Desert Companion - Fall 2009 by Nevada Public Radio

N E VA D A

P U B L I C

R A D I O’S

C O M P A N I O N 2009

Your Guide to Extraordinary Living

25 Reasons for

Art Optimism Great ideas, big efforts and hot artists PLUS:

Our annual fall guide to arts and cultural events

Brett Sperry (No. 20), Brian Porray (No. 25) and Jennifer Harrington (No. 19)

SEPTEMBER/october

The Mob Museum A Sneak Preview

We go behind the scenes with the project’s key couple

The Late Bloomers

The best flowers to plant now

The New Design Deal

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GM Letter

Seeing Good in the Moment Las Vegas began with a lot auction on a couple of unseasonably hot May days in 1905. One hundred and four years later, I joined a similarly sweltering crowd in Symphony Park—not far from the city’s original downtown—for the groundbreaking of the Smith Center for the Performing Arts. Bells had been cast, one with an inscription from President Obama. The grandchildren of Reynolds Foundation Chairman Fred Smith rang the heftiest one. Upon its deep, resonant chime, the engines of earthmovers roared. And as their blades dug in, dust rose and dignitaries cheered amid the blazing midday sun. Photographer Jerry Metellus ascended skyward in a cherry picker to capture the assembled crowd. I’m sure I wasn’t alone in gratitude for sunglasses that provided cover for tears of joy. Smith Center Chairman Don Snyder says it is the most important Nevada building to be erected in our lifetimes. When it’s finished, Southern Nevada can embrace the performing arts as never before. In addition, the Smith Center will provide hundreds of jobs during its construction phase and provide the rest of us with delicious anticipation of music and dance to come. John Ruskin, the revered 19th-century art critic, would argue that fostering the arts is not about the skills of painting or mastering the piano. The arts teach us to see and to hear. To look, listen and be mindful of our surroundings in the moment. In this moment, many of our neighbors face previously unimaginable day-to-day challenges, so being in an observant frame of mind is a valuable trait. Their economic stories are urgent and will consume much of our content on the air at News 88.9 KNPR. Yet, I’m still optimistic about cultural development in 21stcentury Las Vegas. It’s often been said that some of our greatest cultural treasures were precipitated by tough times. We reflect on cultural resilience throughout this edition of Desert Companion, starting with our “25 Reasons for Art Optimism,” followed by an exclusive D e s e r t C o m p a n i o n S E P T E M B E R - O C T O B E R 2 0 0 9

POrtrait Sampsel-preston photography

discussion with the talent behind the downtown “Mob Museum” and a look ahead to the November Vegas Valley Book Festival. The outcome of one recent contest gave us another reason for optimism: Nevada Public Radio’s Desert Companion was honored as Best Consumer Quarterly at the Maggie Awards in Los Angeles. Described as the “Oscars of magazine publishing” in the Western United States, we congratulate all our writers, sales team and especially Editor Phil Hagen and Art Director Chris Smith. By reading and enjoying this publication you contribute to our success—not only as a consumer of public media, but as a like-minded friend of the community committed to our shared aspirations. Thank you.

Florence M.E. Rogers President & General Manager, Nevada Public Radio

For years, she’s longed for this moment We think she’s longed long enough.

Sheilia Silverstein, receiving her Certificate for Life-long Achievement from Dr. Sandra Owens, LCSW, Associate Professor & Hartford Faculty, Scholar of Geriatric Social Work, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, School of Social Work Las Vegas, Nevada — April 30, 2009.

This year, the Harrah’s Foundation is proud to join Second Wind Dreams ® in making dreams come true for seniors across the country. Together with our volunteer teams, we have helped seniors reunite with loved ones, share their artistic talents, fulfill lifelong career dreams, and even earn their diplomas. That’s The Will to Do Wonders at work. And it’s working for America’s seniors each and every day.

Wanted: Your Opinion!

Editor Phil Hagen / Vegas Ink Designer CHRISTOPHER SMITH / Lunchbox Design corporate support manager CHRISTINE KIELY Senior Account Executive Sharon Clifton Account Executive Nicole MastRAngelo proofreader anne harnagel

SENIOR STAFF

Florence M.E. Rogers President / General Manager Melanie Cannon Director of Development Cynthia M. Dobek Director of Business, Finance & Human resources Phil Burger Director of Broadcast Operations dave becker Director of PROGRAMMING DEBI PUCCINELLI Director of COMMUNITY RELATIONS

We’re interested to hear what you think about the Desert Companion. What do you like? What don’t you like? What do you want to see more of? Go to www.nevadapublicradio.org/survey/ to participate in our BRIEF reader survey and you’ll be automatically entered to

win a relaxing lakeside lunch or dinner for two from Garfield’s Restaurant at Desert Shores.

It’s quick. It’s easy. It’s a way to let us know what is important to YOU! So c’mon — tell us what you REALLY think. You know you want to!

nevada public radio BOARD OF DIRECTORS

nevada public radio COMMUNITY ADVISORY BOARD

Officers

David Cabral, Chairman American Commonwealth Mortgage Mark Daigle Colonial Bank Al Gibes Stephens Media Interactive Carolyn G. Goodman the Meadows School Marilyn Gubler The Las Vegas Archive Susan K. Moore Lieutenant Governor’s Office JENNA MORTON N9NE group Steve Parker UNLV Richard Plaster Signature Homes Gina Polovina Boyd Gaming corporation Chris Roman Entravision Kim Russell Stephanie Smith kris donnelly GREENSPUN MEDIA GROUP Bob Stoldal sunbelt communications co. kate turner whiteley kirvin doak communications CANDY SCHNEIDER SMITH CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS Brent Wright Wright Engineers DENNIS COBB PRESIDENT, DCC GROUP Megan Jones Friends for Harry Reid Gerry Sawyer

MARK RICCARDI, Esq., Chairman Fisher & Phillips, LLP Elizabeth FRETWELL., Vice-Chairman City of Las Vegas REED RADOSEVICH, Treasurer Northern Trust Bank Florence M.E. Rogers, Secretary Nevada Public Radio

DIRECTORS

Susan Brennan Nv ENERGY Chris Murray avissa Corporation Elizabeth Fretwell City of Las Vegas Kurtis Wade Johnson PRECISION tune autocare John R. Klai II Klai Juba Architects Cynthia Levasseur, Esq. Snell & Wilmer jan L. jones HARRAH’S ENTERTAINMENT INC. Curtis L . Myles III Las Vegas Monorail peter o’neill united HEALTHcare Jerry Nadal Cirque du Soleil TIM WONG ARCATA ASSOCIATES KIRK V. CLAUSEN wells fargo shamoon ahmad, m.d., mba, facp Mickey Roemer Director Emeritus, roemer gaming William J. “Bill” Noonan, Director Emeritus BOYD gaming corporation Patrick N. Chapin, Esq., Director Emeritus Louis Castle, Director Emeritus Lamar Marchese, President Emeritus

To submit your organization’s cultural event listings for the Desert Companion November-December edition, go to knpr.org and submit the form by Sept. 15. Send feedback and story ideas to desertcompanion@nevadapublicradio.org. Office: (702) 258-9895 (outside Clark County 1-888-258-9895) Fax: (702) 258-5646 Advertising: Christine Kiely, (702) 258-9895; christine@nevadapublicradio.org KNPR’s “State of Nevada” call in line: (702) 258-3552 Pledge: (702) 258-0505 (toll free 1-866-895-5677) Websites: knpr.org, classical897.org Desert Companion is published four times a year by Nevada Public Radio, 1289 S. Torrey Pines Dr., Las Vegas, NV 89146. It is distributed free of charge to NVPR members, supporters, underwriters and the community. All photographs, artwork and ad designs printed are the sole property of Nevada Public Radio and may not be duplicated or reproduced without the express written permission of Nevada Public Radio. The views of the Desert Companion contributing writers are not necessarily the views of Nevada Public Radio.

D e s e rt C omp a n i o n

Wit h T he S mit h Center fo r t he Per fo r ming A r t s und er co ns t r uc t io n, a luxur y b out ique hotel by Char lie Palm er in t he wo r ks , and t he Clevel and Clinic Lou Ru vo Center fo r B rain H e al t h now s e eing p a t ient s , Sy mp ho ny Par k is t rans fo r ming d ow ntow n Las Veg as into a co mmunit y of ar t s , id e as and wo r l d - c l as s m e dicine.

w w w.sy m p ho ny p a r k .c o m ÂŠ2009 Actual development may vary from developerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vision. No guarantee can be made that development will proceed as described.

Contents

departments 08 12 ON THE COVER Photograph by Christopher Smith. Location provided by Tamares.

Energy his past legislative T session was Nevada’s big chance to catch up in the “green” energy race. How far did we get? {BY IAN MYLCHREEST}

Business he economy has shifted T many consumer priorities, but, strangely, the nail business seems to be hanging tough. {BY KATE SILVER}

features 22

ART OPTIMISM

MARRIED TO THE MOB MUSEUM

imes are especially tough in the visual T arts world. In honor of the fall cultural season, we round up 25 reasons to believe there is hope, if not progress. {BY PHIL HAGEN AND ERIKA POPE}

Nature

CALENDAR

GARDEN

difficult gathering of A good seeds goes a long way in keeping Lake Mead naturally wonderful. {BY KATE SILVER}

our guide to fall, from Y what’s hot in the cultural arts to the best seasonal festivals.

Home

essay

he Las Vegas Design T Center, once strictly for industry professionals, opens new doors to consumers. {BY ERIKA POPE}

ot everyone’s a-Twitter N about staying connected to Vegas virtually. {BY GREG BLAKE MILLER}

big fan of the Mojave’s A “second spring” picks his favorite late bloomers. {BY NORM SCHILLING}

22 C hristopher smith

eet Dennis and Kathy Barrie, a couple of M big guns from Cleveland hired to ensure that a certain Las Vegas gamble pays off. {BY PHIL HAGEN}

D esert C ompa n io n S E P T E M B E R - O C T O B E R 2 0 0 9

Nevada Makes Its Move The Legislature’s new measures may not have put the state in the lead, but at least it’s now in the renewable-energy game.

Governments across the country are scrambling to get in on the “green” energy action. But if this is a race, it’s well into the first lap: Wind and thermal solar energy are already being used at utility-scale capacities in states where the weather is suitable, and start-up companies, fueled by venture capital, have photovoltaic technology out of the lab and are trying to make it useful for the masses. If the recent report from the Gigaton Throwdown Initiative is correct in projecting that this country will have clean-energy technologies fully functioning by the end of the next decade, the race has already escalated from experimentation to large-scale generation of green electric power. It’s the latter where opportunities lie for states such as Nevada to diversify their economies, and the past legislative session was our big chance to catch up to the pack. So, how did we do? Not bad, though we were slow out of the blocks—partly because the governor failed to hear the gun go off. D e s e r t C o m p a n i o n S e p t e m b e r - O c t o b e r 2 0 0 9

story by Ian Mylchreest

While Jim Gibbons continues to dream of Nevada becoming “the Silicon Valley of renewable energy research,” Silicon Valley already is “the Silicon Valley of renewable energy research.” And, at this stage of the race, only in places with that existing high level of intellectual and financial infrastructure can such dreams materialize. Nevada could get some research and development projects, says Jim Baak, the director of utility-scale solar policy for the Vote Solar Initiative, a San Francisco-based group pushing to expand solar power. They could come our way from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado, but, he says, these would be testing and construction projects, not trail-blazing ones. Nevada has an uphill climb in the manufacturing phase, too. So far there is a factory in Las Vegas that makes reflectors and other components for utility-scale solar power plants, but in the Southwest most of these facilities are in New Mexico and Arizona, says UNLV engineering professor Bob Boehm. Nevada has had trouble winning new power plants because of workforce issues. “Education is a somewhat higher priority in other states,” he says, “and we’ve ridden the gambling horse a little bit too long.” So what then should we make of those superlative phrases such as “the Saudi Arabia of solar” and “leading the nation” that echoed through the halls of Carson City in the first half of the year? Such exuberance did provide one brief moment of political unanimity when the Nevada Legislature gave tax breaks to big renewable energy projects. (The key provisions give power plants producing more than 10 megawatts per year a 55 percent cut in property taxes for 20 years.) But will those incentives be enough get renewable energy projects built in Nevada? Experts agree that, to be competitive in the race, states must offer incentives to attract green-power companies. But Nevada has been behind the curve. States such as Washington—offering a 43 percent cut in its general business taxes— have long had carrots dangling. Oregon has, since the mid-1970s, offered a laundry list of tax breaks and cash incentives to encourage businesses and individuals to use renewable energy. In recent years, it has offered subsidies to manufacturers

I ll u s tR a ti o n : W W W . i s t o c k p h o t o . c o m / v l a d i m i r

Energy

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Energy The Green Dialogue Continues Desert Companion reader Susan Solorzano was our most thorough respondent to last issue’s request to share ideas about making Southern Nevada a greener place: Here’s her “top 9” list of what our community needs: 1. Recycling drop-off stations around the city, because many neighborhoods do not have recycled articles picked up from homes. 2. R eceptacles for recyclable materials all over the city—next to existing trash containers, in stores, malls, hotel rooms, casinos, etc.—so that people always have the option of placing trash in a recycle bin. 3. Community/neighborhood mulch gardens for dropping off and picking up mulch. 4. T o encourage people to bring their own bags to stores, which should offer $1 off to those who do.

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10 D e s e r t C o m p a n i o n

5. V isible use of solar and wind power in schools, offices, casinos, etc. Let people see the alternative energy sources being used. 6. Incentives to plant trees. 7. Community and neighborhood vegetable gardens and orchards. 8. B etter education so that people can understand what can be recycled. In other locales almost everything is recycled. Very little should be considered trash. 9. Teach people to appreciate the gentle, delicate beauty of the desert. You notice right away when you are in Oregon or Vermont, for example, that people are zealous protectors of their environment. Perhaps if we educated people more about our ecosystem, they would feel more protective. KNPR really helped me see this when I first moved to Las Vegas and listened to “Desert Bloom.”

of solar panels and other green equipment to set up shop. Even Iowa, a state with few green energy advantages, has made itself the second-largest windpower producer (it tops the list on a per capita basis) by offering small producers and large utilities a range of incentives to develop projects. But what works in one state doesn’t necessarily work in another. In fact, no one has done a comparison, probably because no two states have exactly the same patchwork of incentives and mandates for the use of renewable energy. North Carolina State University does maintain an online database (dsireusa.org), where you can sort through the complexities of evergreening state legislation. You can learn about an Oregon program so extensive that it gives rebates to timber companies that use wood chips for heating and pays companies to buy their employees bus passes to keep them out of their cars. But any effective comparison between states is much more of an art than a science. The closest thing to a common denominator is that most states with tax abatements offer them to counter the heavy upfront costs of renewable energy projects.

One giant step for Nevada—which has two solar farms in Boulder City and a model solar energy project at Nellis Air Force Base—was the Legislature’s move to entice larger-scale start-ups. The state’s new 55 percent property tax abatement applies to power projects producing more than 10 megawatts a year, and that standard is still low enough to let the industry grow quickly, allowing utilities to string together a number of smaller, decentralized power providers. (In California, for example, the utility PG&E has plans for a 500-megawatt project that could distribute electricity to as many as 300 locations.) Despite its late start, Nevada at least had good timing in rolling out its incentives. The state’s Department of the Interior has pre-screened seven areas on public lands where solar farms could be built if the environmental and regulatory process is streamlined. That should cut in half the time needed to get projects from the drawing board to full operation, gaining the state some needed speed. DC Ian Mylchreest is executive producer and business analyst for News 88.9 KNPR’s State of Nevada.

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Business

story by Kate Silver

Illustration by LYNNE ADAMSON

Tough as Nails?

Manicures are one indulgence that seem to be surviving the hard times just fine. A reality check on the industry and its die-hard consumers. The sharp odor of chemicals catches in your throat when you walk into DaLonnie’s Hair & Nail Studio on Sunset Road near Pecos. To biweekly customer Becky Stevens, that smell signals something as good as a gourmet meal. “This is my only vice,” says the smiling Allstate claims adjuster who’s been getting her nails done for nearly 30 years. “This is my one treat.” Owner DaLonnie Preato works on Stevens’ nails, applying crushed seashells to acrylic, filing them down until they’re smooth and topping them with a sparkly pink polish. Stevens is paying $35 for the hour-long service. She is not alone. Although the economic recession has meant cutting back on luxuries and even some necessities for many consumers, nail salons have persevered as one of our most 12 D e s e r t C om p a n i on S e p t e m b e r - O c t o b e r 2 0 0 9

ubiquitous services—at least in Las Vegas. The latest Yellowbook shows that there are 360 nail salons in the greater metropolitan area. If you need some ubiquity perspective, there are only 123 Starbucks—in the entire state. Nail salons are everywhere, from All About You Hair & Nails on Boulder Highway to Y Me Nails on West Sahara Avenue. In certain parts of town, such as Eastern Avenue near Anthem, you cannot drive by a strip mall without seeing one. These little shops are symbolic of the cultural and economic crossroads we’ve come to. Tough times require tough choices. Old routines consisting of going to yoga, making a Starbucks run and having your nails done are now being pared down as the recession continues and priorities shift. And you may be surprised to know that manicures are not the first “luxury” to go.

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Business Some consumers have embraced the do-it-yourself approach because nails are something they can do at home for little expense. But, according to Angeline Close, assistant professor of marketing at UNLV, other women are especially resistant to changing rewarding behaviors—such as getting a manicure or pedicure—when they feel they are already making larger sacrifices. She refers to it as a “pre-commitment for small indulgences.” “Consumers, even in tight times, often give themselves permission to indulge—especially when the cost or risk [economic or social] is low,” she says. “Specific to manicures and pedicures, or other salon perks, is the need for escape and human touch. And a small indulgence is a way for some to avoid or escape stress related to the economy.” Maybe that explains why there are 6,159 licensed manicurists in Nevada and fewer than 4,600 practicing physicians.

***

Thanks to that pre-commitment sector, Preato’s business is so strong that she doesn’t accept new customers. But she also knows of salons that have lost nearly 30 percent of their business in re-

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14 D e s e r t C om p a n i on

“Consumers, even in tight times, often give themselves permission to indulge—especially when the cost or risk [economic or social] is low.” cent months. Many of these seem to be in neighborhoods affected by the mortgage crisis, says Vicki Peters, a nails industry expert based in Las Vegas. “If you follow the mortgage trend, you’re going to follow the beauty trend.” For those who have made manicures an essential part of their beauty regimen, it’s unlikely that they’ll quit cold turkey. Just as Starbucks has changed our palate and price point for coffee, nail salons have changed our beauty habits. Shiny, shapely nails have become the norm

and are part of being considered wellgroomed and fashion savvy. It all began in the 1970s, when nail salons began popping up faster than you could say “Palmolive.” They grew throughout the ’80s and then exploded in the ’90s, somewhat in proportion to the number of Vietnamese who were settling in America. The salons were, and still remain, a relatively inexpensive business venture that requires limited education and training. “The Vietnamese market opened up salons to everyone,” says Hannah Lee, editor of Nails magazine, based in Torrance, California. “So it’s not just the lady who lunches who goes to get manicures now, because college students and teenagers can afford to get manicures, too. It’s still a luxury, but it’s way more affordable.” And as an industry it’s quite successful. According to her magazine, nail salons brought in $5.9 billion in 2005, when times were good, and $6.4 billion last year, when times were not. The surge in revenue can be attributed to not only a growth in popularity but also to an increase in prices. The magazine notes that the average price of a basic pedicure soared more than 53 percent (from $21 to $32) from 2007 to 2008. It seems those who were lured by low prices have discovered that the services are well worth the expense.

***

“We always say that the beauty industry is recession-proof,” Lee says. “That’s kind of our mantra—or it has been.” In 2009, earnings are expected to decrease, and of the salons being impacted, most are, oddly enough, the discount variety run by Vietnamese. These salons operate with lower profit margins so they’re really feeling the pinch. Plus, they tend to cater to a more transient walk-in clientele rather than a regular customer base, so they may be disproportionately affected by DIYers. And, in turn, depending on how many of these little shops the recession takes down, we could all be affected in a way that’s worse than a few ragged cuticles. “Many of these businesses will shut down, and they will add to the already growing surplus of commercial and retail space,” says Keith Schwer, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at UNLV. “One key principle

is that one person’s expenditures [nail shop rental expense] is the income of the real estate owner. In the final analysis, it is like the sharing of a common cold among those who know each other and have contact.” One person who’s had contact is Robert Moore, managing director of investment sales and leasing for Gatski Commercial Real Estate Services. Of the 47 retail buildings the company manages in the Valley, 15 tenants are nail salons. One has gone out of business and two are having financial troubles. “I anticipate we will have more fallout in that industry as the months go by,” Moore says. “They are just beginning to feel the pains of the recession. The reality of it is really starting to hit home.” In late June, Las Vegas topped the list of U.S. cities with commercial property woes. Of the city’s nearly $10 billion in distressed properties, Real Capital Analytics reported that $1.6 billion is related to retail—such as all those little strip malls that dot the Valley. He admits that a nail salon may not be as visible and powerful an anchor tenant as a grocery store, but it is a unique complement to the mix. “The traffic it does generate is a female consumer that obviously is from a demographic profile that has enough disposable income to have her nails done once a week,” he says. “And that’s good quality traffic for a retail center.”

