, Masters of Arts Degree, UNLV Anthropology Department, 1999 [available online to UNLV faculty and students through Digital Dissertations http://library.unlv.edu//search/eralpha.php].
The UNLV Libraries Special Collections holds a variety of materials, all of which must be used or viewed in the library. The collection ranges broadly and includes archives of arts groups and projects [e.g. the 1977 Las Vegas Murals Project], collections of designers [e.g. the Donn Arden collection which includes costume and set designs], the archive of companies that have had a tremendous impact on the visual content of Las Vegas [e.g. the Young Electric Sign Company] and individual paintings and posters.
Art organizations
Nevada Water Color Society
Organizational records, newsletter
Allied Arts Council of Southern Nevada
Organizational records, promotional materials, videos
Las Vegas Art League
Scrapbooks, photo albums, correspondence, membership rosters
Paintings
Nevada Water Color Society permanent collection (on display in Lied Library)
Jean Janish (water colors, personal papers)
Ferdinand Burgdorff (oil paintings)
Birger Sandzen (drawings)
Earl Moran (oil)
James Swinnerton (oil)
Roy Purcell (on exhibit in Lied Library)
Prints/lithographs
Napoleonic France
Collected English, French portraitsFine Press/Book arts
- -Collection de 350 Gravures pour l’Histoire de Consulat et de l’Empire , Paris, 1870
-Galeries Historique de Versailles, Paris, 1838
-Campaigns of Field-Marshal, his grace, the most noble Arthur, Duke of Wellington ...: embellished with ... engravings ... by ... J. Duplessi Bertraux Paris : Didot, [n.d.]
-Tableaux historiques des campagnes d'Italie : depuis l'an IV jusqu'à la bataille de Marengo; . . . et les est , 1806
-Collected lithographs of casino and gambling scenes, and Nevada history from Harpers’ Weekly and Leslie’s Illustrated
Black Rock Press
Arion Press
Grabhorn-Hoyem
Chax Press
Franco Maria Ricci
Elysium Press
Nomadic Press
Almond Tree Press
Rare book illustrations
Taxe collection on the history gaming
Posters
Movies
Las Vegas
Hotels/Casinos
City of Las Vegas Cultural Affairs Division http://www.lasvegasnevada.gov/default_843.htm
Nevada Arts Council http://nevadaculture.org/nac/
Directory information for the Las Vegas office at
http://nevadaculture.org/museums/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=427&Itemid=121
Las Vegas Arts Commission http://www.lvartscommission.com/
Western States Arts Federation http://www.westaf.org
See also the list of art organization collections in the UNLV Special Collections
Articles on Las Vegas and art have appeared in the LA Times and the New York Times, among other national papers. The papers below provide local and regular coverage. Titles below have covered specific exhibits, issues of concern to the arts community (such as tax support for the arts), listings of galleries, or views on Las Vegas’ cultural development.
Las Vegas Weekly http://www.lasvegasweekly.com
Las Vegas Review Journal Neon (weekly). Arts Section. http://www.reviewjournal.com/neon/showsevents/arts.html
Las Vegas Review Journal Arts and Culture http://www.lvrj.com/communitylink/arts.html
Las Vegas City Life http:// www.lvcitylife.com/
Online Directories:
MAIN (Museums and Attractions in Nevada) Nevada Museums
http://las-vegas-nv.library-museum.premierguide.com/Museums.q.html
and/or Wikipedia's Las Vegas metropolitan area http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_Vegas_metropolitan_area#Museums
One of the distinct aspects of Las Vegas and art is the multiplicity of types of venues. From commercial spaces to educational, from galleries to open air, Las Vegas fits in art in some obvious but also some out-of-the-way spots. High art or low, original or reproduction, fine or applied – Vegas is eclectic! As Dave Hickey says in "Mark Burns’ Venetian America"(American Craft June/July 1998) "what is dissonant elsewhere seems harmonious here in Las Vegas."
Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art http://www.bellagiolasvegas.com/pages/attrac_gallery.asp
City of Las Vegas Galleries http://www.artslasvegas.org
Henderson Art Association (Old Town Gallery) http://www.artistsinhenderson.com/
University of Nevada Las Vegas Donna Beam Fine Art Gallery http://www.unlv.edu/Colleges/Fine_Arts/Facilities/Donna_Beam_Gallery/
University of Nevada Las Vegas Marjorie Barrick Museum of Natural History Gallery http://hrcweb.lv-hrc.nevada.edu/Museum/
University of Nevada Las Vegas Gaming Studies Research Center Art Gallery http://www.unlv.edu/centers/gaming/gallery/index.html
McCarran Airport Gallery http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCarran_International_Airport#Airport_public_art
Clark County Government Center Gallery http://www.co.clark.nv.us/Parks/Art_at_the_Government_Center.htm
The Arts Factory http://www.theartsfactory.com
UNLV Galleries, Exhibits and Artwork locations (map)
Venetian Guggenheim Hermitage http://www.guggenheimlasvegas.org/
The Guggenheim Hermitage Museum concluded its seven-year tenure at The Venetian Resort-Hotel-Casino in Las Vegas on May 11, 2008 and is permanently closed.
University of Nevada, Las Vegas Architecture Studies Library http://www.library.unlv.edu/arch/
University of Nevada, Las Vegas Digital projects http://digital.library.unlv.edu/early_las_vegas/index.html
Las Vegas Clark County Library District http://www.lvccld.org/events/
Las Vegas Art Museum http://www.lastplace.com/EXHIBITS/LVAM/
Located in the same building as the Sahara West public library.Las Vegas Neon Museum http://www.neonmuseum.org
As of 2002 the neon pieces are on open display just off Fremont Street. A building is planned to be open by 2005.Clark County Heritage Museum http://www.co.clark.nv.us/Parks/Clark_County_Museum.htm
Liberace Museum http://www.liberace.org/
Nevada State Museum and Historical Society http://nevadaculture.org/museums/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=446&Itemid=122
Shrine of the Most Holy Redeemer Stained Glass: Wilmark Studios
Art and Visionary Environments of Nevada: A CLUI Close-up http://www.clui.org/clui_4_1/ludb Includes a short description of an earthwork titled Double Negative by artist/sculptor Michael Heizer, as well as several other examples of land art. Heizer’s work is also described in the book Double Negative by Michael Heizer; foreword by Richard Koshalek and Kerry Brougher; essay by Mark C. Taylor. Los Angeles: Museum of Contemporary Art ; New York : Rizzoli, 1991.
Public art can be defined as art paid for through taxes. Hence a public building which commissions art for the building is funding the art through taxes. The federal government has a program to encourage art in federal buildings called Art-in-architecture.
One of the Las Vegas agencies working to expand public art in Las Vegas is the Las Vegas Arts Commission http://www.lasvegasnevada.gov/Government/boards.asp# . The neon museum comes within their purview. They have also created a map featuring public art in the downtown Las Vegas area.
However public art is also commonly understood to be art in public spaces, no matter how it is funded, for example, the green Valley bronzes by J. Seward Johnson, Jr. Las Vegas hotels/casinos also provide art in public spaces, and these have been noted under the category "hotel."
According to Nancy Deaner in the June 1998 article "Finishing Touches" in Las Vegas Life "the whole city is public art." Listed here are some examples of public art in Las Vegas.
UNLV Art Professor, Stephen Hendee's, sculpture: "Monument to the Simulacrum"
"Public Works of Art Available in the City" Las Vegas Review Journal, May 6, 2001 http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/2001/May-06-Sun-2001/news/16011735.html
Summerlin Library and Performing Arts Center: Spirit Tower by Rita Abbey
Green Valley Library Serpent Mound by Lloyd Hamrol
University of Nevada Las Vegas Flashlight by Claes Oldenburg
Aerial Gallery – banners on light poles on Las Vegas Blvd between Charleston and Fremont St. http://cricketstudio.com/aerial
Hoover Dam sculpture (e.g. Winged Figures of the Republic), metalwork and mosaic terrazzo floors: discussed in "The Grand Dam" by Julian Rhinehart, originally published in Nevada Magazine 1995. http://www.usbr.gov/lc/hooverdam/history/articles/rhinehart1.html
Green Valley bronzes by J. Seward Johnson Jr. Sponsored by developer of Green Valley American Nevada Corporation. Article "Art Imitates Life" on the bronzes in the Review Journal, Sunday June 7, 1998, 1M.
Murals project 1977. City of Las Vegas and the Clark County School District. "The community’s first public art program under a cooperative sponsorship." The project archives are in the UNLV Libraries Special Collections.
CityCenter Fine Art Program includes art by Maya Lin, Jenny Holzer, Nancy Rubins, Richard Long, Claes Oldenburg & Coosje Van Bruggen, Frank Stella, and Henry Moore. http://www2.citycenter.com/vision/vision_art.asp
Murals in McCarran International Airport D Gates (artists include Tom Holder, Mary Warner, Robert Beckmann)
Greg LeFevre’s "Flights Paths"– in the rotunda’s terrazzo floor
Tony Milici’s steel and glass sculpture at McCarran D Gates
McCarran D Gates wall tiles of international skylines by sixteen Clark County fourth graders
Clark County Wildlife sculptures at the D Gates, by David Phelps
http://web.me.com/phelpssculpture/Site/desert_wildlife.html
Dave Hickey (quoted in a New York Times article on Sept 5, 2001) labels neon "the only indigenous visual culture on the North American continent." Certainly Las Vegas is permeated with neon. The City of Las Vegas is making a concerted effort to save the city’s discarded neon signs. There is a City of Las Vegas Neon Museum http://www.neonmuseum.org/ (as of 2002 the neon pieces are on open display just off Fremont Street. A building is planned to be open by 2005).
The UNLV Libraries have several titles on neon in Las Vegas, listed below. In addition the UNLV Libraries Special Collections has the archives of the Young Electric Sign Company (a neon production firm of long-standing in Vegas).
Anderton, Frances and John Chase. Las Vegas: A Guide to Recent Architecture.
London: Ellipsis, 1997. Arch NA735.L3 A52 1997.
This book has a few paragraphs and photos on this site.
Barnard, Charles F. The Magic Sign: The Electric Art/Architecture of Las Vegas. Cincinnati: ST Publications, 1993. Spec., Arch. Stks. TK4399.S6 B37x 1993
Hayes, Justin Cord. "Neon City: What Makes The City of Lights Shine." Las Vegas Weekly. Nov. 18, 1998. [Online]. Available: http://www.scopemag.com/features/neoncity.html Accessed March 4, 1999. Copy in Arch. Vertical File.
Miller, Chelsea H. Neon in Nevada: A Survey of Contemporary and Historic Neon Signs in Nevada. Reno: Nevada Historical Society and Sierra Nevada Museum of Art, 1986. Spec. TK4383.M54 1986
Sommerhoff, Emilie. "Crown Jewel." Architectural Lighting 11, no. 2 (April-May 1997): 54-55.
Stern, Rudi. Contemporary Neon. New York: Retail Reporting Corporation, distributed by Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1990. Arch. NB1270.N45 S84x 1990
Stern, Rudi. The New Let There Be Neon. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1988. Spec. Oversize TK4383.S73 1988
Swan, Sheila and Peter Laufer. Neon Nevada. Reno: University of Nevada Press, 1994. Arch. NA4050.N44 S9 1994
The Western States Arts Federation report "From Nascar to Cirque du Soleil: Lessons in Audience Development" [http://www.westaf.org] notes several audience "trends": "the narrowing gap between ‘highbrow’ and ‘lowbrow’ art experiences, increased spending on entertainment-related experiences, a consumer with more money and less time, and the tendency of consumers to gravitate toward convenient entertainment options." Las Vegas hotels/casinos see art as an entertainment option.