***

Back at DaLonnie’s, Becky Stevens smiles at her newly polished pink, seashelly nails. She feels pretty, and it shows in the way she holds herself, with a lighter spring in her step. She chatters on about how men are actually more interested in nails than women. A former boss even kept track of her standing nail appointment, and every other Wednesday he’d enthusiastically ask what color polish she was going to get that day. She says her husband, too, can tell a difference in her stature when that second Wednesday rolls around. So what will happen if the economy gets even worse? Stevens realizes she may have to make some sacrifices. She may let her hair go for a little longer, or maybe cut a day or two off of the next camping trip. But her nails? “My nails come first,” she says, flashing the evidence with satisfaction. DC S e p t e m b e r - O c t o b e r 2 0 0 9 D E S ERT C O M PA N I O N 1 5

Nature

story by Kate Silver

photography by aaron mayes

Native Plant Nursery Manager Janis Lee (top left) shows a group of volunteers how to collect the tiny white bursage seeds, which are stored and eventually used to ensure a steady population of the plant—and the animals that eat it—around Lake Mead.

The Seeds of Integrity

Rescuing trampled plant life at Lake Mead doesn’t make for a great day in the park, but over time, this nursery program hopes to make up for that. On a sunny late-spring day, with temperatures just below scorching, a dozen men and women wander through the dry brush at Redstone in Lake Mead National Recreation Area. It must be a strange sight from the roadway. Like zombies on some rote patrol, they gently swat the shrubs over and over again with badminton racquets. Holding buckets below the plants, they catch the tiny, skittering seeds that fall with each blow. It’s a Saturday morning, and these people aren’t zombies; they are Las Vegans with lives and day jobs who have volunteered to help park employees with a preservation-meets-sustainability effort at Lake Mead. 16 D e s e r t C o m p a n i o n S e p t e m b e r - O c t o b e r 2 0 0 9

Today’s mission is to capture families of prickly burs from the ambrosia dumosa, a low-lying, spindly plant more commonly known as white bursage. Once all the burs have been dumped into a large barrel, they are cleaned and stored at the Native Plant Nursery, a one-acre complex near Boulder Beach. Like other varieties that have been stored, they await the day they’re called on to repopulate their species. This tedious manual labor, which volunteers undertake once a month, is necessary to aid what might seem to be a hearty, self-sufficient desert ecology that has proved somewhat fragile under man’s footprint.

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Nature Fires happen. So does off-roading. Invasive species move in and crowd out native plants. And when those natives disappear, so might the animals that need them, such as the desert tortoise, a threatened species that sometimes eats the white bursage and often burrows underneath it. Therefore the nursery was mandated by the National Park Service in 1991 “to preserve the integrity of the park for future generations,” says Nursery Manager Janis Lee. It’s a bit like a homeowners’ association for native plants. Although the rough-hewn plants have grown here just fine for centuries, the nursery ensures that they keep doing so in spite of human interference. The HOA concept makes even more sense if you consider that

It’s a gradual process, replacing the non-natives that were planted decades ago with indigenous flora, but it does restore a more natural look and requires less water. Lake Mead is a kind of master-planned area. Hoover Dam gave us a giant playground, and with it the potential for destruction. So nursery employees collect seeds from around the park, prepared in case a patch of buckhorn cholla, desert chicory or white bursage dies. With 1.5 million acres of park, you’d never know if you came upon something planted by Lee and her cohorts—and that’s the idea. But at Lake Mead’s concession and RV areas you can find evidence of their landscaping handiwork. It’s a gradual process, replacing the oleander and other non-natives that were planted decades ago with indigenous flora, but it does restore a more natural look and requires less water. Within the nursery’s rickety trailer office, more than 200 types of seeds are stored in an air-conditioned room. Some are fluffy and round, and resemble Star Trek Tribbles. Others are sharp and 18 D e s e r t C o m p a n i o n S e p t e m b e r - O c t o b e r 2 0 0 9

asteroid-like. They rest in jars, film containers and buckets, stacked upon metal shelves. Lee gestures to a blender sitting nearby. “This is our seed-cleaning equipment,” she says with a smile. Like most of the operation, the blender is not fancy but it is effective. Lee demonstrates by padding the blades with plastic tubing, filling the container with seeds and starting it up. The spinning action separates the chaff from the seeds. It’s a method they discovered through trial and error, and as Lee points out, “it’s better than taking our fingers and tweezers and doing them one at a time.” The white bursage seeds collected today will soon be acquainted with the blender’s blades. The prickly surface— these pesky burs are known to anyone who’s hiked in the area—protects a small black seed. When planted, the white bursage will boost the population of one of the most dominant plant species along the lake, providing food for bighorn sheep and several other animals. The nursery has several side missions as well. Set up as a nonprofit, it sells plants and seeds to the Southern Nevada Water Authority (which oversees the Las Vegas Wash), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Land Management, using the money generated to fund more conservation efforts. Outside the trailer is an example: a patch of barrel cactus and beaver tail are being baby-sat. The plants were growing near Hoover Dam and had to be relocated here in 2003 to make way for construction on the bypass project. They’ll be replanted near their original spots this fall. Around the corner are dozens more barrel cactuses that were rescued by rangers after being uprooted by thieves looking for a quick sale. Stealing cactuses from national park land is, of course, a federal no-no, and it stresses the plants. This will be their final resting place, because to uproot them again would mean sure death. As they wait in a kind of cactus purgatory, other life springs up around them—brittlebush, creosote, bursage, cheesebush. It’s all intentional growth. Their seeds, too, were once collected by employees and volunteers bearing racquets and a love for restoring the natural beauty around our man-made lake. DC

The Contest is back!

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O p t i m i s M 25 Reasons to Believe That, Despite What You May Hear or Fear, the Best Is Yet to Come. By P h i l H ag e n a n d E r i ka P o p e

22â&#x20AC;&#x192; D e s e r t C o m p a n i o n S e p t e m b e r - O c t o b e r 2 0 0 9

The art scene has lost talent before. It has shed ideas, burst bubbles and shattered dreams. It has worn out many of the heavy lifters who have propped up our culture. It has chased away institutions and burned out vibes. But the Las Vegas art scene has always survived and, somehow amid the many steps forward and back, it has managed to inch ahead. At least once, it even flirted with greatness. Then came the Great Recession and its wake of bad news. The Las Vegas Art Museum shut down after 50 years. Its suddenly unemployed executive director, Libby Lumpkin, was quickly rumored to be packing up her international credibility (and her MacArthur Award-winning art critic husband, Dave Hickey) for a new promised land. Not long after that shocker, the Las Vegas MOCA project downtown was canceled. Then the Fontainebleau resort lost its leader—Glenn Schaeffer, one of the top modern art collectors in the world—and went into Chapter 11. Ambitious gallerist Naomi Arin split town for SoCal, and, on the very same day, the Contemporary Arts Center, having just made some of the most impressive strides in its 20-year history, lost its skilled director, Beate Kirmse, to bigger and better things away from Las Vegas. All that in just six months. By early summer, we decided that things had gotten so bad that we should resort to optimism. So, despite a gut feeling that it would be a long, hot season of further budget-cutting, we launched this exercise in enthusiasm. We put on blinders and rode into the storm in search of silver linings. And we hope that the fruits of our surveying, networking and (why not?) wishful thinking on the next 20 pages not only serve as a pleasant introduction to the beginning of the autumn arts season, but also as an indication that maybe, just maybe, bigger and better things lie ahead.

>>>

S e p t e m b e r - O c t o b e r 2 0 0 9 D e s e r t C o m p a n i o n 23

1 Neon on the Horizon

2 Shhh—Artists at Work! New York. Paris. Los Angeles. Tokyo. If you have traveled to any of those places recently, you were more likely to see an exhibition by a hot Las Vegas artist than you would have right here in Las Vegas. Same thing moving forward. Tim Bavington will unveil a new series of spray-striped paintings based on punk songs and power chords when his exhibition at the Jack Shainman Gallery opens in New York on September 10. And David Ryan will exhibit large-scale versions of his popular wall sculptures (some measure more than 10 feet long!) at Davidson Contemporary in New York in October. “It’s funny to travel across the country to see a painting that was made a couple of miles from my house,” says Lee Cagley, a local collector. Meantime, one significant backyard opening you probably missed was Sush Machida Gaikotsu’s collaboration with 7 for All Mankind jeans at the Palazzo, but you can still take a trip to the store to see the mini exhibition of the UNLV alumnus’ latest

Neon Boneyard.

East-meets-West pop art, which is on loan. Not all artists have landed an opportunity like that—in fact, times are especially tough for them—but there are reports of progress in studios around town, such as those inhabited by RC Wonderly, Aaron Sheppard and JW Caldwell. “It’s a good time to get in the studio, turn off the news, turn on the music and make what you want to see,” says Shawn Hummel, who’s working on studies for a group show next summer—in the south of France.

3 A Theory of Art-Scene Relativity According to William L. Fox, director of the Center for Art + Environment at the Nevada Museum of Art in Reno: The hobbling of arts organizations in Las Vegas—not to mention the university—might actually keep the arts scene in Las Vegas more fluid and unpredictable, more alert to the realities of the city than to the cultural status quo found elsewhere. If one takes a broad-spectrum view of the arts in Las Vegas, then they are hardly failing. On one hand, Las Vegas has more mainstream art available than almost

24 D e s e r t C o m p a n i o n S e p t e m b e r - O c t o b e r 2 0 0 9

any other city in the country: music, dance and performance art are very much present in the resorts and on the UNLV campus, and some of the best neon in America adorns miles of streets, for example. Dozens of nonprofit arts organizations continue to do their work in town, as do thousands of individual artists across the disciplines, including architecture and literature. What’s lacking is a well-funded contemporary arts scene, but that leaves open the ability to continue to forge a unique and indigenous scene outside the strictures of the art market and academia.

4 A Related Theory of Art-Scene Relativity According to Lee Cagley, art collector and cofounder of a Las Vegas-based interior design firm: I’m increasingly convinced that people who make art come here precisely because there’s no established “scene” requiring them to dress a certain way, behave a certain way and be shown at a certain gallery. There’s great, strong, clear, flat light most of the year, storefront rent is cheap, and nobody bothers you unless you’re running guns or cooking meth. That’s the upside.

Neon Boneyard and Marty Walsh: Christopher Smith

Maybe it’s good luck that our next visual-arts museum will focus on our city’s most indigenous art form. Set to open in phases by 2011, the Neon Museum will put more than 160 classic Las Vegas signs on display in an irresistible environment that mixes glamour and urban decay in a central location that’s sure to draw a crowd. This fall, three restored neon signs—the Silver Slipper, Bow and Arrow, and one of Binion’s horseshoes—will adorn the median of Las Vegas Boulevard between Bonanza Road and Washington Avenue, just outside the Neon Museum. Eventually they will be joined by signs that will march all the way from Sahara Avenue to the museum and its new visitors center, the fully restored La Concha motel lobby. Meantime, the museum seems to be doing OK financially, with at least 50 percent of its revenue coming from the use of its “Boneyard”—a repository for many of the yet-to-be-refurbished signs—as a location for movie/TV producers and photographers. And the site is already popular with the public. Danielle Kelly, a UNLV master of fine arts grad and operations manager for the museum, reports that tours of the Boneyard are booked solid for weeks in advance. Information about becoming a museum member, as well as how to become a volunteer, is available at neonmuseum.org.

A Little Ray of Sunshine Spend five minutes with Marty Walsh in her Trifecta Gallery and it’s hard to believe that you ever thought artists were insecure, territorial creatures. For the last year, the ebullient artist has put her own painting on the back burner and focused on using her little space in the Arts Factory as a showcase for other artists. “I found myself under a lot of pressure to paint, always to a deadline, so I decided to take a year off and concentrate on building my gallery business,” she explains. “During this economy, it seemed like the right thing to do.” That decision has been a boost to the careers of the 15 up-andcomers in her stable, including Brian Porray (see Page 40), the Biscuit Street Preacher and her latest find, Uruguayan artist Leonardo Aguirre de Matteo, whom she describes as “a new Jasper Johns.”

For the most part, their works have sold well despite the recession, which speaks to her keen eye for talent and ability to deliver good shows, as well as her vigilant promotional efforts on behalf of her artists. “She has one of the best programs in town, and she’s very inspiring and enthusiastic,” says Ryan Mennealy, an art consultant with Ambient Art Projects. “You need that positive energy in an arts community, and she has that in spades.” Walsh’s latest idea is typical: a mentorship program in which established artists would help new ones to better navigate the gallery world. She also believes the relationship would benefit the mentor, who is reminded of “where he came from,” which can “trigger a humbleness that is endearing to clients.” You can’t help but hope the program takes off, because like everything else that happens in that gallery, it’s about making the art world a friendlier, if not better, place. Open noon-4 p.m. Wed.-Fri., noon-2 p.m. Sat., and noon-10 p.m. on “First Fridays,” 107 E. Charleston Blvd., No. 160, 366-7001, trifectagallery.com.

A still from Lynn Lu’s video “Happily Ever After,” shown at the Onyx Theater as part of April’s Off the Strip event.

It’s All About Community A UNLV professor suggests a new direction for contemporary art in Las Vegas.

C O U RTESY l y n n l u a n d t h e c o n t e m p o r a r y a r t S c e n t e r

By Kirsten Swenson Here’s the advice I give my talented and ambitious art students at UNLV: Leave town. I don’t want to. I’d rather say, “Stay—we need you here!” But I am mindful of their best interests, not those of Las Vegas. And this town is not an art world center. Even if it does become known for exciting contemporary art, it will never be a serious market, which generally coincides with global financial centers. So I tell them to go to New York or Los Angeles. It is important to be realistic about this when considering the Las Vegas art scene. We can still have one, of course, but the type that Las Vegas could sustain is going to be different. And that is a good thing. Here’s why: In the last year I have witnessed a series of strong and interesting art projects here that required small budgets and shared one important quality: They brought the community into focus. And over the last decade, much important art has not been object-based—as in painting or sculpture—but has engaged social contexts. So, Las Vegas, being sociologically fascinating and spectacle-friendly, is the perfect site for participatory, community-based art. The Contemporary Arts Center (CAC) put on a two-week series in April called Off the Strip in which an international group of performance and video artists screened work and conducted events around town—not in museums or galleries, but in places such as the Aruba Hotel and Dino’s Lounge downtown. For the public at large, in addition to viewers who came specifically to witness the events, performers addressed the culture of Las Vegas, from ethnic identity to sexuality. For example, prior to leaving his home in San Francisco, artist Justin Hoover placed an ad on Craigslist seeking participants for erotic encounters in his hotel room. These encounters, which apparently involved conversation and posing, were the basis of a series of drawings on hotel stationery that were then displayed at the CAC. Hoover’s musings were suggestive, with the barest of hints, while leaving much to the imagination. The CAC plans to repeat Off the Strip as an annual event, believing that Las Vegas is an ideal site for this sort of art. Local artist David Sanchez Burr produces work keyed to the community. A couple of years ago he gave us “Unwound,” in which he tacked long blue ribbons at eye level on electrical poles along a barren median on Spencer Street. The result was a beautiful transformation of an ugly, utilitarian urban infrastructure that we normally edit out of our field of vision. The streamers caught the wind and fluttered in unison until, one by one, they blew away. In June, Sanchez Burr was in residence at the Goldwell Open Air Museum in Rhyolite working on a project called “Off the Grid.” The solar-powered kinetic artwork that should hit home with its message about the environmental—and economic—imperative of sustainable design in our desert.

Danielle Kelly’s recent exhibition at the Henri & Odette gallery, Bouse House, invited the community to participate in sewing circles. She had reimagined the German Bauhaus school’s rigorous “preliminary course” of the 1930s as if it were conducted by the feminist craftswomen of Bouse, Arizona. By casting the session as something regional, political and communal, Kelly attempted to reanimate the original spirit of the German design school to, as she put it, “encourage people to make things and, via making things, have some sense of agency and hope with regard to the local art community.” Dozens of participants showed up on Thursday evenings to contribute to what became an organically growing wall piece. “People came and sewed something, anything,” she said, “and they could swiftly see the impact of their contribution.” Indeed, several participants have since mentioned to me that they now do feel engaged in our local art world. My final example is last year’s CAC exhibit by then-UNLV grad student Aaron Sheppard, who created a microcosmic Coney Island. The installation, mostly done in painted pressboard, re-created a boardwalk that featured game booths and even a ride—yet there was an empty, abandoned feel to the place. Sheppard described the art as equal parts mourning the demise of Coney Island (Astroland, the amusement park, has closed) and equating its old carnival-esque, escapist environment with Las Vegas. The installation became a set for community sideshows, such as an aging burlesque star who signed autographs, and Sheppard himself, who vamped as a half-man, halfwoman in a comic-grotesque spectacle. These spirited projects suggest an art scene in which the rich environment of Las Vegas is front and center. As everyone seems to be saying these days, “Don’t let a crisis go to waste.” The current economic conditions mean that artists and curators here are drawing on deep creative resources. They are favoring the street over the “white cube” and inventing a scrappy, local idiom that may well catch the eye of the art world, but more importantly offers opportunities for Las Vegans to experience our community in new ways. And despite my urging, some of our talent is sticking around. I must admit that I’m glad when I learn, for instance, that after earning his master’s, Aaron Sheppard is going to give Las Vegas a year before leaving for Los Angeles. And I also know that when many of these artists leave town they will continue to represent our community. It is surely the case that “You can take the artist out of Las Vegas, but …” UNLV assistant professor Kirsten Swenson teaches contemporary art history, criticism and theory, and is a regular contributor to Art in America magazine. S e p t e m b e r - O c t o b e r 2 0 0 9 D e s e r t C o m p a n i o n 27

7 Mr. Versatility Strikes Again Todd VonBastiaans seems to be everywhere. He’s the owner of a successful lighting consulting company, proprietor of the eclectic Atomic Todd gallery on Main Street and a free-spirited fixture at art events. He still finds time to sustain his interesting array of side talents, such as being a contemporary art aficionado, burlesque expert and collector of amusing artifacts from the past (a flock of owl-shaped, resin hairspray-can covers from the 1960s were a recent acquisition). And he often finds a way to combine his interests and talents for the greater good. During November’s Vegas Valley Book Festival, for example, you’ll find VonBastiaans mining his comic-book enthusiasm and devoting his gallery to an exhibit of original illustrations from Drunk, a new graphic novel devoted to Vegas bar stories featuring contributions from 25 local and national artists. Just when we thought we’d seen all of his talents, we recently discovered that he

also makes some pretty good art. The judges at this spring’s LGBT Center of Las Vegas Art Show awarded him Best of Show for his sculptural “Manument”—a miniature riff on obelisk monuments enlivened by (in keeping with his day job) remote-controlled lighting elements. The work, VonBastiaans says, is crafted as a commentary on the “obnoxious masculinity” incorporated into so many familiar structures. “Todd is very creative, and his works of art are always followed by important social commentary,” says artist and curator Brian Paco Alvarez, one of the judges for the LGBT Center show. “He is one artist we seriously need to keep an eye on.”

8 Civic Progress Thanks to the industriousness of one local government official and some fresh arts funding in the federal stimulus bill, several local artists will be put to work in the coming year. Over the summer, Clark County Cultural Program Supervisor Pat-

Frank Gehry’s Ruvo model.

rick Gaffey landed a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. The $50,000 helped ease the pain from several rounds of budget cuts. “Until I found out we won that grant,” Gaffey says, “it was starting to be difficult to see how we were going to be able to keep doing what we’ve been doing.” Now Gaffey will be able to continue the art exhibition programs at the Winchester Cultural Center and the Clark County Government Center’s Rotunda Gallery (see page 38) as well as fund, at least in part, a new edition of the popular Zap! public-art project. Launched with partial funding from the City of Las Vegas’ centennial mural program in 2005, Zap! commissions local artists to “zap” ordinary utility boxes in a given neighborhood with paint, turning the utilitarian objects into eye-catching 3-D canvases. Gaffey considers the next Zap!, planned for the vicinity of the Agassi Center for Education, as an example of Las Vegas’ new attitude toward public art. “I grew up in Las Vegas and can recall when people’s attitudes here seemed to be, ‘Vegas doesn’t have any public art and we seem to be doing just fine without it.’ But when you start to introduce more art to the community, as we’ve been slowly doing, people start to feel ownership of it and embrace it. It’s been great to see.”

9 When the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health fully opens by January, it will encompass more than just the country’s newest neurological research facility and architect Frank Gehry’s latest physics-defying masterpiece. The gallery inside will be a destination where visitors can learn about the design of the unique place they’re in. The space will contain an exhibition of models that showcase the project’s development, and possibly an original documentary film featuring Gehry and the center’s founder, Larry Ruvo (son of Lou). Those models were part of a Gehry exhibit at the Las Vegas Art Museum three years ago, so it’s both fitting and encouraging that former museum executive director Libby Lumpkin is involved in this project. She also has been tapped to head the gallery and an art exhibition program, whereby prominent contemporary artists’ work will be hung throughout the facility and made available for purchase. Here’s what strikes us as uplifting about this part of the plan: The artwork is expected to be donated (fully or partially), with all proceeds going to the center to help fund its mission. 888 W. Bonneville Ave., 263-9797, keepmemoryalive.org. 28 D e s e r t C o m p a n i o n S e p t e m b e r - O c t o b e r 2 0 0 9

model photo courtesy of gehry partners

Brain Power

Tom Zikas, Courtesy North Lake Tahoe Resort Association Visitors and Convention Bureau

Ripper Jordanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Latest Cause* *Ripper Jordan is the shared alter ego of three local artists: Sean Slattery, James Hough and David Ryan.

illustration: christopher Smith

‘Something Good Will Happen’ Art museum expert Aaron Betsky gives an outsider’s perspective on our cultural ‘hiccup.’ By P h i l H ag e n Aaron Betsky is an art and architecture expert and keen observer of Las Vegas, so it was good news that he was booked for the Vegas Valley Book Festival to talk about “The Modern Museum.” Except that, suddenly, we no longer are on a quest for a new art museum building, since we no longer have an art museum. But Betsky, director of the Cincinnati Art Museum and author of a dozen books on the “built environment,” also understands resilience in the art world, and that knowledge itself will be worth listening to. His slightly revamped lecture, “The Art of Presentation,” will take place at 7 p.m. November 4 in the Fifth Street School auditorium. Meantime, we couldn’t wait to ask him a few questions about our city’s situation and for a sneak preview of what optimism he might share. The timing is kind of funny. What will your talk be about? [Laughs] My understanding was that it was going to be relating to the idea that this [the 50-year-old Las Vegas Art Museum] was going to be a new museum someday, and now that that is not happening, I think what will be of special interest is to talk about not so much the museum as a museum … but about how you exhibit art. And exhibiting art doesn’t mean art speaks for itself. Exhibiting art means, how do you make art available and get people to look at it and develop a good relationship with it? Just like if you’re going to have a date, you want to go to a nice restaurant with the right kind of lighting and be wearing the right clothes, and you want the person you’re with to be really gorgeous but also to have a lot of content. And there are, by now, many interesting approaches and ideas as to how you do that [with art], some of which involve making museum buildings and some of which don’t. It’ll be fun to bring those together and talk about them.

COURTESY C i n c i n n a t i A r t M u s e u m

Maybe they’ll be useful to us someday. I sure hope so. Vegas also has been a place where there have been some interesting experiments, like the short-lived Guggenheim and the kind of hybrid commercial/noncommercial situation you have in [Bellagio]. So you’ve got some interesting things to talk about. What was your reaction to the Las Vegas Art Museum closing? Of course, it’s a shame. I can’t believe that, given the size and vibrancy of Las Vegas—a large metropolitan center that I think is, by now, quite hungry for visual culture—you won’t have [a museum] sooner or later. It’s unfortunate that this hiccup happened, but something good will happen in the future. The museum’s former director, Libby Lumpkin, has said it could take 10 years for a museum to get going again. That is possible. One has to have a lot of patience. We have been

thinking about adding on to and expanding our museum [in Cincinnati] for five years now, and it will be at least another five years—with a little bit of luck. Some people in Las Vegas have said a museum is not going to happen here, that there’s nothing wrong with having to go to L.A. or Phoenix, where there are good museums. What’s wrong with that idea? I think the community the size of Las Vegas, with as much desert around it as Vegas has, needs and deserves its own serious museum. Because we’re our own place. Yes, that’s it. It’s not a suburb of L.A., contrary to what some people believe. What new things are we learning about how to exhibit art? Not just how, but where. … We’re beginning to see a lot of different places that are either a kunsthalle [a museum that does not have a permanent collection] or a buy-or-sell thing, temporary museums, museums without a fixed home—so there are all kinds of different ways you can think about the art museum in addition to the traditional metropolitan museum. Which new way are you most excited about? I am interested in how you can do two things that seem to be incompatible. One is, how can you do an art museum that is one of the few places in our culture where you have a moment of retreat and silence and concentrate? And the other thing is, how can you use art, which shows us where we are and where we’ve come from and where we’re going, as a way to activate your community—to be a really vibrant community center? We’re trying to figure that out as we think about our addition. How do you create almost sacred environments … as well as how do you create places where everyone will come and have a great time and meet each other and be informed by the work around them? How you do that—I don’t have a recipe yet, but would sure like to figure it out. Which way would be right for Vegas? One of things that would be great about Vegas is if it could pick up on some of the advances on how one engages audiences and gets people excited and gets people to look and concentrate on things— and make them fun at the same time. I would get [Las Vegas-based art critic] Dave Hickey as your advisor. I’m sure he could figure it out. I don’t think there’s one single recipe or model for Las Vegas. I think Las Vegas should get together and figure out what it wants as visual arts center, and it should be open to all kinds of ideas. S e p t e m b e r - O c t o b e r 2 0 0 9 D e s e r t C o m p a n i o n 31

12 The Addition of CityCenter This “city within a city” is not being built for us locals. Nonetheless, by late fall or early winter, it’s going to be great to have in our midst a metropolitan destination where—while absorbing the urban intricacies of architecture by the likes of Cesar Pelli and Daniel Libeskind—you can grab a public-art map and spend a few hours enjoying “our” works by Maya Lin, Claes Oldenburg and Richard Long. Meantime, in mid-September, we can go to the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art and check out an exhibit called 12 + 7: Artists and Architects of CityCenter, featuring sketches, drawings, sculptures, paintings and models by the 12 contemporary art stars and seven master architects who helped shape this new era of sophistication. Bellagio Gallery hours: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sun.-

Thu.; 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Fri.-Sat. Admission $12; children 12 and under are free. 693-7871.

13 The Modern Movement Over the last year momentum has been building among a group of art enthusiasts who come together once a month to share their passion. Helmed by Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art Director Tarissa Tiberti and local art advisor Michele Quinn, the Modern Council offers its 60 or so members behind-thescenes glimpses of notable private art collections, tours of up-and-coming artists’ studios and private exhibition lectures. By expanding its programming to include other cultural experiences, such as a Nevada Ballet Theatre performance and the CineVegas screening of Beautiful Darling (a documentary about one

32 D e s e r t C o m p a n i o n S e p t e m b e r - O c t o b e r 2 0 0 9

of Andy Warhol’s Factory denizens), the Modern Council acknowledges the diverse interests of its small but growing membership, as well as the fact that the occasional departure from the visual arts may be necessary to sustain a compelling events calendar. Although the now-defunct Guggenheim Hermitage’s Young Collectors Council struggled to organize a full slate of events specifically around visual art, the MC’s willingness to branch out into other cultural arts seems to be working. “Members seem glad to have a reason to socialize with other art enthusiasts,” says Quinn, who, like Tiberti, returned to her native Las Vegas after establishing her fine-art career in New York City. “And our goal is to make sure each event offers something fresh and fun.” Membership is $250 ($400 for couples). For details, e-mail fineartgallery@bellagioresort.com.

C o u r t e s y o f S p r ü t h M a g e r s B e r l i n L o n d o n a n d N i k o l a u s R u z i c s k a , S a l zb u r g © 2 0 0 8 J e n n y H o l z e r , m e m b e r A r t i s t s R i g h t s S o c i e t y ( ARS ) , N e w Y o r k

Jenny Holzer’s “Four Corner: Truisms, Living” will be Jenny Holzer, Four Corner: Truisms, Living, Text: Artists and Architects CityCenter exhibit. 2004, in thefrom Selections Truisms, 1977-70 of and Living, 1980-82,

Glenn Schaeffer’s Bleau Period His masterpiece will be finished some day (just not by him), and it will continue to drive the radical idea of beauty on the Strip.

Christopher Smith

By Eric Olsen Three years ago, before the smartest guys in the room gutted the nation’s economy and brought us to the brink of the Second Great Depression, back when occupancy rates at the Strip hotels were at about 110 percent and Cristal champagne was still going for 500 bucks a bottle, Glenn Schaeffer wrote a memo to his people at Fontainebleau Resorts laying out his vision for Fontainebleau Las Vegas. The idea was to connect contemporary art with technology and music, architecture and design to achieve an organicism, a wholeness—a complexity that would seem like the simplest thing. “Beauty is democratic,” Schaeffer would say. “People know cool stuff when the see it.” Schaeffer was president of Fontainebleau Resorts at the time, and his vision for Fontainebleau Las Vegas was a culmination of local trends in art, architecture and design that began when Steve Wynn stuck a bunch of Impressionists and Picassos in a gallery in Bellagio and charged tourists to look at them. But then Las Vegas has always been about art, if not always about good art, and it always will be. Indeed, the Strip is art in the sense that art is something you look at—or in Vegas, maybe, gawp at—and experience and enjoy, or at least have the pleasure of turning your back on and sniffing, “You call that art? Hell, my kid could do that.” Schaeffer upped the ante when he was prez of Mandalay Resort Group and installed a bunch of hyper-cool, hard-edged minimalist paintings on the walls in THEhotel at Mandalay Bay, where folks could see them for free. Better yet, the entire hotel interior was designed as an integration of art and architecture, a complete experience. Now you’re not just looking at something, you’re part of the whole cool scene. Fontainebleau Las Vegas was to have been the next big move from there. And who knows, it might still be. At least the outside will be grand; it is already and it ain’t even done. And the interior may yet explore the exterior’s opening statement of elegant cool. One can see an expression of that vision in the lobby of the remodeled Fontainebleau Miami Beach with its Ai Weiwei chandeliers and light installations by James Turrell and elegant Bleau Bar—a cool interior as continuation of cool exterior, seamless. “Wynn’s approach,” Schaeffer says, “has always been whoever spends the most money wins. We knew we’d never be bigger or richer than the competition; what we could do better was intensity of experience.” Schaeffer left Fontainebleau, though, which promptly imploded. Construction ground to a halt. But the building is about two-thirds finished, and while Schaeffer is gone from Fontainebleau, he’s not gone from Vegas. His vision remains embodied in that big blue building at the north end of the Strip, and that vision will help define whatever happens next in Vegas. And that’s the good news. Sooner or later, the economy will rebound, Cristal champagne will be back at 500 bucks

a bottle, and someone’s going to buy the blue building and finish it, and it’ll be grand. There’s been an inevitable progression in the quality of what we have to gawp at in Vegas, from the black-velvet Elvises and LeRoy Neimans of decades ago, to seriously sophisticated design moves by Schaeffer and a handful of kindred spirits, and the thing is, there’s no going back. Once you’ve seen good art or architecture—and by god we have, haven’t we?—you won’t ever be satisfied with schlock, not even in this miserable economy. Indeed, these miserable times are depressing enough without schlock; in times like these one craves beauty more than anything else, and that will surely drive whatever happens next in Vegas. Who’d a thought? Vegas saved by beauty. Eric Olsen is editor of BrightCity Books and former director of the International Institute of Modern Letters—both Las Vegas-based projects founded with his longtime friend Glenn Schaeffer. S e p t e m b e r - O c t o b e r 2 0 0 9D eDseesretrCtoCmopmapnai o nn i o n33 33

15 One Institute’s Reinvention

16 Cirque Acts of Kindness During the informal exhibition previews the Thursday night before each “First Friday” festival, Kenton Aemmerson makes the rounds to visit gallery owners and congratulate artists on their new shows. He does this for two reasons: his appreciation for the visual arts and it’s his job. As cultural action coordinator for Cirque du Soleil’s Global Citizenship Service, Aemmerson scouts emerging artists and organizations to see who could use a helping hand. Over the summer a little twist was added to his routine when the head of the props department for Cirque’s LOVE show, Mark Jenkins, wanted to open his own gallery inside the Arts Factory. Aemmerson saw to it that Jenkins received a $500 grant, which was enough to help the painter lay the foundation for

The Metasonic/Off the Grid exhibit at the CAC featured works by David Sanchez Burr and Richard Vosseller.

what looks to be an interesting addition to the arts scene. It’s another artistic benefit of Cirque’s substantial yet humble presence in our community (each year, one percent of its gross earnings goes to cultural programs around the world). “We just hope that our giving back will inspire others to do the same,” Aemmerson says. For details on Cirque’s Global Citizenship Service, visit cirquedusoleil.com.

17 New Kids on the Block “I’m always glad when someone from out of town invests in the artistic life of Vegas,” says local artist James Hough. And, most recently, he’s very glad about Anne and Ryan Mennealy, art consultants from Los Angeles who last year moved into a gated west Las Vegas neighborhood just down the street from their old friends, John Nelson and Milo Miloscia, who happen to have a fabulous little gallery behind their home. Together, they’ve formed Ambient Art Projects, a consulting business that includes operating what Ryan calls “a passion project” in that backyard space. Hough was one of 11 American artists in Ambient Art Gallery’s first show last spring, Pairs, and another local star, Sush Machida Gaikotsu, is featured in the second, Animal Attraction, which can be viewed by appoint-

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ment only through mid-September. The private gallery is a means to an end—the team ultimately wants to find a permanent space with regular hours—but while they case the promised land, they’re offering what Ryan calls “a legitimate venue to show art in Las Vegas that you wouldn’t ordinarily see.” And in a town that has lost some of its best venues and people lately, Ambient has quickly helped to fill the void. 7432 Silver Palm Ave., 233-3777, ambientartprojects.com.

18 Art Appreciation (and Perseverance) MCQ Fine Art Salon has had some great shows (Richard Serra, Ellsworth Kelly) and a great little film event called “7th @ 7,” but attendance has just been OK. Still, full-time art advisor Michele Quinn is persisting with her after-hours mission: to give this community a true taste of the metropolitan art world. So, after a summer hiatus, “7th @ 7” (a reference to the time and address) is back this fall with free monthly screenings. There will also be a brand-new exhibit by the radical local art trio Ripper Jordan (see Page 29), starting September 25. To appreciate this effort, all you have to do is show up. 620 S. Seventh St., 366-9339, mcqfineart.com.

CO n t e m p o r a r y A r t s C e n t e r a n d J e n N i f e r H a r r i n g t o n : C h r i s t o p h e r S m i t h

When Las Vegas’ Contemporary Arts Collective reinvented itself as the Contemporary Arts Center (CAC) last year, its mission shifted from nurturing a relatively small group of artist-members to one that was more in tune with the community as a whole. To this end, then-CAC Director Beate Kirmse continued to curate exhibitions by local artists (including Aaron Sheppard, Catherine Borg and Erik Gecas), but also imported whatever she thought might work here, such as a group show of printmakers from Santa Fe and the Off the Strip video and performance art festival, featuring participants from as far away as Germany and Singapore. The new strategy has paid off. This year the CAC celebrates its 20th anniversary and it appears to be in great shape—no small feat for a Nevada arts organization. Kirmse has since moved on, but with the help of grants from the Nevada Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts, a search for a gallery manager to continue the CAC’s upward trajectory is underway. Meanwhile, CAC board president and acting director David Sanchez Burr has big hopes for its future: “Las Vegas has been inspiring to many artists throughout the years. I would like to see more artists come here and establish connections with artists from Las Vegas. I envision the CAC evolving into a scaled-down version of the Yerba Buena Center in San Francisco or PICA in Portland. This may be far-fetched, but I think the people of this city truly deserve much more than they currently receive.” Open noon-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat. and 6-10 p.m. on “First Fridays,” 107 E. Charleston Blvd., Suite 120, 382-3886, lasvegascac.org.

A Cultural Foothold Henri & Odette, the little coffeehouse/gallery/gift shop downtown, defies easy description. You’re as likely to see a dapper attorney buying an espresso and an art magazine as you are a character from the neighborhood looking for a game of chess. “It’s like the high and the low mixed together,” says Jennifer Harrington, owner and curator. “I have academic art on the walls, but it’s also an easy place to hang out and have a coffee.” This balance has enabled H&O to succeed on gritty Sixth Street for a year now. That and the fact that Harrington has good taste (in décor and up-and-coming artists) and is an engaging hostess (per-

haps that UNLV philosophy degree does come in handy). Though H&O wasn’t designed to be a destination per se, but a stopover where you could grab a coffee before going somewhere else, her special events (artist openings, monthly dinner series, ladies’ tea parties) have helped to make it one. Having executed such a radical idea (for downtown Las Vegas) puts her well ahead of the curve, which is not necessarily a good place to be right about now, but … “To me, you’re either going to get in when you can afford the rent and work really hard or wait till it’s popular [to be downtown] and not be able to afford a space,” she says. “Like [developer] Sam Cherry said to me one time, ‘You should never think about the rent of some place as an issue if you really believe in what you’re doing.’ So, I was able to put together something I like, and I think that’s pretty cool.” Open 11 a.m.-1 p.m. and 4-10 p.m. Tues.-Sat., 124 S. Sixth St., 686-3164, henri-odette.com

David Mozes (left) and Brett Sperry in Sperryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s temporary gallery at Newport Lofts.

Men on a Mission One is set to open an ambitious art gallery; the other is planning a major mixed-use project. Both hope to elevate the Arts District.