Bellagio Picasso restaurant: original Picasso artwork
Bellagio Dale Chihuly’s glass ceiling sculpture titled "Fiori di Como", Rauschenberg paintings on either side of the reception desk
Bellagio outdoor fountain performances: fountain design provided by WET Design's Claire Kahn, music arranged by composer/conductor Gerard Schurmann, and choreographed by choreographer Kenny Ortega [http://www.vegas.com/attractions/on_the_strip/bellagiofountains.html].
Venetian façade by Treadway Industries artists.
Sunset Station’s Gaudi Bar. According to Buildings of Nevada (Oxford University Press, 2000), Sunset Station’s Gaudi Bar is "a marvel of stained glass, tile, and curvilinear forms reminiscent of Antonio Gaudi’s Casa Mila in Barcelona."
MGM: Lion at entrance, according to MGM press releases, the largest bronze statue in the world. Sculptor: Snell Johnson; designer: M. Smeaton [per http://www.lionlmb.org/lion/lvlions.html]. Descriptions of the construction process: http://www.kreysler.com/projects/mgmlion/lion.htm; http://www.lestercreative.com/mgm_grand.htm
Rio: art commissioned from regional artists such as Lee Sido, Larry Williamson, Minnie Dobbins, and Robert Beckmann. Some pieces are placed in the hallway to the convention center.
Caesar’s Palace: accurate copies of Italian sculpture, e.g. the David, imported from Italy and located in the old part of Caesar’s; Leroy Neiman 1960s and 1970s paintings with gambling subjects (the Dictionary of Art lists these paintings in their entry on Las Vegas, equating them to the Liberace Museum).
Mandalay Bay House of Blues Restaurant: outsider art from the Deep South.
Las Vegas shows represent another outlet for design creativity in Vegas. The UNLV Libraries Special Collections holds a substantial collection on the Las Vegas shows of Donn Arden including Jubilee. It also holds costume designs by Ellis Pryce-Jones.
Articles can be found through the indexes mentioned at the beginning of this guide. Additional names of Las Vegas artists can be found through the various arts agencies [see that category in this list], such as the Western States Arts Federation Artists Register [http://artistsregister.com], and the Nevada Historical Society Nevada Art Research Project (775 688 1191) files on art and artists in Nevada.
Below are some web sites for Las Vegas artists. Many artists have their own individual web sites; others are listed on the sites of the organizations they belong to or galleries in which they exhibit. The list is not comprehensive, nor have those listed been selected according to specific criteria.
Individual artists web pages
Stephen Hendee http://www.stephenhendee.com/the_crypt/
Roy Purcell http://www.purcellgalleries.com
JoAn Greinert http://www.joangreinert.com/Artist.htm
Marty Walsh http://www.martywalshgallery.com/
Collective artists’ sites [individuals listed or linked to at each site]
Art Encounter http://www.artencounter.com/tour.html
Aerial Gallery http://cricketstudio.com/aerial/ Artists’ names and sample of their work, for a six-month City of Las Vegas display.
Dave Hickey, faculty member in the UNLV College of Fine Arts, is a well-known Las Vegas art critic, both in the sense of living in Las Vegas, and in the sense of critiquing Las Vegas. His many articles can be found through art and newspaper indexes.
Architecture is an art. It could be argued, in fact, that it is one of the premier arts in Las Vegas. Some have used strip architecture to support the argument that Las Vegas is "great mannerist art" (Circus Americanus by Ralph Rugoff ; with original photographs by Mark Lipson and Debra DiPaolo; London ; New York : Verso, 1995). Since the material is extensive, however, it is handled separately at the UNLV Architecture Studies Library page http://www.library.unlv.edu/arch/lasvegas/index.html
*Art includes fine arts, popular arts, costume design, public art, graphic arts, neon, and other applied arts.