Christopher Smith

B y ERIKA P O P E One conversation with Brett Sperry or David Mozes and you won’t question their Arts District ambitions. Their pursuits may be different—Sperry is constructing a contemporary art gallery at the southwest corner of Charleston Boulevard and Casino Center Avenue; Mozes is building support for a mixed-use project—but both men share the same infectious conviction that they have a role to play in transforming downtown’s humble Arts District into a sophisticated cultural destination. Sperry is known for helping to grow Las Vegas-based Westwood Studios into a big enough player in the video-game world that the company was bought out by Electronic Arts in 1998. He worked there until 2002, and has since busied himself with other entrepreneurial endeavors, having adopted the philosophy, “Choose an adventure, do it to the best of your ability, and then move on.” However, the lifelong art fan avows the Brett Wesley Gallery (he uses his middle name in the title) will be a permanent part of his repertoire. He sees an opportunity to fill a void in the art scene with a gallery that shows important emerging and established artists. And the shaky economic climate doesn’t rattle his faith a bit. “When I hear the comment that our city doesn’t appreciate the arts, I strongly disagree,” Sperry says. “There is a unique dynamic here, and there is some unfamiliarity with the syntax of art, but that should not be mistaken for a lack of sophistication. One key to our success is to remove barriers to communication—demystifying art terms to clearly demonstrate what quality means. We will also show work and discuss what’s happening now, and who will become the next Andy Warhol, Ansel Adams or Picasso of our time.” So when it opens later this fall, it will be more than a gallery; it’ll be a nexus for “education, celebration and commerce” related to art, including exhibition space, an outdoor sculpture garden and a private second-floor area for lectures and seminars. Until then Sperry and his partner, Victoria Hart, are staging monthly by-invitation-only exhibitions of emerging and established painters, sculptors and photographers in the penthouse suite of

downtown’s Newport Lofts. (Visit brettwesleygallery.com to find out how to get invited.) Mozes’ vision is far less of a done deal, but it is much larger in scale. The 31-year-old Los Angeles resident built his reputation on shoppingcenter management successes in SoCal and then, pursuing his lifelong affection for New Urbanism, developed transit-oriented, live-work projects in Hollywood. A few years ago he saw even greater urbandevelopment potential in Las Vegas’ Arts District, thinking it could serve as a much-needed gathering spot for the entire community. So he dreamed up Mission Las Vegas. Plans for the dynamic complex call for it to occupy an entire city block north of the Arts Factory, near the Coolidge Avenue-Casino Center stop on the new ACE Rapid Transit system. It will front the city’s new sculpture park and include space for boutique shops, restaurants, galleries and offices for “creative” businesses. Interior corridors will display art and feature piped-in music by up-and-coming artists (the latter will also perform nightly on the outdoor Boulder Stage). The bonus is that Mozes is primarily recruiting tenants dedicated to purveying specialty and artisanal products, especially those with “green” characteristics. “I want to avoid big corporate affiliations,” he says. “In doing so, the Mission will really offer something unique—a viable destination for people from all parts of the Valley.” Meanwhile, the rooftop of his project’s eight-story parking garage will host “penthouse” events catering to nonprofit groups, writers’ workshops, art marketing seminars and small trade shows. Mozes needs more investors to help make The Mission a reality, but he has received his entitlements from the city, and his project recently collected a design award from the American Institute of Architects. And he’s not been shy about seeking community feedback. “I’ve deliberately tried to solicit diverse points of view from artists, business owners in the area, and other influencers,” Mozes says. “Some people have concerns about the exterior design [it’s on the utilitarianindustrial end of the spectrum], but they’ve been almost universally positive about the Mission as a whole.” S e p t e m b e r - O c t o b e r 2 0 0 9 D e s e r t C o m p a n i o n 37

A Pleasant Surprise Every so often it’s possible to stumble upon remarkable art when you least expect it. In one case, a visit with Jerry Schefcik at the Donna Beam Fine Art Gallery circuitously led to a visit to downtown’s the Fallout Gallery to see a show of drawings by recent UNLV grad Peter Mengert. He was showing alongside an artist named Lance Smith, who was just preparing to enter the BFA program. Mengert’s narrative work demonstrated a level of coherence and deftness in its own right, but Smith’s dark, atmospheric drawings and paintings turned out to be positively arresting. Working in grayscale with charcoal, gesso and acrylic, Smith turns traditional gesture drawing—that sketchbook staple of beginning life-drawing courses—into the basis of a finished work as notable for its composition as for its highly charged content. It’s possible to detect traces of Willem de Kooning and Francis Bacon in his voluptuous nudes, which are depicted in suggestive postures and violent scenarios. Smith’s paintings lose something of the

raw, visceral energy of his drawings, yet, with their bold use of chiaroscuro and dramatic, almost runaway perspective, they maintain their own appeal. And Smith, at age 20, is just getting started.

22 A Double Comeback Former Guggenheim Hermitage Managing Director Elizabeth Herridge is back in action—times two. First, she’s putting together a retrospective of Rita Deanin Abbey’s work. The internationally known artist has lived in Las Vegas since 1965 and was featured in the summer issue of Desert Companion. Herridge is searching for the proper local venue and approaching others outside Nevada to determine their interest in participating. “Rita is an underappreciated resource and a treasure,” Herridge says. “I had the idea last spring and, fortunately, Rita has agreed.” The project is a year out. Meantime, in late July, Herridge was appointed managing director of the Springs Preserve. If you’re wondering what that has to do with art, she understands why. The

The Hough-Morey exhibit at the Rotunda Gallery.

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180-acre facility has two nice but littleknown spaces: the Big Springs Gallery in the ORIGEN building, which showcases nature photography, and the Patio Gallery in the Desert Living Center, which hosts traveling environmental art exhibits. “I read every publication in town and didn’t know this,” Herridge says. She hopes to create public awareness that the preserve is “more than a place about plants and animals,” and this re-branding will include more and betterquality visual and performing arts events. She’s even contemplating a sculpture garden amid all those plants. “We want to make this an oasis for the city,” she says, “and to do that, we need to give people new reasons all the time to come here.” The Springs Preserve is open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. A visit to the galleries requires regular park admission: $9.95 for residents; $8.95 for students and seniors; $4.95 for children 5-17; under 5 free. springspreserve.org.

23 Catherine Borg Rises to a Challenge Despite some considerable disadvantages, one civic art program has enjoyed ascendancy under the direction of artist and part-time Clark County cultural specialist Catherine Borg. The towering dimensions and unsteady stream of natural light make the Clark County Government Center’s Rotunda Gallery a tough venue to fill. With its curved sandstone walls cut by massive windows and large corridors, the space shows three-dimensional pieces best, and Borg, who has a master’s in visual art, chooses them wisely. One show last fall successfully paired freestanding, human-scale sculptures by UNLV MFA alumni Adam Morey and James Hough. Morey’s work consisted of translucent acrylic boxes inset with intricate Mylar designs that changed their appearance as the sun moved across the sky. Hough’s asymmetrical, geometric sculptures adorned with colorful graphics begged the viewer to walk around them, an activity the Rotunda’s spacious layout accommodated. Borg’s proven curatorial sensibility and good taste mean we should all make it a point to visit that space more often. This fall’s Inscribed/Messages, an exhibition inspired by books and language that will coincide with the Vegas Valley Book Festival, should provide an excellent reason to do so. Open 8 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays, Clark County Government Center, 500 S. Grand Central Pkwy., 455- 8239, accessclarkcounty.com.

Rotunda Gallery: Catherine Borg; Paymon’s Bistro: Ryan Reason

The Doubling of Downtown Art Restaurants Although many of us were sad to see Chef Enrique Tinoco relocate his popular bistro from the Arts Factory to the Vegas Club (check out the billboard looming over the old location for details), the upshot is that downtown now has two restaurants dedicated to the art of food and, well, art. That’s because Tinoco’s spot was filled by Paymon Raouf, who used the opportunity to open another outpost of his Mediterranean Café. The new bistro (pictured) combines the most popular dishes from his two established cafés (don’t miss the chicken scaloppini) with cool artwork selected by Trifecta Gallery’s

Marty Walsh. “We are as much concerned for the vitality of the arts community as we are being restaurateurs,” restaurant General Manager Jeff Ecker says. Tinoco’s, meantime, continues a similar tradition—but with Italian cuisine—and has even started hosting one-artist exhibitions. There’s nothing like competition to up the ante. Paymon’s Mediterranean Café is open for lunch 11 a.m.-3 p.m. weekdays; dinner “First Fridays” only from 5-9 p.m., 107 E. Charleston Blvd., 272-0020. Tinoco’s Kitchen is open every day for breakfast, lunch and dinner, 7 a.m.-9 p.m., 18 Fremont St., 380-5735.

The Emergence of Brian Porray Speed Racer, tunnels, six-dimensional space, the spectacle of Las Vegas … It’s all starting to come together for the UNLV grad student—and fast. B y P h i l HAGEN

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Christopher Smith

There’s a big pile of optimism on the floor of Brian Porray’s studio—25 pieces of plywood, neatly stacked. It’s early June, and they’re awaiting a long summer of meticulous sprays and dabs of paint that will turn them into art. Even if that’s not an exceptional workload for a UNLV master of fine art student, the promise it contains is. There’s a sense that Porray has turned the corner. He seems to be on to something. There’s evidence in the few paintings he’s already completed in the series. Take “None of This Is Actually Happening,” whose neon-bright particles appear to be getting sucked into the canvas, leaving nothing behind. It’s like that whirl of surrealism during the split second you’re whipped upside-down in a roller coaster. In the painting, though, the moment of movement is frozen, giving you time to contemplate the familiar world morphed into a kaleidoscope of shapes and colors. The effect is beautiful, thrilling, even a little dizzying. Porray likes the sound of that last word, and he suspects this new effect—“images wildly receding backward”—is “a direct result of getting a firm grip on how to put the geometry together in a much more dramatic way.” And so the 30-year-old artist will keep pushing this direction with what he calls his “digital rococo acid-trip landscapes,” refining his angles in effort to achieve more acceleration, more drama, more of whatever effect might surface in the process. “This summer,” Porray says, “I’m just taking the aesthetics for a ride.”

Marty Walsh, the artist’s rep, felt a little bump in the road not long before. Three of Porray’s paintings that she hung in Paymon’s Mediterranean Bistro at the Arts Factory seemed to be a detour from recent progress. “They felt a little transitional,” she says. They are certainly OK enough for public display. They are of the same caliber as Porray’s recent public commissions, such as his sublime take on the Landmark hotel implosion for Clark County’s centennial mural project. They have the same color intensity that inspired the British design magazine Candid to include Porray in its spring “Who to Watch” roundup and refer to his paintings as “eye-popping,” and for the upcoming issue of New American Paintings (which calls itself “a juried exhibition-in-print”) to spotlight his work alongside that of 40 other painters in the West. But when Walsh visited Porray’s studio in June and saw a large new work called “Police John, Police Red,” she didn’t bother to shade her critique: “That painting rocks my world!” She felt the motion, and that the paintings were in sync with what had originally motivated Walsh to devote her Trifecta Gallery to a sort of Brian Porray coming-out party in September. Though she usually doesn’t bother—or bother with—graduate students while they’re finding their way, Porray is the exception. He’s ready. She calls him “the perfect storm,” with all conditions right for emergence. S e p t e m b e r - O c t o b e r 2 0 0 9 D e s e r t C o m p a n i o n 41

“He’s smart, patient, talented, serious, enthusiastic, diplomatic, sociable, and he has excellent craftsmanship. These are qualities you seldom see all in one artist. And he’s motivated—he eats, sleeps and drinks painting. He’s got all of the elements.” Yet Walsh’s list doesn’t include two qualities that may be the most vital to his artistic acceleration.

Via Las Vegas One is that Porray is homegrown. Although it can be provincial to prop up the local talent because they are local, in his case it’s essential to understanding his art. Starting with the fact that he’s so proudly indigenous. He loves that his family goes back three generations in Sin City (“My grandfather sold tractor equipment to the mob!”) and that he once parked cars at the Orleans. He embraces the Vegas aesthetic that the serious art and design world often shuns, feeling very much at home with—if not inspired by—its colors, lights, spectacle, the whole audacity. You could say his palette was shaped by having grown up in the digital generation (and that is a factor), but when he twists open a jar to show off his new favorite color, his enthusiasm is rooted in Vegas: “Check this out— Super Pearl Gold,” he says. “That should be the name of a slot machine!” It’s also important to note that Porray is a full-circle Las Vegan, among the rare breed who has lived it, loved it and left it, only to come back to where he and his art belong. After eight years split between the Bay Area (hanging out) and Reno (earning his undergraduate degree), he noticed something new surfacing in his work. “I felt Vegas popping out,” he says. “So I figured why not go home and indulge it.” He picked an interesting time to return. In 2006, Las Vegas was in overdrive. Housing prices were peaking. The Strip was luring a record number of tourists and rolling out bold plans for the future. Even the art scene had some swagger, led by the Las Vegas Art Museum and its executive director, Libby Lumpkin. “Las Vegas seemed at the tipping point of becoming a solid art destination,” he says. “So I made the move and figured everything would kind of fall into place once I got here.” Including a job at the museum, for which Porray was on the short list. Three years later, it doesn’t matter that his homecoming hasn’t worked out the way he’d expected. He didn’t get the job, but he was accepted by UNLV’s MFA program. The economy collapsed, but at least he hadn’t bought a house. And the art movement lost the museum, 42 D e s e r t C o m p a n i o n S e p t e m b e r - O c t o b e r 2 0 0 9

Lumpkin and much of its momentum, but he considers that “a collapse of art administration,” not of the scene itself. “There is plenty of art to be made,” Porray says. “In fact, I think this may be an occasion to celebrate more of those things we find to be virtues about Las Vegas, because it’s easy right now to forget what they are.” Such as rugged individualism, relentless confidence, intrepid adaptation (thus his choice of an implosion to celebrate the centennial), blatant spectacle and, of course, those acid-trip colors, which he thinks will look especially good on Trifecta’s walls right now, busting through the pervasive gloom of the times. It’s this kind of attitude that prompted Ryan Mennealy, during an interview about art optimism, to offer Porray as his first piece of evidence. “What a treat he is,” says the Las Vegas-based art consultant, who visited Porray’s studio in the spring. “He’s a nice guy, intelligent and does good work that seems to be progressing. He’s full of youthful energy—a real beacon of hope in the art scene here.” UNLV professor Mark Burns, who sits on Porray’s MFA committee, gladly seconds that sentiment. “I think having people of Brian’s caliber is a reason itself to be optimistic. There are good opportunities here that might not present themselves in other places. And a lot of that has to do with the lack of arts scene or art culture, which mean opportunities come in different ways for people. He fits right into that.”

The Neon Bridge The most notable opportunity in recent memory was UNLV’s MFA program circa 1990-2001. The movement’s leader back then, Professor Dave Hickey, will tell you that Las Vegas’ lack of rules, traditional art scene and “judgmental stratum” allow more room to create. The result, for artists such as Tim Bavington, Sush Machida Gaikotsu and David Ryan, was the creation of smart decorative art that earned them international acclaim individually and as a group. Their collective peak may have been the 2007 exhibition Las Vegas Diaspora: The Emergence of Contemporary Art from the Neon Homeland, curated by Hickey for the museum run by Lumpkin, his wife. Porray, who volunteered to help paint the walls for that show, says joining the MFA program after the Hickey era felt a little like “walking into a hotel after a really cool party.” While that heyday may have passed, he seems to have a connection with those artists, both visually

A Porray sampler (clockwise from opposite page): “Police John, Police Red” (2008, 144 x 72 inches), “Bird Dream of the Olympus Mons” (2008, 48 x 96 inches), “Wave of Mutilation” (2009, 48 x 36 inches) and “None of This Is Actually Happening” (2009, 48 by 48 inches).

(those well-crafted, eye-popping pieces) and spiritually (channeling the neon homeland). If nothing else, he benefits from the leftover permission to carry on what they started. And sometimes Porray bridges the divide physically, rubbing elbows with Diaspora alumni who still work in Las Vegas. David Ryan, for example, went to check out Porray’s MFA “midway” show on campus in the spring. “I definitely responded to the colors and shapes, and to the compartmentalized breakdown of his visual information,” says Ryan, who recently had a sold-out show in Paris. “I felt like it was heading in a good direction. I’m excited to see what comes next.” Porray’s main connection is Gaikotsu, for whom he works as a volunteer studio assistant, helping the artist prep paintings for shows worldwide. “We talk about everything—how to deal with a gallery, market and pricing concerns, how to ship work, painting techniques, production scheduling,” Porray says. “Most importantly, we constantly talk about art.”

To honor that relationship, the September show at Trifecta Gallery will include some Gaikotsu pieces, too, as part of Walsh’s mentorship program. Gaikotsu, a native of Japan, jokes that it’s the “Mr. Miyagi and Karate Kid exhibition,” but that analogy has more to do with Porray’s new fashion statement—a headband—than their actual relationship, which is about mutual respect between an established professional and one who’s on his way to that status. “It’s still the beginning for him,” Gaikotsu says, Miyagi-style, “but the future will surely come.” Meantime, he likes what he’s seen of Porray’s work. “His paintings let me go into the spiritual world, into the organic cells, and make me feel as if I am looking at spontaneous reaction … a chemical reaction in the human body.” Other than his ongoing dialogue with Professor Burns and his relationship with girlfriend Kyla Hansen, another up-and-coming UNLV artist, Porray is a bit of a lone wolf. He’s all right with working (continued on Page 76) S e p t e m b e r - O c t o b e r 2 0 0 9 D e s e r t C o m p a n i o n 43

Mug Shots by Robert Muller; photo illustration by Christopher Smith

project’s e th , ie rr Ba y th Ka d an Dennis by love, en iv dr e ar t, tfi ou ve ti crea ect. bj su r ei th r fo t ec sp re honor and By Phil Hagen

vie that would change his ged television and saw a mo bug rie Bar s nni De ut abo ing rring James Woods ometh mind. It was Dirty Pictures, sta can ay tod n ma er ith Ne an. Contemporary Oscar Goodm nnis Barrie, the Cincinnati De as the in but s, wa it at ly beat put a finger on wh r director who, in 1990, famous nte Ce s Art to h pitc s rie’ Bar summer of 2006, during charges over the public as an indictment on obscenity Veg Las the for m tea e ativ cre orpe’s controversial lead the exhibition of Robert Mappleth , me Cri zed ani Org and ent e for art lovers Museum of Law Enforcem graphs. It was a landmark cas oto ph on d sol s wa tee mit com —for law lovers. every member of the selection e up with and—as it turns out cam o s wh guy the , yor ma e t the man I was dealing with wa him but one—th tha d lize rea “I tion uta rep rlasting Goodman says. “I the museum idea and whose eve the curator of that art museum,” . ble gam lion mil was the coolest. may ride on his city’s $50 in love with him. I thought he fell a as tion uta rep ’s rie what he Goodman knew about Bar d done in Cincinnati was exactly he’ at Wh . rld wo m seu mu n der I like. transformative figure in the mo done, and that’s the kind of guy e hav uld sho : ses ces suc t bigges He was familiar with Barrie’s two complete flip-flop.” Washington, D.C., So I did a in m seu Mu was on a plane Spy nal atio ern Int the At the mayor’s request, Barrie . and vel Cle in e Fam of embraced and the Rock and Roll Hall Las Vegas for a tête-à-tête. “I to k bac rie Bar of or fav in ed s, “and told him how much But even after the committee vot rie left him,” the mayor say Bar py. hap t sn’ wa yor ma the s fresh light, Goodman leading the team, . I appreciate him.” In thi ong wr ing eth som e don d he’ nd’s other qualiLas Vegas feeling as if o picked up on his new frie als s wa “I e. vib bad the ke er—namely And Goodman couldn’t sha ides First Amendment crusad bes ties ” off. it thy, his wife and chief curator, Ka wary,” he recalls. “We didn’t hit and rie Bar t tha an odm Go y like rrow-deep passion But, as a longtime mob attorne shared the mayor’s same ma nts clie r you of d fon be to e hav w he had missed would know, you don’t the “Mob Museum.” Someho for on. nt we t jec pro the t go-round. to work with them. So life and on his that virtue in the firs ped flip an odm Go r, late s nth A few mo S e p t e m b e r - O c t o b e r 2 0 0 9 D e s e r t C o m p a n i o n 45

“I knew they gave us credibility right off the bat,” Goodman says, “but the thing I like most about them is that they’re in love with the project. They effuse over it. I’m not going to demean the Spy Museum or the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but I think their enthusiasm for the Mob Museum far exceeds their affection for those two.”

human nature. And that is what could elevate the Mob Museum from national punch line to national treasure. That said, he also understands the need for bloody crime-scene evidence and reasonably priced Al Capone bobbleheads. “Our competition is casinos with budgets you can never match and movies you can never match,” Dennis says. “Clearly, you have to borrow from some of those worlds, but what we can give is an education. Casinos can do a lot of wonderful things, but the chances are small that you’re going to get anything but entertainment. Here you will come out knowing something.”

* * * The Barries’ affection for the project stems from Cleveland, which, thanks in part to its proximity to Canada, developed an organized-crime tradition in the Prohibition days of the 1920s. It is home to both good guys (Eliot Ness’s ashes and memorial are at Lake View Cemetery) and bad (Irish mobster Danny Greene was blown up there). Not far from the Barries’ neighborhood is Little Italy and its main drag, Mayfield Road. This stretch of restaurants, bakeries, cafés and shops once was the stomping grounds of the Mayfield Road Mob and its most famous boss, Moe Dalitz. Corbo’s Bakery has The Godfather line “Leave the gun, take the cannoli” on its front window. Otherwise there are no historical embellishments along the intimate, bustling street. Not much has changed since the Dalitz days, and that’s why the Barries like it here. On their way to dinner one June evening, they

46 D e s e r t C o m p a n i o n S e p t e m b e r - O c t o b e r 2 0 0 9

duck into an old Italian restaurant to show a reporter the décor, which is pleasantly faux opulent in a Golden Nugget kind of way. “Isn’t this great?” Dennis says. “It reminds us of old Vegas.” Appropriately so. The mob used to tie into Las Vegas via several networks, and the Cleveland connection was significant for one reason. In 1949, Dalitz led a group of “investors” in the purchase of the Desert Inn, which was under construction. This move proved to be so lucrative that he stuck around and became part of the community fabric during the formative days of Las Vegas. In the end, he may have walked the line between good guy and bad guy as well as any mobster. Not only was Dalitz the “Godfather of Las Vegas,” he also was one of the city’s most influential and generous citizens. Although being in Cleveland is handy for backyard research, it also serves as a reminder of the mob’s latter-day relevance beyond The Sopranos. Kathy has a few jarring memories, including being awakened by an early-morning bomb set off by the mob, but her favorite is from the late 1980s, when her Cleveland Committee for Public Art organization operated in an old building downtown. “A guy came in one day and started to rehab one of the storefronts into a coffee shop. So we watched this unfold and thought how great this is going to be. It was called the Drip Stick and it had the oddest décor—old-fashioned gas pumps. And the help was not very welcoming; they did everything possible to not sell you coffee. We started thinking, Hmm, this is too weird. Well, it turned out it was a front for a numbers racket, and the fbi was

C O U RTES Y T H E INTERNATIONA L SP Y M U SE U M

* * * That would be a tough thing for Dennis Barrie to admit in public. Though he was in Cincinnati for a while, he’s a Clevelander through and through. He grew up there and lives there now, and that’s where the Rock Hall has been a proud civic success for nearly 15 years. The Spy Museum, a controversial project that opened in 2002, was another important milestone in Barrie’s curatorial career—and the first one achieved with his wife. In many ways, it will be difficult for the Mob Museum to top those projects when it opens in early 2011. Still, there is a certain giddiness about this particular challenge. For one thing, the couple didn’t have to do it. Between Barrie Projects, which they operate out of their home, and Dennis’ job as director of cultural planning at Westlake Reed Leskosky (WRL) in downtown Cleveland, there’s a pile of high-profile projects to tackle. Why take one on—especially in fragile funding times like these—that’s drawn such political fire and public eye-rolling? To Dennis Barrie, controversy is practically part of the deal when it comes to picking his subjects. He was told that rock music and espionage wouldn’t work as subjects for museums. But today the Rock Hall, which began with a set of Temptations costumes and now showcases 4,000 artifacts, continues to draw a half million people a year—to Cleveland. The Spy Museum, despite being one of the few museums in Washington that charges admission ($18, in fact), attracts about 700,000 visitors a year. Not all museums are doing as well. But the Barries have a hunch that the mob, Las Vegas and (let’s not forget) law enforcement will add up to an equally big success. The project might even help redevelop downtown, as the Spy Museum did in the Penn Quarter of Washington. And they claim to have the formula needed to pull it off. Their tactics have been studied (the Smithsonian sends its employees on field trips to the Spy Museum) and copied, Dennis says, but few “get it right” because a curator cannot just gather cool artifacts and present them in a cool way (though the Barries do that very well); he must immerse the visitor in the subject and, if possible, the depths of

* * *

“Dennis has a gift for finding the imagery and drama required to get history across to people.” — Peter Earnest, Spy Museum Director

Dennis (top) and Kathy (opposite page, with Bestor Cram, producer of the museum’s films) at the Spy Museum opening in 2002.

tapping the guy who ran it. One day he went into witness protection, and his testimony helped close down [mob operations] from Buffalo to Detroit.” With their impressive credentials in the arts, the Barries are not exactly the type of people you’d expect to have a fascination with mobsters. Besides directing the art center in Cincinnati, Dennis’ résumé features a Ph.D. in American cultural history and service as Midwest director of the Archives of Ameri-

can Art of the Smithsonian Institution. Kathy has been heavily involved in the Cleveland art scene for 25 years and, in 1998, won the city’s top arts prize. But they are laid-back sophisticates. Kathy, for example, may have done a fellowship in advanced environmental design at Harvard, but the recent discovery of a vodka sold in tommy-gun-shaped bottles made her “swoon.” They also grew up in mob towns. In Kathy’s case, it was Chicago, the most famous organized-crime city of them all, and it piqued her curiosity about mobsters in our midst. From talking with just about anyone she’s bumped into over the past three years—including many a tourist in Las Vegas elevators—she knows she’s not alone. “Everybody has a story,” she says. “If it’s not a connected relative or an actual hometown incident, it’s a feeling that criminal activity is taking place right under your nose, and that makes people wonder, ‘What is the story behind that?’”

The Spy Museum, which comprises five historic buildings on the corner of Eighth and F streets, quickly goes to work on that “right under your nose” theme. In the room where visitors wait to take the elevator up to the permanent exhibits, television screens take turns revealing intimate anecdotes of former spies. These people, who look nothing like James Bond, talk about their “life of lies,” why they choose that profession and how it affected them and their loved ones. “The underlying theme is choices,” says Kathy, during a stroll through the museum in late July—always part of her routine when she’s in Washington on business. “There’s a lot here that makes you wonder, What if this were me? What would I do?” “Someone Is Watching” is another theme used to immerse visitors in the spy culture. Kathy points out little portholes in the walls, the subtle use of mirrors and other elements that set up the cryptic atmosphere. “It gives you the feeling of what it’s like to be under surveillance,” she says. “People are aware that they’re being watched—and they love it.” The Spy Museum’s message is that this awareness should be more than fun; there are potentially serious consequences to letting down our individual and collective guards. Kathy pauses at the Pearl Harbor exhibit, which is about “the unheeded intelligence” that warned of a Japanese attack, to draw a 21st-century parallel. It was the second week of September 2001, and she and Dennis were in Washington to work on the Spy Museum’s exhibits. “On 9/11,” Kathy says, “we had a meeting set up to talk about Pearl Harbor, which was the greatest intelligence failure in U.S. history—up till that moment.” Moving on to the World War II section, she adds, “The minute you let up or turn your back, something happens. It’s the same with the mob. People need to understand that this subject is still relevant. There are always new rackets.”

* * * The Mob Museum team includes WRL’s branch in Phoenix, which is leading the redevelopment of Las Vegas’ 76-year-old post office building for the new purpose. The exhibit designers (Gallagher & Associates) and fact-checkers (History Associates) are in Maryland, and the board of the nonprofit corporation behind the Mob Museum is in Las Vegas, led by former local FBI boss Ellen Knowlton. While Kathy leads the research and artifact hunt from her home office, Dennis orchestrates the whole effort from his ninthstory office at WRL, only a few blocks from

S e p t e m b e r - O c t o b e r 2 0 0 9 D e s e r t C o m p a n i o n 47

g n i t n u H e r u s a Mob Tre By Phil Hagen

to uncover es of ancient office supplies re the two sorted through box The hy derings of Kat ren un, t beg artis just m treasures as original Museum artifacts has such potential Mob Museu Although the hunt for Mob dman for ks. Goo mar g ck orin che hon ive nts ress clie ady has some imp ; a plaque from acquitted nes sce om rtro cou Barrie’s most-wanted list alre et or Stre Clark , well, maybe the may should brick garage at 2122 North and the tattered “gelt bag” that ice; serv his There’s “The Wall” from the fcase,” Day e’s ntin Vale country with that particular brie et-riddled backdrop of the St. lain: “I used to go around the exp full in Chicago—the bloody, bull h was it Hig e rd “Lo hom e ia, cam stas I ty, and by the time chair in which Albert Ana he says. “It would start off emp Massacre. There’s the barber was he n whe el Hot n rato ak …” York’s Park She of green. If that bag could spe Executioner,” was sitting at New notes. “This y Soprano wore in one of the Ton t s was a folder filled with Post-it outfi find the rite e’s favo ther y’s And Kath One of gunned down. he’d get an them she says. “On three of he wrote his notes for court,” how is HBO series’ final episodes. re worked.” mo he for how digs m see to ts. It’s fascinating tee of the Mob Museu hour’s worth of closing argumen While the collection commit f ectors, chie coll the time hy, bigKat from all), e in ut 300 pieces opportunities have com act artif er Oth ibit treasures (there will be abo She to veland. may allow the museum exh from her home office in Cle New York’s Artie Nash, who as h suc m curator, is following leads -ter the long of a y on stor the stasia barber chair) objects are needed to tell collection (including the Ana his re knows at this point which whe tion m. the auc ’s for istie has ls, such as the Chr and how much room she basis. Some are one-shot dea d mob and law enforcement ppe ” wra get, to fully love care d all we’ y’re that (the gs e iconic thin three Tony Soprano outfits ght bou hy Kat “We’ve saved space for som the as and h er suc clos le a lead falls into her lap, closely guarded. “Once it gets in her closet). Once in a whi says Kathy, who keeps her list bricks from the pop up. But ed will priz gs the thin e that mor ing , say pen an hap g to e-mail from a Las Vegas wom people believe that it’s goin ge. to be rich.” n in Canada—are in her gara e great surprises. It’s going St. Valentine’s wall—last see even right now we have som her s anne, who add Suz r, m,” ghte seu dau Mu tz’s Spy Moe Dali er than the One day Kathy got a call from “I think it’s going to be bett in the n after, Kathy found herself , Dennis Barrie. Santa Fe, New Mexico. Soo in lives as’ husband and business partner Veg nce Las llige of er inte through the late Godfath to a slower start, as the an’s home for the day, going wom The Spy Museum got off sed lic dres e pub ann for Suz told y little stor at the Desert Inn, with ept the idea of having its mementos—photos of parties community initially didn’t acc Vegas given e around, others began cam nts t-long Key to the City of Las age of -foo ple four a cou r; a Yea e New y Bab as up et amusement. But onc the ter, act hun py he made of items in his wall th help from a professional artif on his 80 birthday; a photoco tz Dali to . coughing up evidence. With ma card ry Enig libra (an a cealed weapon permit and leasing mix of iconic artifacts before a trip, including a con museum collected a crowd-p s. “He’s such of Death lipstick gun) Kiss (the ry pon people hang on to,” Kathy say t wea wha ue “It’s so interesting decryption machine), uniq son. I spent per ul . ghtf tin) deli Mar ely n plet es Bond’s Asto figure, and she was a com ing rest inte an and pop-culture must-sees (Jam has hy en.” ing evidence behind, but Kat could have done another sev seven hours with her, and I The mob isn’t known for leav treasures. “We’re r re’s Las Vegas The othe . sing scle cha mu e, with hom k team m But soon Kathy was bac the advantage of a museu s from his personal gun,” she says, “and contact is eager to share items from ing for a great early tommy look historian Bob Stoldal, who ed in. ks. rest flas inte den be d hid we’ t with e pec fcas sus hibition-era brie e items they just might hav who ilies fam collection, including the Pro s, bos .” local FBI t amazing artifacts that way seum director and former We’ve gotten some of the mos There’s Ellen Knowlton, mu artifacts. for s ncie age ent em forc -en who is leaning on federal law or, who useum.org. d an e-mail to info@themobm the mob attorney turned may If you have a lead for Kathy, sen And there’s Oscar Goodman, . unit age stor ked -loc long his July to check out invited Kathy to Las Vegas in

48 D e s e r t C o m p a n i o n S e p t e m b e r - O c t o b e r 2 0 0 9

the banks of Lake Erie, along which sit the Rock Hall and an old ore-carrying vessel that he’s helping to convert into a museum about Cleveland’s shipping origins. On the walls and shelves around him are evidence of other works completed (the Museum at Bethel Woods, which tells the story of the 1960s and Woodstock), on the boards (the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures) and in the concept stage (a shipwreck museum). You get the idea that when any modern museum idea pops up, his phone rings. There are several reasons for this: Dennis grasps the high-tech, multimedia, interactive approach to museum design; he can pull together the correct teams, from filmmakers to gift-store merchants; and he’s got a handle on making a good museum topic salable. “The reason the Academy chose us is they want to be self-sustaining,” Dennis says, “and today so many museums are not.” But it all boils down to one core talent. “After almost 40 years of doing this,” he says, “I know how to tell a story on multiple levels. I know how a person goes through a museum, how much they pay attention. Was I an expert in rock and roll? No, but I love rock and roll, and I know it. Being aware is so much a part of it.” And Dennis can turn his awareness and enthusiasm into an experience that works for most anyone. The Spy Museum, for example, is said to appeal to the average family and those in the intelligence community. It’s a necessary balance that Peter Earnest, a former CIA agent and current executive director of the Spy Museum, calls “infotainment.” “If your vision of a museum is dusty objects in glass cases, well, the public is looking for more than that,” Earnest says. “Dennis has a gift for finding the imagery and drama required to get history across to people.”

* * * By midsummer, the Barries had their Mob Museum story nailed down. Although the artifact hunt was just beginning (see sidebar) and the designs won’t be unveiled until October, the narrative flow and the arrangement of each space—even the dimensions of the exhibit cases—are set. On the Barries’ dining room table, next to the stack of 70 some mob books she’s read, Kathy opens a binder of blueprints that show how the experience will unfold. It begins on the top floor of the threestory beaux-arts post office building. Visitors take a mood-setting elevator up to the lineup room where they are

fingerprinted, photographed and given a mob nickname. Down the hall they learn about organized crime, from its rough-and-tumble immigrant origins to Prohibition maturity to the 1950s Mafia, which expanded into prostitution, drugs and sports betting. Then, in a room called “Getting Smart,” law enforcement enters the picture with its untouchable agents, attorneys and nascent technology. Between the lines of the script is a familiar lesson. “Choices,” Kathy says. “You choose to act the way you act.” It’s not just individuals; in the case of Las Vegas, it’s an entire community that chose to legalize gambling. The story of Sin City is interwoven throughout the museum, with Bugsy Siegel in a supporting role (an effort to tame his runaway legacy) in a cast that includes Moe Dalitz, Oscar Goodman, Frank Sinatra,

“One of our great satisfactions,” Dennis says, “is that the CIA uses the Spy Museum for its historical training.” And they’d like to reach that level of respectability in Las Vegas. Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal and Tony “The Ant” Spilotro. The city also has a big part in the Mob Museum’s key moment, thanks to the old courtroom on the second floor. The post office used to be a courthouse, and for a day in 1950, a year after Dalitz opened the Desert Inn, it was expected to host an important moment in the crackdown on organized crime in America. U.S. Senator Estes Kefauver and his special committee to Investigate Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce had come to town to interrogate witnesses, as they would in 14 cities over 15 months, often in front of a national television audience. But the Vegas Kefauver hearing was not televised, and because Dalitz had split town, the event did not live up to its hype. But 60 years later, the courtroom is getting a second shot at glory—it’s being restored and retrofitted to showcase the intensive mob interrogation that gripped America.

“We have to figure out how, in a short time, to capture the drama that went on for months and months,” Dennis says. “The idea is to turn that courtroom into a theater of sound, light and film.” Holograms might even be an option: “We’re hoping to do three-dimensional figures, but it may not work in that courtroom.” Thanks to film and/or videotape of the hearings in other cities, the Barries will try to bring real-life mobsters up close and personal, such as Frank Costello’s twitching, well-manicured hands (he wouldn’t let the TV cameras show his face), and Moe Dalitz—whom Kefauver finally cornered in Detroit—delivering his famous wise-guy response to the dour senator: “If you people wouldn’t have drunk it, I wouldn’t have bootlegged it.” As did 40 million American viewers in 1950, museum visitors will judge for themselves if these characters were romantic Robin Hoods or just well-dressed hoodlums. The museum then delves into gaming control, how the Vegas casino “skim” worked and how federal stakeouts tried to stop it. (Kathy especially enjoys the photographic evidence of a man at McCarran Airport wearing a suspiciously long overcoat—in the summer.) Zooming out again to capture the national picture after Kefauver, there will be exhibits on the unions and police, Robert Kennedy’s anti-mob efforts, the RICO Act, the endless wiretapping and, of course, Murder Inc.’s greatest hits. Dennis had dubbed that room “The Dark Side of the Mob.” Upon hearing this, Las Vegas historian Bob Stoldal raised a good point: “What is the bright side, Dennis?” So the room, for now, is called “Mob Mayhem.” Either way, amid its dark, ominous motif featuring light streaming through bullet holes in the wall, there will be ample crime-scene evidence—a guaranteed crowd-pleaser.

* * * The tour is not over yet. “Not even close!” Kathy says. The bottom floor finishes with a wrap-up of what happened to the exhibits’ major characters, a room about organized crime today, a kiosk where visitors can locate mob activity near their hometowns, a pop culture exhibit that includes an opportunity to double-check your mob assumptions and, last but not least, the gift shop. Right on cue, Kathy sets a rubber eyeball on her dining room table and, as it wobbles back and forth, she asks, “Who would this be from?” (Silence.) “Bugsy!” Yes, the dead mobster’s missing eyeball could be your museum keepsake. Before making a snap judgment about that idea, consider that the Spy Museum may not have been named “D.C.

(continued on Page 79)

S e p t e m b e r - O c t o b e r 2 0 0 9 D e s e r t C o m p a n i o n 49

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Calendar Autumn 2009 R. Carlos Nakai

Pink Martini

Midori

Strut Your Mutt

ART

BELLAGIO GALLERY OF FINE ART Sept. 18-April 4:

Invitational, featuring small works by selected artists.

Winchester Cultural Center Gallery

12 + 7: Artists and Architects of CityCenter. $12;

Free. Inside the Arts Factory, trifectagallery.com.

Sept. 1-Oct. 23: Dead or Alive, You’re Coming

$10 for military, teachers and students; children

With Me, an exhibit of works by Miguel Rodriguez,

12 and under are free. 693-7871. Gallery hours:

Brett Wesley Gallery Sept. 3, 7-10 p.m.

a sculptor and painter who earned his master of

10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sun.-Thu.; 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Fri.-Sat.

Exhibit opening for painter Kevin Chupik, who

fine arts at UNLV. Artist reception 5:30-7:30 p.m.

looks back at the Cold War with a certain fondness

Sept. 11. Free. Gallery hours: 10 a.m.-8 p.m.

Art in the park Oct. 3-4. Boulder City’s 47th

for our Soviet enemy, and sculptor Gerald Basil

Tues.-Fri. and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sat. and Sun.

annual event, one of the largest outdoor juried art

Stripling, who draws on all aspects of life in creating

festivals in the Southwest, features more than 400

relevant contemporary bronzes. Inside the Newport

Rotunda Gallery Sept. 1-Nov. 19: Inscribed/

artists and craftsmen. This year’s featured artist is

Lofts, 1112 Casino Center Blvd., 433-4433,

Messages, an exhibition of art inspired by books

painter Debbie Marie Arambula of California. The

brettwesleygallery.com.

and language. Artists include John Banks, John

parks include Wilbur Square, Bicentennial Park,

Bissonette, Diane Bush, Robert E. Cranley Jr.,

North Escalante Park and South Escalante Park and

Henri & Odette Through Sept. 21: Jerry F’n

Andreana Donahue, Justin Favela, Stephen

the streets in between. There also will be food and

Misko, featuring new works by the longtime Las

Hendee, Merilee Hort, Noelle Garcia, Danielle

drink booths, demonstrations, music and activities

Vegas artist, plus a celebration of the release of

Kelly, Leslie Rowland, Markus Tracy and Linda

for children. Free. Shuttle service available for a fee.

his first coffee-table book. 124 S. Sixth St., 686-

Trenholm. There will be “First Friday” receptions

artinthepark.org.

3164, henri-odette.com.

of the Vegas Valley Book Festival on Nov. 6. Free.

Trifecta Gallery Sept. 3-25: Brian Porray and

The Gallery Sept. 14-Oct. 9: Elizabeth Freeman

Clark County Government Center. Gallery hours:

Sush Machida Gaikotsu. Oct. 1-30: Casey Weldon.

and Madalene Luca present Sweet Serenity, a

8 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays.

Nov. 5-27: Eric Joyner. Dec. 3-24: Minumental

collection of peaceful paintings. Oct. 19-Nov. 13:

on Sept. 4 and Oct. 2, and special events as part

52 D e s e rt C o mpan i o n S eptember - O ctober 2 0 0 9

Calendar Photography by Susanne Reese. Free. Henderson Multigenerational Center, 267-2171. dedication OF the Aerial Gallery Sept. 17, 5:30 p.m. The official unveiling of Dennis Angel’s series of 24 hand-painted images, titled Desert Transplants, at the historic Fifth Street School. lvartscommission.com/projects/aerial-gallery-2009. Contemporary Arts Center Oct. 1-Nov. 26: Danielle Kelly and Noelle Stiles offer a performance-based exhibition of sculpture and dance, culminating in an experience through the intersection of time, space, physical potential and physical limits. (Opening receptions Oct. 1, 6-8 p.m., and Oct. 2, 6-10 p.m.) Dec. 3-Jan. 28: Jim Stanford will present past and present board members’ artwork and narratives to offer an artistic perspective on the organization’s 20-year history. (Opening receptions Dec. 3, 6-8 p.m., and Dec. 4, 6-10 p.m.) Inside the Arts Factory, 382-3886, lasvegascac.org. Reed Whipple Cultural Center Through Oct. 10: It’s a Girl Thing, an exhibit in which local artists explore ideas and imagery related to the title. Opening Oct. 16 (reception 6 p.m.): The Altered Book, an exhibit in conjunction with the Vegas Valley Book Festival, will highlight several handmade books from artists across the country. The exhibit will be curated by Los Angeles-based artist and designer Joseph Shuldiner. Free. Charleston Heights Art Center Sept. 4-Nov. 19: Measure Twice, Cut Once, an exhibit of handconstructed and -sewn articles of clothing by artist Brenda Jones, who used a mixture of media (such as fabric-softener sheets and vinyl) to give her work a “layered meaning” in terms of life issues. Nov. 28-Feb. 11: Undressed, photographs that “explore beauty and the signals of body language, the images call attention to the extent that clothing and fashion sway female attitudes and understandings.” Free. Bridge Gallery Sept. 25-Nov. 25: Extinction, work by Linda Vaughn and Delores Nast. Dec. 4Feb. 5: City Employee Juried Art Exhibit. Free.

DANCE Mexico Vivo Concert Sept. 4-5, 7 p.m. The dance company, which won the Governor’s Art Award in 2007 and will receive the Nevada Heritage Award for 2010, celebrates its 14th anniversary with folk dance, music and the colorful costumes of Mexico and Latin America. $7; $5 seniors and children under 12. Winchester Cultural Center, 455-7340. Virsky Ukrainian National Dance Company Sept. 26, 8 p.m. The Charles Vanda Master

54 D e s e rt C o mpan i o n S eptember - O ctober 2 0 0 9

The Good Vibe By Amy Schmidt

On a weekday summer evening inside an industrial-style loft on the eastside of town, Kirk Offerle is explaining the mission of The Vibe when a carload of evidence pulls up. As members of the taiko group Rythma carry their drums through his garage door, Offerle says, “See, this is exactly what I’m talking about. We encourage use of this space as much as possible.” In other words, The Vibe is not just about The Vibe. The nonprofit performing arts company lets other performing arts groups use the two-story loft for rehearsals. Recent examples include Golden Rainbow, Super Summer Theatre and the taiko percussionists. It’s that community spirit that characterizes The Vibe past and present. In 1997, when Offerle first formed The Vibe, it ran for three seasons. He and his wife, Connie, were busy operating the Jazzed Café and Vinoteca, so he relied on the artistic generosity of fellow dancers, choreographers and musicians from Strip productions to put on The Vibe’s late-night performances in venues at UNLV and at library theaters around town. Offerle, who now owns UVA Wine and Spirits, still relies on outside generosity, but the advantages are now more significant. The first-floor rehearsal/performing space is sponsored in part by the loft’s upstairs owner, Benz Air Engineering. The inaugural gala performance, held there in May, was funded in part by a grant from Cirque du Soleil. And a dedicated board of directors (including two Nevada Public Radio staff members) helps the company find the resources it needs to expand The Vibe’s mission, which also includes a “green” mandate (for example, performers must carpool to rehearsal, and recycled materials were used to construct the dance floor) and an educational outreach program. As for the latter, performing professionals (and soon local kids) are invited to take weekly classes with masters of various art forms, from clowning to choreography. They can even learn

Members of Rythma rehearse at The Vibe loft

to play the didgeridoo. But to Offerle, a professional dancer before he was a food and beverage professional, The Vibe has a special emphasis: “Dance is a storytelling art that’s passed down physically from generation to generation. That’s why the educational outreach aspect of Vibe is so important.” The rest of The Vibe mission revolves around its seasonal performances, which combine contemporary dance, live music, word art and visual installations. The company’s next show, in October, should be a perfect example: Offerle and company will present guest choreographer Giulio Scatola’s Fossiana—A Boy, a Girl, an inspiring tale inspired by the dance stylings of Bob Fosse. “We simply hope that the audience is stimulated by what they see here,” Offerle says, “and that they carry it out with them into the community.”

Fossiana—A Boy, a Girl WHEN: Oct. 16-18 (e-mail vibepac@gmail.com for times). WHERE: 4061 Silvestri Lane. TICKETS: $15; discounts for students and military; free for children (under 8) and seniors. Tickets can be purchased at the door on the day of the show or by calling 301-3153.

Series kicks off with these legendary traveling

singer Edith Piaf. Rounding out the program is

MUSIC

Ukrainian folk dancers. $40, $55 and $85.

Canfield’s “Jungle,” which features energetic

Mariachi Music Sept. 9, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.

UNLV’s Artemus Ham Concert Hall, 895-2787.

choreography set against a neon-colored

The City of Las Vegas’ Downtown Cultural Series

backdrop and costumes, both designed by visual

presents a special “Plaza Performance” in honor of

Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Company

artist Tom Cramer. This provocative piece is

Hispanic Heritage Month. Free. Centennial Plaza at

Oct. 9, 8 p.m. This first concert in UNLV’s New

surrounded by the eclectic sounds of electronic

the historic Fifth Street School, 229-3515.

York Stage & Beyond series features an ensemble

group Future Sound of London. $35, $49, $75

guided by a vision of dance as the universal

(balcony seats $10 and $20). UNLV’s Artemus

Musical tribute to Gershwin, Berlin &

language of movement and individual expression.

Ham Concert Hall, 895-2787.

Hairston Sept. 10, 7 p.m. The Southern

$40, $55 and $85. UNLV’s Artemus Ham

Nevada Musical Arts Society Singers present INFORMAL DANCE CONCERT Nov. 4, 1 p.m.

a celebration of timeless tunes by three of

An informal demonstration of what transpires in

America’s greatest composers. $12; $9 seniors

Timeless Innovation Oct. 17, 8 p.m., and

the wide array of College of Southern Nevada

and students. Summerlin Library, 451-6672,

Oct. 18, 2 p.m. This Nevada Ballet Theatre

dance classes, including ballet, modern, jazz,

snmas.com.

performance includes Balanchine’s jazzy

tap, ballroom, yoga and Middle Eastern. Special

“Rubies” from his full-length ballet, Jewels, and

presentations of student works from the Dance

Henderson Symphony Orchestra MASTER

NBT Artistic Director James Canfield’s “Coco,”

Club and improvisation class will be included.

SERIES Sept. 11, 8 p.m. Under the direction

an homage to the life of fashion designer Coco

Free. CSN Nicholas Horn Theatre, 651-4201,

of Taras Krysa, the orchestra opens its 23rd

Chanel, performed to music by the late French

csn.edu/dance.

season by performing Mozart’s Symphonia

Concert Hall, 895-2787.

S eptember - O ctober 2 0 0 9 D eser T C ompanion 55

Calendar Concertante and Symphony No. 25. Oct. 25, 2 p.m.: The symphony performs John Adams’ Short Ride in a Fast Machine and, with clarinetist Marina Sturm, Copland’s jazz-inspired Clarinet Concerto. Free. Henderson Pavilion, 267-2171, hendersonsymphony.org. Las Vegas Philharmonic’s Masterworks Series Sept. 12: Violinist Giora Schmidt is the guest star for the opening of the orchestra’s 11th season. The concert features Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto and Sibelius’ Finlandia. Nov. 21: The spotlight is on two 20th-century masters, Bartók and Gershwin, with guest pianist Joel Fan. Feb. 27: Brahms’ Double Concerto with concertmaster DeAnn Letourneau on violin and principal Andrew Smith on cello. April 3: Chopin’s 200th birthday celebration. May 8: A Night at the Opera (for People Who Think They Hate Opera). All performances are under the direction of David Itkin and begin at 8 p.m. $35, $50 and $75. UNLV’s Artemus Ham Hall, 895-2787, lvphil.com. Liberace and Me Every Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday, 1 p.m. Philip Fortenberry, pianist and associate conductor for Jersey Boys, puts on a concert honoring Liberace. $17.50. The Cabaret at the Liberace Museum, 1775 E. Tropicana Ave., 798-5595, Ext. 14, liberace.org. Here I Am Sundays, 2:30 p.m. Ali Spuck, an Ovation-nominated singer and actress, takes audiences on a musical journey. $15. The Cabaret at the Liberace Museum, 1775 E. Tropicana Ave., 798-5595, Ext. 14, liberace.org. Acoustic Eidolon Sept. 18, noon. The City of Las Vegas’ Downtown Cultural Series presents a performance by Joe Scott and Hannah Alkire on cello and double-neck acoustic guitar. Free. Lloyd D. George U.S. Courthouse, 229-3515. Pink Martini Sept. 20, 8 p.m. This 12-member “little orchestra” blends Latin, lounge, classical

“We’re proud of our work and the ‘supporting role’ our company and its people play in our community . . . including Nevada Public Radio!”

and jazz to create what has been described as “vintage music.” $36. Henderson Pavilion, 2674849, hendersonlive.com. Billy Squier Sept. 22, 8 p.m. The classic rocker performs his greatest hits, including “The Stroke,” “Everybody Wants You” and “Lonely Is the Night.” $26. Henderson Pavilion, 267-4849, hendersonlive.com. UNLV Symphony Orchestra Sept. 22, Oct. 27 and Nov. 24, 7:30 p.m. Call 895-2787 for ticket information. Artemus Ham Concert Hall.

www.klaijuba.com 56 D e s e rt C o mpan i o n S eptember - O ctober 2 0 0 9

UNLV Jazz I Sept. 24, Oct. 20 and Nov. 17, 7:30 p.m. Judy Bayley Theatre, 895-2787.

Men, Muscle & Music Sept. 26, 9 a.m. A concert

The UNLV Jazz Studies Program has been active

by the UNLV Choral Studies program. Beam Music

for more than 20 years, with many ensembles

Center, Room 159, 895-2787.

taking part in international festivals. Free. Clark County Library, 507-3459, lvccld.org.

nevada ballet life move

Duchicela Sept. 27, 2 p.m. The four Ecuadorians perform music of the pre-Incan Cacha culture

Slava & Leonard Grigoryan Oct. 14, 8 p.m.

on flutes and stringed instruments in this “World

The Grigoryan brothers have toured the world and

Vibration” concert. The group’s latest release,

released four CDs. This concert opens the UNLV

Melodies From the Heart, features not only ancient

Classical Guitar Series. $35. UNLV’s Doc Rando

songs from the Andes but also modern pop hits

Recital Hall, 895-2787.

such as “Sounds of Silence,” “Yesterday” and “My Heart Will Go On.” $10; $7 seniors and children 12

Mary Ellen Spann Quintet Oct. 16, 7 p.m.

and under. Winchester Cultural Center, 455-7340.

The powerful jazz singer and her band return in a benefit for the Friends of Winchester Park. $15.

Las Vegas Philharmonic’s POPS Series Oct. 3:

Winchester Cultural Center, 455-7340.

A Night at the Movies, including works from Raiders of the Lost Ark, Schindler’s List and James Bond

Nekochan String Quartet Oct. 16, noon.

films. Dec. 12: A Christmas Celebration. March 6:

The City of Las Vegas’ Downtown Cultural Series

Broadway a la Carte, a showcase of musicals such

presents a performance of String Quartet Op. 59

as Les Miserables, Hello Dolly, Evita and South

No. 1 by Beethoven and String Quartet in F major

Pacific. All performances are under the direction

by Ravel. Free. Lloyd D. George U.S. Courthouse,

of David Itkin and begin at 8 p.m. (plus a 2 p.m.

229-3515.

matinee Dec. 12). $35, $50, and $75. UNLV’s Artemus Ham Hall, 895-2787, lvphil.com.

A Haydn-Mozart-Handel Celebration Oct. 25, 3 p.m. The Southern Nevada Musical Arts Society

Music with a Classic Touch Oct. 4, 3 p.m.

Chorus and Orchestra perform with guest soloists.

For the opening performance of the Nevada

UNLV Artemus Ham Concert Hall, 895-2787,

Chamber Symphony’s 25th anniversary concert

snmas.com.

series, Maestro Rodolfo Fernandez has selected a program of popular and classical favorites. Free.

UNLV Choral Ensembles Oct. 22, 7:30 p.m.

Clark County Library, 507-3459, lvccld.org.

Artemus Ham Concert Hall, 895-2787.

Willson & McKee Oct. 7, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.

Midori Oct. 23, 8 p.m. UNLV’s Charles Vanda

The City of Las Vegas’ Downtown Cultural Series

Master Series presents one of the world’s leading

presents a “Plaza Performance” by two musicians

violinists, who, according to the Los Angeles Times,

on hammer dulcimer, mountain dulcimer, Celtic

“makes artful use of her gifts, channeling the spirit

harp, accordion, Irish bouzouki, bodhran and

of composers.” $40, $55 and $85. UNLV’s Artemus

guitar. Free. Centennial Plaza at the historic Fifth

Ham Concert Hall, 895-2787.

Street School, 229-3515. R. CARLOS NAKAI Oct. 25, 2 p.m. The master of the MUSIC SCHOLARSHIP CONCERT Oct. 8, 7:30

Native American flute inaugurated the Winchester

p.m. The College of Southern Nevada’s choral

Theater 14 years ago before a standing-room-

and instrumental programs join for an evening of

only crowd. Now he’s back to perform as part of

traditional music and song to raise money for the

its “World Vibration” series. $10; $7 seniors and

Joe Williams Music Scholarship Fund. Established

students. Winchester Cultural Center, 455-7340.

James CanfieldArtistic Director

season2009-2010

in 1989, the scholarship program has helped more than 400 CSN music students to achieve their

76 Trombones + 4 Nov. 1, 2 p.m. Trombonists

music education goals. $5. CSN Nicholas Horn

from across the United States gather at UNLV for its

Theatre, 651-5483, csn.edu/pac.

annual concert of light classics and jazz standards. All proceeds will support the Abe Nole music

VOCAL JAZZ SOLO NIGHT Oct. 9-10, 7:30 p.m. The

scholarship fund at UNLV. Call 895-2787 for ticket

College of Southern Nevada Jazz Singers showcase

information. UNLV’s Artemus Ham Concert Hall.

their talents individually and as an ensemble, with works ranging from jazz standards to Broadway.

A Tribute to Judy Garland Nov. 1, 2 p.m. David

CSN BackStage Theatre, $8; $5 students and

de Alba, entertainer and legendary performer from

seniors. 651-5483, csn.edu/pac.

the Finocchio Club in San Francisco, is dedicated

SUBSCRIBE NOW. Subscriptions start at $20. (702) 895-ARTS (2787) www.nevadaballet.com

to preserving the art of female impersonation. His UNLV Jazz Concert Series Oct. 14 and Nov. 11,

tribute brings the essence of Judy Garland to the

7 p.m. Each month an ensemble performs a

stage with songs and anecdotes. Free. Clark County

different style of jazz, from contemporary to Latin.

Library, 507-3459, lvccld.org.

D eser T C ompanion 57

Calendar

Roth-Johnson

Revell

Tanenhaus

University Forum The free public lecture series is sponsored and funded by the UNLV College of Liberal Arts. Each lecture begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Natural History. This fall’s talks include: “The Supernatural as Natural: An Evolutionary Approach to Religiosity” (Aug. 27) Arizona State University professor Michael Winkelman argues that evolutionary theory provides a biological framework for understanding how religious practices and beliefs gave our prehistoric ancestors adaptive advantages that may well persist today. “In Search of Dark Matter” (Sept. 9) UNLV professor of physics and astronomy George Rhee discusses how astronomers use telescopic observation to reveal the presence of dark matter and how dark matter plays a key role in understanding the structure of the universe. “The Body as Metaphor” (Sept. 10) UNLV dance professors Louis Kavouras, Margot Mink Colbert and Roberta Sabbath discuss two of their original works. “Do Children Have Constitutional Rights?” (Sept. 17) UNLV professor of history and law David S. Tanenhaus discusses how the law should treat adolescents accused of committing serious and violent crimes, including the role the U.S. Supreme Court plays in answering this question. “Polish Heroes: Those Who Saved Jews” (Sept. 24). In the Greenspun Hall Auditorium, Kate Craddy, director of the Galicia Jewish Museum in Krakow, discusses a photo exhibition that tells the story of 21 Polish citizens who rescued Jews during World War II. “Comedy à la Aristotle” (Sept. 30) Aristotle’s Poetics originally contained a book on tragedy and a book on comedy, but the latter was lost. UNLV philosophy professor Paul Schollmeier offers an account of what Aristotle might have said about comedy. “Graffiti Photos: Self-Photography in Japanese Girl Culture”

58 D e s e rt C o mpan i o n S eptember - O ctober 2 0 0 9

(Oct. 1) Loyola University of Chicago anthropology professor Laura Miller discusses purikura, a popular form of Japanese photography. “Close Calls with Nonsense: Reading New Poetry” (Oct. 15) UNLV English professor Donald Revell and Harvard University English Professor Stephen Burt read from their literary works and discuss relevant issues of form, content and difficulty in American poetry today. “A Poetry Reading” (Oct. 22) UNLV English professor Claudia Keelan reads from her new book, Missing Her. Keelan is the recipient of the Cleveland State Poetry Prize, the Beatrice Hawley Award from Alice James Books and the Jerome Shestack Award from the American Poetry Review. “Green Our Vaccines! Mercury Moms, Autism, and the Immunization Wars” (Nov. 4) UNLV women’s studies professor Danielle Roth-Johnson looks into the debates surrounding the cause, treatments and diagnoses of autism spectrum disorders. “Galileo’s Telescopic Discoveries, 1609-2009: Repercussions and Lessons” (Nov. 12) UNLV professor emeritus of philosophy Maurice Finocchiaro discusses the controversy and lessons from Galileo’s astronomical discoveries. “No Dreaming, No Story: Baz Luhrmann’s Australia” (Nov. 19) Louisiana State University English professor Patrick McGee discusses the movie Australia, which can be viewed in three ways. “The Millennium Villages Project Museum Auditorium” (Dec. 3) Boston University School of Public Health professor Yesim Tozan, an expert on development issues in Africa, provides an overview of the Millennium Project—a United Nations mission to eliminate extreme poverty and hunger worldwide.

U.S. Marine Band Nov. 2, 7:30 p.m. Call 8952787 for ticket information. UNLV’s Artemus Ham Concert Hall. Community Band Concert Nov. 4, 7:30 p.m. Call 895-2787 for ticket information. UNLV’s

Find Your Passion!

Artemus Ham Concert Hall. UNLV Madrigal Festival Nov. 5, 2:30-10 p.m. Call 895-2787 for ticket information. Doc Rando Recital Hall. Folk Songs, chanteys, Spirituals and Broadway SELECTIONS Nov. 8, 2 p.m. The Southern Nevada Musical Arts Singers perform a wide range of works under the direction of Douglas Peterson. $10; $7 seniors, students, military and disabled. Winchester Cultural Center, 455-7340. Xyachimal Nov. 14, 7 p.m. The 30-member, fullycostumed folkloric dance troupe presents traditional dances from all over Mexico. $7, Winchester Cultural Center, 455-7340. David Fenimore portRays Woody Guthrie Nov. 20, noon. The City of Las Vegas’ Downtown Cultural Series presents a Chautauqua-style performance that weaves Guthrie’s words and music into a 30-minute monologue, after which Fenimore takes questions as Woody Guthrie, then drops his character for a discussion of Guthrie in our own time. Free. Lloyd D. George U.S. Courthouse, 229-3515.

Cedar City

THEATER Utah shakeSpearean festival The fall season in Cedar City offers a ghostly and mysterious female in The Woman in Black, life lessons in Tuesday With Morrie and a jet-propelled tour of all of the Bard’s 37 plays and his sonnets in The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged). See bard.org for tickets and a full schedule. DURTY NELLY’S LULLABY Sept. 16 and 23, 7 p.m.; Sept. 24-25, 1 p.m. The British National Theatre of America performs this physical theater piece, set in a Northern Irish pub, about young love in a time of conflict. The troupe uses clowning, dance, acrobatics and acting to tell the story. $8. McMullan’s Irish Pub, 4650 W. Tropicana Ave., 497-0159, bntofa.org. Working Sept. 10-12, 17-19 and 24-26, 7 p.m. The Super Summer Theatre finale is the musical based on Studs Terkel’s best-selling book of interviews with American workers. $10 in advance; $15 at the gate. Spring Mountain Ranch State Park, 594-play, supersummertheatre.com. Las Vegas Little Theatre BLACK BOX SEASON

September 18 – October 17

The Woman in Black Tuesdays with Morrie The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)

800-PLAYTIX bard.org

Sept. 11-20: Recent Tragic Events, a play about

S eptember - O ctober 2 0 0 9 D eser T C ompanion 59

Calendar 9/11 by Craig Wright. Oct. 22-31: The Shawl, by David Mamet, about how a medium with a talent for hucksterism and his ruthless student meet a woman who wants advice about her deceased mother’s will. Shows begin at 8 p.m., with Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. $12; $11 for students and seniors. Las Vegas Little Theatre, 362-7996. Las Vegas Little Theatre MAIN STAGE SEASON Sept. 11-27: Deathtrap, the thriller about how far someone will go to have a hit play. Nov. 6-22: Is He Dead? Mark Twain’s play about an impoverished artist in 1860s France who stages his death in order to increase the value of his paintings. $22; $19 for students and seniors. Shows begin at 8 p.m.;

Henderson Pavilion: home of the Henderson Symphony

Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. Las Vegas Little Theatre,

VENUE GUIDE THE ARTS FACTORY 101-107 E. Charleston Blvd., 676-1111, theartsfactory.com. Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art 693-7871, bellagio.com. Boulder City Art Guild Gallery Boulder Dam Hotel, 1305 Arizona St., 293-2138, bouldercityartguild.org/gallery/ html. Brett Wesley Gallery Inside the Newport Lofts, 1112 Casino Center Blvd., 433-4433. Bridge Gallery City Hall, second floor, 400 Stewart Ave., 229-1012, artslasvegas.org. CHARLESTON HEIGHTS ARTS CENTER 800 S. Brush St., 229-6383. Clark County Library 1401 E. Flamingo Rd., 507-3400. Clark County Government Center 500 Grand Central Pkwy., 455-8239. Clark County Museum 1830 S. Boulder Hwy., Henderson, 455-7955, co.clark.nv.us/museum. College of southern nevada (Performing Arts Center, BackStage Theatre, Fine Arts Gallery and Nicholas Horn Theatre), 3200 E. Cheyenne Ave., North Las Vegas, 651-5483, csn.edu/pac. Contemporary Arts CENTER 107 E. Charleston Blvd., Suite 120, 382-3886, lasvegascac.org. DESERT BREEZE PARK Spring Mountain Road and Durango Road.

DOG FANCIER’S PARK 5800 E. Flamingo Road FIFTH STREET SCHOOL 401 S. Fourth St. GREEN VALLEY LIBRARY 2797 N. Green Valley Pkwy., 507-3790, lvccld.org.

Nevada State Museum & Historical Society 700 Twin Lakes Dr., Lorenzi Park, 486-5205. Reed Whipple Cultural Center 821 Las Vegas Blvd. N., 229-6211.

362-7996. REEFER MADNESS: THE MUSICAL Sept. 18, 19, 25, 26, Oct. 2 and 3, 7:30 p.m.; Sept. 20, 27 and Oct. 4, 2 p.m. The Atlas Theatre Ensemble and the College of Southern Nevada join forces to present the musical comedy based on the 1936 film about the hysteria caused when clean-cut kids fall prey to marijuana. $15; $12 students and seniors. CSN BackStage Theatre, 651-5483. csn.edu/pac. Reasons to be Pretty Sept. 18-27. In its “Second

Henderson Convention Center and Events Plaza Amphitheatre 200 S. Water St., 267-4055.

Spring Mountain Ranch State Park West Charleston Blvd. at Blue Diamond Rd., 875-4141, parks.nv.gov/smr.htm.

Henderson Multigenerational Center 250 S. Green Valley Pkwy., 267-4055 or 267-5800.

Springs Preserve 333 S. Valley View Blvd. (near U.S. 95 and Alta Drive), 8227700, springspreserve.org.

Henderson Pavilion at Liberty Pointe 200 S. Green Valley Pkwy. at Paseo Verde, 267-4055 or 267-4849.

Summerlin Library and performing Arts Center 1771 Inner Circle Dr., 507-3860, lvccld.org.

Theatre presents a staged version of Roald Dahl’s

SUNSET PARK Sunset Road and Eastern Avenue.

6211, rainbowcompany.info.

Las Vegas little theatre 3920 Schiff Dr., 362-7996, lvlt.org. Las Vegas Natural History Museum 900 Las Veg as Blvd. N., 384-3466, lvnhm.org. Lied Discovery Children’s Museum 833 Las Vegas Blvd. N., 382-3445. Lloyd D. George U.S. Courthouse 333 Las Vegas Blvd. S., 229-3515. lost city museum 721 S. Moapa Valley Blvd., Overton, 397-2193. lorenzi park Washington Avenue and Twin Lakes Drive. MICHELE C. QUINN FINE ART ADVISORY 620 S. Seventh St., 366-9339.

UNLV (Artemus Ham Concert Hall, Black Box Theatre, Beam Music Center, Doc Rando Hall, Donna Beam Gallery, Barrick Museum, Fine Art Gallery, Judy Bayley Theatre, White Hall) 4505 S. Maryland Pkwy., 895-2787, unlv.edu. West Charleston Library 6301 W. Charleston Blvd., 507-3964, lvccld.org. Winchester Cultural Center 3130 S. McLeod Dr., 455-7340, co.clark.nv.us/parks/Winchester_ Theater_and_Gallery.htm. WORLD MARKET CENTER 495 S. Grand Central Parkway, 599-3093, lasvegasmarket.com.

Season” opener, Nevada Conservatory Theatre presents Neil LaBute’s play about the impossibility of love. Times and tickets to be announced. UNLV’s Black Box Theatre, 895-2787, nct.unlv.edu. The Witches Oct. 2, 3 and 8-10, 7 p.m.; Oct. 4, 10 and 11, 2 p.m. Rainbow Company Youth classic tale. $7; $5 teens and seniors; $3 children 12 and under. Reed Whipple Cultural Center, 229-

Company Oct. 2-11, 8 p.m. In its “Main Season” opener, Nevada Conservatory Theatre performs the Stephen Sondheim musical in which the clashing sounds and pulsing rhythms of New York City underscore this landmark concept show. $20, $25 and $30. UNLV’s Judy Bayley Theatre, 8952787, nct.unlv.edu. Shakespeare in the Park Oct. 2-3, 7 p.m. The City of Henderson presents Much Ado About Nothing, featuring Theatre in the Valley performers. Free. Henderson Events Plaza, 267-2171, hendersonlive.com. GOD LIVES IN GLASS Oct. 24-25, 1 p.m. This benefit performance for the College of Southern Nevada and Family Promise features dancers, singers and musicians who perform on the Las Vegas Strip. $25; $20 students and seniors. CSN Nicholas Horn Theatre, 651-5483, csn.edu/pac.

60 D e s e rt C o mpan i o n S eptember - O ctober 2 0 0 9

Display Ad for the KNPR Desert Companion New Play Festival Nov. 4-22. Nevada

Reel Rock Film Tour Oct. 9, 7 p.m. The fourth

Conservatory Theatre will perform High Five the

annual event delivers the year’s most exciting

A-5 by Elizabeth Leavitt, The Way It Has to Be

climbing and adventure films to audiences in more

by Jeremiah Munsey and Sugar Daddy by Neil

than 100 cities around the world. Climbers and

Haven. Times and tickets to be announced.

outdoors enthusiasts will gather for the screening of

UNLV’s Black Box Theatre, 895-2787,

the world premiere of Progression. Wristbands will

nct.unlv.edu.

be given out at 6 p.m. Free. Clark County Library, 507-3459, lvccld.org.

THE MADWOMAN OF CHAILLOT Nov. 6, 7, 13, 14, 20 and 21, 7:30 p.m.; Nov. 8, 15 and

Saturday Movie Matinee Oct. 10: State of

22, 2 p.m. The College of Southern Nevada

Play. Nov. 14: Night at the Museum: Battle of the

presents Jean Giraudoux’s story of the

Smithsonian. Films begin at 2 p.m. Free. Clark

inhabitants of a Parisian neighborhood who are

County Library, 507-3459, lvccld.org.

threatened by the greed and power of the world closing around them. $12; $10 students and

The Wild & Scenic Environmental Film

seniors. CSN BackStage Theatre, 651-5483,

FestivaL Oct. 14, 7 p.m. These independent

csn.edu/pac.

films, presented in conjunction with the Nevada Wilderness Project, are inspiring stories about

SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS Nov. 17,

people making a difference in conservation,

18, 24 and 25, 7 p.m. In the British National

green energy and their local communities.

Theatre of America version of the story, Snow

From cool to quirky to hilarious, shorts to

White finds herself stuck in Las Vegas as stage

longer features, this one-night film festival is

manager to her famous but jealous step-ma,

appearing in 90 cities around the U.S. Admission

who hires a Mafia hit man to rid herself of the

wristbands will be given out at 6 p.m. Clark

fair singing lass. $15; $10 for children. College

County Library, 507-3459, lvccld.org.

of Southern Nevada’s Nicholas Horn Theatre, 497-0159, bntofa.org.

FILM

MAGIC A Night of Deception Sept. 12, 2 and 7 p.m. Magicians Paul Draper, Tyas Franz, Scott

Las Vegas Latino Short Film Festival Oct. 10,

Hitchcock and Chuck Lane, master showmen

6-9:30 p.m. The Hispanic Museum of Nevada

who have appeared on the Strip, present two

presents the sixth annual event. $10 in advance ($8

hours of stunning illusions. Winchester Cultural

for seniors, students and military); $15 at the door.

Center. $15; $10 for children and seniors.

The Big Springs Theater at the Springs Preserve,

455-7340.

499-0138, hispanicmuseumnv.com.

YOUTH ACTIVITIES

Banff Mountain Film Festival Radical Reel

Ghosts and Goblins of Nevada’s Past

Tour Oct. 2, 7 p.m. The most outrageous mountain

Oct. 23-25, 4-8 p.m. Clark County Museum

sport films from the 33rd annual festival, which

Guild’s annual fun and educational Halloween

returns to the Clark County Library. Wristbands will

event for families with children under age 10. The

be given out starting at 6 p.m. Free. Clark County

event includes trick-or-treating, costume contests,

Library, 507-3459, lvccld.org.

carnival games and a walk through Nevada’s history. $3. Clark County Museum, 455-7955.

Haunted Hollywood Tuesdays in October, 1 p.m. Oct. 6: The Ghost Goes West. Oct. 13:

Winchester Star Catchers In this Clark

Topper Returns. Oct. 20: The Time of Their

County Parks and Recreation dance program

Lives. Oct. 27: The Innocents. Free. Clark County

teaches hip-hop and contemporary dancers of

Library, 507-3459, lvccld.org.

all levels. The Star Catchers have performed at a

CULTURAL EVENTS Fiesta de la Noche

Enjoy an evening under the stars with traditional music and dance, crafts, food and the Machito Sanchez Orchestra.

September 18, 5 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. Rainbow Library Amphitheatre

Acoustic Eidolon

An evening of acoustic music with Celtic, contemporary, bluegrass and Latin influences.

September 18, 7 p.m. West Charleston Library

The History of Flamenco Dance

Demonstration of the many different styles of this complex musical and dance tradition.

September 28, 7 p.m. Clark County Library

The Bluest Eye

A play based on the novel by Toni Morrison.

September 26, 3 p.m. September 27, 4 p.m. West Las Vegas Library Theatre

Something Scottish

An annual celebration with the St. Andrews Society.

October 3, 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. Rainbow Library Amphitheatre

The Fantasticks

The beloved musical presented by the Ira Aldridge Theatre Company.

October 29 and 31, 7:30 p.m. November 1, 4 p.m. West Las Vegas Library Theatre

variety of venues, including Disneyland. Classes NOTBAD Film Series Tuesdays in October and

run 12 weeks, ending in a recital in December.

November, 7 p.m. Oct. 6: Judgment at Nuremberg.

$60. Winchester Cultural Center, 455-7340,

Oct. 13: Death in Venice. Oct. 20: Fellini’s Roma.

accessclarkcounty.com/parks.

Oct. 27: Barcelona. Nov. 3: Lisbon Story. Nov. 10: Festival in Cannes. Nov. 17: Paris, Je t’Aime.

Winchester Youth Choir Classes begin Sept.

Nov. 24: In Bruges. Free. Clark County Library,

9 for ages 8 to 18, all skill levels. Choir members

507-3459, lvccld.org.

will perform in concert at the end of the session in

Free and open to the public. For more information, visit www.lvccld.org.

December. Jessica Kincaid, a classically trained CineVegas From the Vault Oct. 8: Momma’s

vocalist, teaches the class. The 12-week session

Man. Nov. 5: Goliath. Films begin at 7 p.m. Free.

is $60. Winchester Cultural Center, 455-7340,

Clark County Library, 507-3459, lvccld.org.

accessclarkcounty.com/parks.

D eser T C ompanion 61

Calendar Winchester Players The musical theater

culture. The celebration features a display of

program for ages 6 to 17 teaches the

altars—complete with ofrendas (“offerings” that

fundamentals of being a “triple threat”—acting,

are witty epitaphs)—erected by friends and family

dancing, singing. Classes begin Sept. 29.

in honor of those who have died. There will also be

$80 for ages 6 to 8; $90 for ages 9 to 17.

contests, an art exhibit, food and performances.

Winchester Cultural Center, 455-7340,

Free. Winchester Cultural Center, 455-7340,

accessclarkcounty.com/parks.

FESTIVALS

Pomegranate Art Festival Nov. 6-7, 9 a.m.-

Ho’olaule’a Pacific Islands Festival

4 p.m. The Moapa Valley Art Guild, in

Sept. 12-13, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. The celebration

partnership with Clark County Parks and

includes traditional entertainment, dance and

Recreation, celebrates local arts and crafts, and

cuisine. Free. Henderson Events Plaza, 267-

the pomegranate harvest. Free. Clark Country

2171, hendersonlive.com.

Fairgrounds, 1301 W. Whipple, Logandale, 397-6444, moapavalleyartguild.org.

Age of Chivalry Renaissance Festival Oct. 9 and 10, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Oct. 11, 10

SPECIAL INTERESTS

a.m. to 5 p.m. Knights, knaves and maidens

Backyard Farmers’ Market and Antique Show

converge on Sunset Park for Clark County

Sept. 12, 3-7 p.m. Local growers offer grapes,

Parks and Recreation’s 16th annual medieval

tomatoes, melons and corn, plus farm-fresh eggs.

celebration. Highlights include costumed

The antique show will offer a look into America’s

performers, jousting demonstrations and Old

past. Free. Winchester Park.

World crafts from more than 100 artisans. lvrenfair.com.

Celebrating Book Clubs Sept. 10, 6-8 p.m. For area book clubs, Vegas Valley Book Festival officials

LVMS with the Las Vegas Philharmonic “A Christmas Celebration” December 12, 2009 “A Night at the Opera” May 8, 2010

Las Vegas Master Singer Concerts

Bite of Las Vegas Oct. 17, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

host a preview of the November event (see sidebar),

Now in its 13th year, Nevada’s largest food

a light repast and Brian Kral reading from The

and music festival features cuisine from more

Iceman Cometh by Eugene O’Neill. To get your club

than 45 area restaurants. $7 ($1 discount for

involved, call 229-5431. Fifth Street School.

those who donate canned food at the gate). Food items cost $1 to $5. Desert Breeze Park,

Super Run Classic Car Show Sept. 24, noon to 8

biteoflv.net.

p.m.; Sept. 25-26, 8 a.m.-10 p.m.; Sept. 27, 8 a.m.1 p.m. The show features more than 1,000 hot rods,

Albert’s Tarantella III Oct. 17, 7 p.m. The

muscle and classic cars. Free. Henderson Events

annual event near the ghost town of Rhyolite

Plaza, 267-2171, hendersonlive.com.

(about 115 miles north of Las Vegas on Highway 95) celebrates the Goldwell

Meet the Authors Oct. 14 and Nov. 4, 6:30 p.m.

“Sound Fusion” with UNLV Jazz Ensemble Friday, October 23, 2009, 7:30 p.m. Community Lutheran Church

Open Air Museum’s founder and is designed

Regional authors feature a new topic each month.

to introduce Nevadans to its unique

Free. Clark County Library, 507-3459, lvccld.org.

“English Nights” March 19, 2010, 7:00 p.m. Community Lutheran Church

thematically organizes itself around the idea

Strut Your Mutt Nov. 7, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

of traveling entertainments that frequented

This annual event features demonstrations of

Rhyolite in the early 1900s. The event

canine feats, pet adoptions, contests, information

combines acoustic musical performances

on pet-rescue groups and vendors serving dog

and theater with visual art and food. Scott

and people treats. Admission free with a donation

Nygaard and Crow Molly will perform, with

of dry dog food. See strutyourmuttlv.com for

an opening set by Las Vegas’ Killian’s Angels.

details. Dog Fancier’s Park.

March 21, 2010, 7:00 p.m. Christ Church Episcopal “The Opera Connection” May 16, 2010, 2:00 p.m. Community Lutheran Church

Chamber Chorale Series Concerts performed at Christ Church Episcopal 2000 South Maryland Parkway “Rejoice! A Holiday Celebration” December 15, 2009, 7:00 p.m. “We Sing With One Voice” May 2, 2010, 7:00 p.m.

702-387-7278 www.lvmastersingers.com

62 D e s e rt C o mpan i o n

environment and point of view. The event

$25. Goldwell Open Air Museum, 870-9946, goldwellmuseum.org.

SPECIAL EXHIBITS Autumn Flower Show Oct. 24-25, noon-4

St. John Neumann Fall Festival Oct. 30, 3-9

p.m. The annual judged competition is organized

p.m. The church’s fifth annual “Celebration of Fall”

by the Nevada Garden Clubs. Free. Nevada

features music, international food, entertainment

Garden Club Center, Lorenzi Park, 242-9259,

and games. St. John Neumann Parish Center,

nevadagardenclubs.org.

2575 W. El Campo Grande Ave., North Las Vegas, 657-0200, sjnc.org.

The Dolls of Japan Sept. 8-Oct. 10, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays; 1-5 p.m. Saturdays. This exhibit showcases

Life in Death Festival Nov. 1 and 2, 4-9 p.m.

70 dolls selected by the Japan Foundation in Tokyo

The festival was created to honor El Dia de

to reflect the customs and aspirations of the Japanese

los Muertos (The Day of the Dead) in Mexican

people. Popular pieces include Kabuki and Imperial

Kay Ryan

E.L. Doctorow

Vegas Valley Book Festival The eighth annual Vegas Valley Book Festival, the largest literature event in Southern Nevada, will feature nearly 100 writers and several new events over five days, Nov. 4-8. Hosted by the city’s Office of Cultural Affairs, the Library District, Nevada Humanities and the Las Vegas Review-Journal, this celebration of books of all genres includes readings, panel discussions, book signings, workshops, poetry and spoken-word performances, children’s literature and comics. All events are free and will take place at the historic Fifth Street School (unless otherwise noted). For details and the complete schedule, call 229-5431 or visit artslasvegas.org\vvbf. Here are some of this year’s highlights: Keynote speakers Kay Ryan, U.S. Poet Laureate, gives the opening address at 7 p.m. Nov. 5 in the school auditorium. E.L. Doctorow, one of America’s most accomplished writers, presents the closing keynote at 7 p.m. Nov. 8 at the Clark County Library auditorium. The Plaza Used Book Fair (Nov. 7, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.) Some of the Valley’s best used-book sellers set up shop in the school’s plaza. Target Children’s Book Festival (Nov. 7, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.) Staged readings, performances, literacy organizations, authors, book signings, food vendors, book giveaways, music, arts and crafts, and other special events. “Las Vegas Book Clubs Select” (Nov. 7, 11 a.m.) In this new program, local clubs picked authors Indu Sundaresan and Vicki Peterson to read from their works and discuss their lives as writers. Local Authors’ Fair (Nov. 7, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.) Forty authors sign and sell their published works. There will also be short readings.

“City of Second Chances” (Nov. 7, 3 p.m.) Cheryll Glotfelty, editor of Literary Nevada (UNR Press), reading the work of Susan Berman, will be joined by local authors Douglas Unger and John L. Smith in a lively Vegas-centric discussion. The Lewis Avenue Poetry Café Under the Stars (Nov. 7, 6 p.m.) A performance of poetry, spoken word and music. Comics Festival (Nov. 7, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.) The Clark County Library hosts panel discussions, workshops and book signings featuring the top names in the industry, including Cecil Castellucci, Steve Englehart, Deryl Skelton, Chris Staros and Michael Uslan. “Feasting on Words: Food, Cooking, Literature and Books” (Nov. 8, 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m.) Ten local cookbook authors and restaurateurs present demonstrations and sign their books. “Las Vegas Writes: The Final Chapter” (Nov. 8, 3 p.m.) Vu Tran reads the seventh and final chapter of the collaborative, limited-edition novel by local authors, who, besides Tran, include Lee Barnes, John Irsfeld, Brian Rouff, Leah Bailly, John L. Smith and Constance Ford.

S eptember - O ctober 2 0 0 9 D eser T C ompanion 63

!LBERT´S 4ARANTELLA )))

Calendar Palace dolls, as well as sumo wrestlers and armored

free service as part of American Diabetes Month.

warriors. Free. Henderson Convention Center,

Screenings are available for diabetics who have

267-2171, hendersonlive.com.

not had an eye exam in the past year. To make

COMMUNITY Project GREEN events Sept. 26, 7:30 a.m.-

Sat. Oct. 17, 2009 7 - 11 p.m. featuring

Scott Nygaard & Crow Molly Killian’s Angels Paul Draper Art Auction & Desserts

Tickets $25 in advance $30 at the door Purchase now at

www.goldwellmuseum.org

call 1-800-911-EYES.

your neighbors to maintain trails and wildlife

LECTURES, PRESENTATIONS and PANELS

habitat in Pittman Wash. Oct. 24, 7:30 a.m.-

Centennial Stories: Examining Our Past

noon: On Make a Difference Work Day, once

Clark County’s series of lectures and roundtable

again volunteers are needed to maintain trails

discussions in honor of its 100th birthday

and wildlife habitat in Pittman Wash. Nov. 21,

continues with “Hispanics in Clark County” on

9-11 a.m.: Discovery Walk, a guided nature stroll

Sept. 4, “Entertainers on the Las Vegas Strip”

along Pittman Wash. Call 651-5874 or e-mail

on Oct. 2, “Military History in Clark County” on

ProjectGreenHenNV@gmail.com for details.

Nov. 6, and “Marketing in Las Vegas” on Dec.

noon: On National Public Lands Work Day, join

An eclectic evening of music, art and theatre in the spectacular ghost town of Rhyolite!

an appointment, go to visionsourcevegas.com or

4. Free. All start at 6 p.m. in the Clark County Sweep the Peak initiative Although 11,000

Government Center’s commission chambers,

pounds of trash have been removed from

455-8242, accessclarkcounty.com.

Mt. Charleston in the first half of 2009, the cleanup effort is ongoing. Whether it’s just you

Zick and Sharp, Architects Oct. 3. A lecture

or a large group, join the Big Brothers, Big

by architecture expert Alan Hess on the team

Sisters and Boy Scouts of America to further

that designed some of our city’s best midcentury

the mission. Contact Patty Conant at the U.S.

modern buildings, including the Mint. Visit

Forest Service, 468-8929.

alanhess.net for time and place.

FUND-RAISERS

Haunted Las Vegas—A Multimedia

Bubbles, Baubles & Bites Sept. 26, 5:30-

Presentation Oct. 5, 7 p.m. Paranormal research

8:30 p.m. To attend this Junior League of Las

author Janice Oberding has been investigating

Vegas benefit celebrating the art of sparkling

the paranormal for more than 30 years and is the

wine, register at jllv.org (under “eStore”). The

author of six books, including The Hauntings of

Baubles Marketplace will have unique items for

Las Vegas. Her presentation is about spectral hot

purchase at reasonable prices. $65. Poolside at

spots and the ghosts who inhabit them. Free. Clark

the Flamingo Hotel.

County Library, 507-3459, lvccld.org.

Hot Hot Haute Oct. 24 (time TBD). This

A Supernatural Evening with Langan and

“wearable art” auction, which includes a fashion

Sokoloff: Things That Go Bump in the Night

show, auction and gala, is produced by and

October 8, 7 p.m. Sarah Langan (The Missing and

benefits the Contemporary Arts Center. $20

The Keeper) and Alexandra Sokoloff (The Unseen

members, $30 non-members. World Market

and The Harrowing: A Ghost Story) talk about the

Center, 382-3886, lasvegascac.org.

horror genre and their writing experiences. Free. Clark County Library, 507-3459, lvccld.org.

Fantasy Costume Ball Oct. 24, 6:30 p.m. This inaugural benefit for the Lied Discovery

Food and Hunger: Eating in America Oct.

Children’s Museum is a Roaring ’20s-themed

13, 7 p.m. The Black Mountain Institute, in

costume ball at Caesars Palace, featuring

partnership with Three Square, presents a

libations, silent auctions, dinner and dancing.

discussion led by a panel of experts: Alice

Tickets are $500. Contact Cora Sutehall at

Waters, Raj Patel and David Mas Masumoto.

382-3445 or csutehall@ldcm.org.

Free. UNLV Student Union Theatre,

HEALTH

blackmountaininstitute.org.

Nevada Recovery Celebration Sept.12,

An Evening with Max Brooks: Surviving the

9 a.m.-10 p.m. In recognition of those

Zombie Wars Oct. 16, 7 p.m. Max Brooks is one of

recovering from alcoholism and substance

the world’s foremost zombie preparedness experts.

abuse, this event features speakers, workshops

Free. Clark County Library, 507-3459, lvccld.org.

and panel discussions, plus human service and “recovery” booths. Cashman Center,

An Afternoon with James Ellroy: Demon Dog

nevadarecoverycelebration.com.

of American Crime Fiction Oct. 24, 2 p.m. The award-winning author reads from and talks about

64 D e s e rt C o mpan i o n

Free Eye ScreeningS for Diabetic Patients

his latest release, Blood’s a Rover. Free. Clark

Nov. 9-14. Las Vegas Vision Source offers this

County Library, 507-3459, lvccld.org. DC

FALL 2009 READINGS AND LECTURES FALL 2009 READINGS AND LECTURES FALL 2009 READINGS AND LECTURES READING: Cristina Garcia

ABOUT BMI ABOUT BMI ABOUTinBMI Founded 2006, Black Mountain Foundedat inthe 2006, Black Mountain Institute University of Nevada, Founded in 2006, Black Mountain Institute at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas is an international center Institute at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas istoan international center dedicated advancing literary and Las Vegas is an international center dedicated to advancing and cross-cultural dialogue. literary Through public dedicated to advancing literary and cross-cultural dialogue. Through programs, residential fellowships,public and cross-cultural dialogue. Through public programs, residential fellowships, and publishing initiatives, BMI provides a programs, residential fellowships, and publishing initiatives, provides cultural lens through BMI which today’sa publishing initiatives, BMI provides a cultural lens through which most pressing issues can be today’s addressed cultural lens through which today’s mostevaluated. pressing issues can be addressed and most pressing issues can be addressed and evaluated. Sign up for our e-newsletter at and evaluated. Sign up for our e-newsletter at blackmountaininstitute.org. Sign up for our e-newsletter at blackmountaininstitute.org. blackmountaininstitute.org.

RECENT NEWS RECENT NEWS RECENT NEWS New Bennett Fellows Announced New Bennett Fellows Announced BMI welcomes Lavonne Mueller, Judith New Bennett Fellows Announced BMI welcomes Lavonne Mueller, JudithL. Nies, and Timothy O’Grady as its Diana BMI welcomes Lavonne Mueller, JudithL. Nies, andLiterary TimothyArts O’Grady as for its Diana Bennett Fellows Nies, andLiterary TimothyArts O’Grady as for its Diana L. Bennett Fellows 2009–2010. Bennett Literary Arts Fellows for 2009–2010. 2009–2010. BMI Launches New Web Site BMI New Web Siteand LookLaunches for enhanced multimedia BMI Launches New Web Siteand Look enhancedofferings, multimedia socialfor networking as well Look for enhanced multimedia and social networking as video of our pastofferings, events. as well social networking as video of our pastofferings, events. as well as video of our past events.

CONTACT US CONTACT US CONTACT US For information about our programs, For about our programs, visitinformation blackmountaininstitute.org. For information our visit blackmountaininstitute.org. Event details areabout subject toprograms, change; visit blackmountaininstitute.org. Event details change; please check are oursubject web sitetofor updates. Event change; pleasedetails check are oursubject web sitetofor updates. please check our web site for updates.

READING: Cristina Garcia The author of Dreaming in Cuban and the 2009-10 READING: Cristina Garcia The author ofFellow Dreaming in Cuban and the BMI Teaching in the Department of2009-10 English reads The author of Dreaming in Cuban and the 2009-10 BMI Teaching Fellow in the Department of English reads from new and recent work. BMI Teaching Fellow in the Department of English reads from new and recent work. tuesday, october 6, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. from new and recent work. tuesday, october 6, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. unlv student union theatre tuesday, october 6,the 2009 at 7:00 p.m. unlv student union theatre in partnership with unlv department of english unlv student union theatre in partnership with the unlv department of english in partnership with the unlv department of english PANEL: “Food and Hunger: Eating in America” PANEL: “Food and David Hunger: Eating in America” with Alice Waters, Mas Masumoto & Raj Patel PANEL: “Food and Hunger: Eating in America” with Alice David Masauthor, Masumoto & Raj Waters, theWaters, celebrated chef and is joined in Patel with Alice Waters, David Mas Masumoto & Raj Patel Waters, the celebrated chef and author, is joined in writer, conversation by Masumoto, an organic farmer and Waters, the celebrated chef and author, is joined in conversation by Masumoto, an organic farmer and writer, and Patel, a noted food scholar. conversation by Masumoto, an organic farmer and writer, and Patel, a noted food scholar. tuesday, october 13, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. and Patel, a noted food scholar. tuesday, october 13,theatre 2009 at 7:00 p.m. unlv student union tuesday, october 13, 2009square at 7:00 p.m. unlv student union theatre in partnership with three unlv student union theatre in partnership with three square in partnership with three square READING: Kay Ryan READING: KayU.S. Ryan Ryan, the 2009 Poet Laureate, presents the opening READING: Kay Ryan Ryan, theat2009 U.S. Poet Laureate, presents the opening reading this year’s Vegas Valley Book Festival. Ryan, theat2009 U.S. Poet Laureate, presents the opening reading this year’s Vegas Valley Book Festival. thursday, november 5, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. reading at this year’s Vegas Valley Book Festival. thursday,fifth november 2009 at 7:00 p.m. historic street5,school auditorium thursday, november 5, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. historic fifthby street school cosponsored the city of lasauditorium vegas historic fifthby street school cosponsored the city of lasauditorium vegas cosponsored by the city of las vegas

LECTURE & READING: E.L. Doctorow LECTURE & READING: E.L. The renowned author gives theDoctorow keynote address at the LECTURE & READING: E.L. Doctorow The renowned author givesand thelater keynote at the Vegas Valley Book Festival readsaddress at UNLV. The renowned author givesand thelater keynote address at the Vegas Valley Book Festival reads at UNLV. lecture: sunday, november 8, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. Vegas Valley Book Festival and later reads at UNLV. clark county (flamingo) library auditorium lecture: sunday, november 8, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. cosponsored by lvccld, the city ofauditorium las vegas, and lecture: sunday, november 8, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. clark county (flamingo) library nevada humanities clark county (flamingo) library cosponsored by lvccld, the city ofauditorium las vegas, and cosponsored by lvccld, the city of las vegas, and nevada humanities reading: tuesday, november 10, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. nevada humanities unlv student union ballroom reading: tuesday, november 10, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. reading: tuesday, november 10, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. unlv student union ballroom READING: Erunion Tai Gao unlv student ballroom READING: Er Tai Gao Las Vegas writer reads from The former City of Asylum READING: Er Tai Gao of My Thenew former City Asylum LasHomeland: Vegas writer reads from his book, In of Search A Memoir of a The former City of Asylum Las Vegas writer reads from his new book, In Search of My Homeland: A Memoir of a Chinese Labor Camp. his new book, In Search of My Homeland: A Memoir of a Chinese Labor Camp. wednesday, december 2, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. Chinese Labor Camp. wednesday, 2, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. unlv barrickdecember museum auditorium wednesday, 2,unlv 2009department at 7:00 p.m.of english unlv barrickdecember museum auditorium in partnership with the unlv barrick museum auditorium in partnership with the unlv department of english Support for BMI’s public programming from Nevada Radio, in partnership with the unlv comes department ofPublic english

The Harrah’s Foundation, Las Vegas CityLife, theNevada Las Vegas Review-Journal. Support for BMI’s public programming comesand from Public Radio, The Harrah’s Foundation, Las Vegas CityLife, theNevada Las Vegas Review-Journal. Support for BMI’s public programming comesand from Public Radio, The Harrah’s Foundation, Las Vegas CityLife, and the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Garden

story by norm Schilling

Many plants respond to this kinder, gentler season with a burst of leaf growth. Some plants bloom a second time, while others deliver their first and only show. This color, whether in bloom or foliage, can be breathtaking, and so it makes sense to include these autumn beauties in our landscapes. Here are some of my late-year favorites for their flower shows.

Mountain Marigold, or Copper Canyon Daisy (Tagetes lemmonii)

Hummingbird Flowers:

This heat- and sun-loving desert-adapted shrub grows to three or four feet tall and wide. The bright green, finely divided foliage contrasts stunningly with the blues and grays of many other desert plants. Mountain Marigold bursts into bloom in October or early November with masses of one-inch, golden, daisy-like flowers that last until the first hard frost of about 25 degrees. A very cold winter can freeze the plant back to the ground, but it recovers quickly in the spring. Mountain Marigold performs best if cut back to about one foot tall in late winter. It takes desert alkaline soils well, but performs even better with good drainage and improved soil, so use mulch or allow leaf and flower drop to decompose and optimize its health.

an autumn bright spot.

Flowers for a Second Spring

KNPR’s ‘Desert Bloom’ expert picks his fall favorites. Autumn is a special time of year for me. Part of the reason is I still recall the days of my youth in Southern Ontario, Canada, where that season is a whole different phenomenon—a time of color change, falling leaves and temperatures getting outright cold. Pretty quick, by the end of October, all that is left are stalwart evergreens and bunches of bare branches. But here, in Southern Nevada, autumn brings a new awakening almost like a second spring. To step outside on a crisp November morn and smell the freshness in the air is just part of it. As I traipse through my garden, I take special delight in the newly emerged flower heads of Sierra Gold Dalea, so beautiful with their bizarre little flowers of yellow splashed with red. From the vantage of my patio, I admire the mix of purple, yellow and green swirled together in the flower heads of Black Moudry grasses, backlit and glowing, radiant in the afternoon sun. They are all reminders of how autumn rejuvenates our yards and spirits after a long, hot Mojave summer—like spring after a long, cold Canadian winter. 66 D e s e r t C o m p a n i o n S e p t e m b e r - Oc t o b e r 2 0 0 9

This little Southwest native is aptly named—the flowers really do smell like chocolate! Growing to about one foot tall and two feet wide, Chocolate Daisy has lobed leaves about three inches long and one inch wide, and it grows in an informal and undulating manner. The long bloom season extends into fall. Flowers show first as a very attractive and architectural calyx (flower base), with rings of green, leaf-like lobes surrounding a daisy-like floral cup. In the morning, its rich yellow petals develop from diminutive to fully extended and have a beautiful red-brown striping on the underside. The calyx develops rich brown stamens capped with yellow, and the contrast is stunning. The fragrance is strongest in the morning and fades with the heat of day. Individual flowers are short-lived, but the plant keeps producing. The spent blooms still have enough beauty so that they can be used in a cut floral arrangement. Planted in masses, the beauty and fragrance exponentially intensifies. It’s a sun-lover, but

Norm SCHILLING

Chocolate Daisy (Berlandiera lyrata)

Go Back to Get Ahead… The housing bubble has burst; the financial market is chaotic; everything you thought you knew has been turned upside down. Whether in good times or bad, there is one thing you can always count on…EDUCATION. With short, impactful, practical classes and programs, UNLV’s Educational Outreach offers the training you need to get ahead and stay there.

Look in your mailbox for your free copy of The Catalog or call 895-3394 to have one mailed to you.

Garden

Valley Cheese & Wine 1770 Horizon Ridge Parkway #110 Henderson, NV 89012 702-341-8191 This gourmet cheese and wine shop in Henderson supplies Las Vegas with the finest artisanal and handcrafted specialty foods, wine, and cheeses available. The dramatic Black Moudry (above) and the soaring Sky Flower (left).

Hours: Monday - Saturday 10 AM until 8 Pm Sunday 11AM until 5 PM

structured blooms poke up several inches above rolling masses of delicate fern-like foliage. The visual softness of daleaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bluish-green foliage is underscored by its slender burgundy stems. Exceptionally cold winters may inflict some damage, but it will spring back in warm weather. It will take full sun but also does well in light to medium shade. Sierra Gold Dalea looks lovely spilling down a rock face or contrasted with plants that have a strong architectural and upright form, such as larger agaves and desert spoons.

does well in light to medium shade. Cut back in late winter or early spring.

Sierra Gold, or Sierra Gold Dalea (Dalea capitata) This is one of my favorite ground covers, regardless of season, and it can bloom in both spring and fall. The flowers arise as little yellow spikes with spots of red. These beautifully 68â&#x20AC;&#x192; D e s e r t C o m p a n i o n

Sierra Negra, or Black Dalea (Dalea frutescens) This close relative of the Sierra Gold Dalea is more of a shrub, growing to about four feet tall and five feet wide. Like Sierra Gold, the leaves are tiny, providing similar soft texture. Its flower show comes in autumn, when masses of blooms cover the sage-green foliage. The flowers are intensely violet in color and contrast beautifully with the much more common

Sk y F l o w e r : N o r m S C hilling

Free Wine Tastings Friday 4 PM until 7PM Sat. noon until 7 PM

yellow hues of many other desert flowers. It likes full sun, can take some shade and doesn’t like to be overwatered.

Turpentine Bush (Ericameria laricifolia) A native of the Southwest, this droughttolerant perennial has tightly set foliage consisting of tiny awl-shaped leaves that smell of turpentine when brushed or squeezed. The foliage is an exceptionally dark, rich green, which shows off the autumn masses of yellow flowers beautifully. It also contrasts richly with the typically muted green hues of many desert plants.

Mexican Bush Sage (Salvia leucantha) This showy plant grows to about three or four feet tall and wide with a profusion of long stems covered with long, narrow leaves. The soft leaves are sage green above and white below and beckon to be touched. But when the flower show erupts in late summer or early fall, this plant becomes tactilely irresistible. The Mexican Sage’s small white or pink blooms peek out of purple calyxes that look and feel like velvet. Floral spikes form long, upright arches above the plant. While each stem may have only S e p t e m b e r - Oc t o b e r 2 0 0 9 D e s e rT C o m p a ni o n 69

Garden a few actual flowers open at one time, the stem is covered with velvety calyxes. This is a perfect candidate for a sensory garden, and the flowers are beloved by hummingbirds and butterflies alike. It takes poor soil, needs quite a bit of sun and likes ample irrigation in summer. Overwatering can cause stems to become heavy and fall to the side, making the plant rangy. Cut this plant to the ground in late winter or early spring.

Sky Flower (Duranta erecta) Over the past few years this plant has captured my attention and appreciation as few others have. It grows more upright than wide, with a height reputed to reach 15 to 25 feet and a width of eight to 12, but mine has remained shorter, perhaps because it froze back to the ground the winter before last. It recovered quickly, however, and bloomed from the following May into December. The foliage color is a nice, rich green. It wants to grow as a multi-trunk, but mine is pruned to a single trunk, which fits in a narrow space. The flower show is amazing. Thousands of blooms appear on stems that branch into threeto-six-inch-long splays of color. Each little blossom is a half-inch, five-petal delicacy of blue-violet, with a very thin white margin rimming every petal. Because of its height and narrow shape, it works beautifully against property walls, giving a sense of enclosure without threatening to damage the concrete. It likes full sun but can take some shade, and needs extra water in summer. Sky Flower is a long-season hummingbird and butterfly attractor. On the downside, the flower stalks are persistent, and I take a couple of hours each winter to prune them off. Oh, and don’t plant these next to your pool, because the thousands of tiny dropped flowers will drive you crazy!

Moudry, or Black Moudry (Pennisetum alopecuroides) This article would be incomplete without at least some mention of ornamental grasses, most of which bloom in fall. These plants add dramatic textural elements to the garden mix, along with the wonderful visual element of movement as they sway in a breeze. Black Moudry is a moderate water-use species with medium-green foliage that arches and spills, giving a soft, informal 70 D e s e r t C o m p a n i o n

appearance. The plant grows to about 18 inches tall and 24 inches wide. The floral spikes rise about a foot above the plant in late summer through fall. They are amazing, delicate structures that shimmer in the sun with a subtle mixture of greens, purples and yellows in each inflorescence. It should be cut flat across about three inches high in late February or early March. It will reseed itself, so seedlings can be transplanted as desired. Transplanting is usually most successful in late fall.

Hummingbird Flower, or California Fuchsia (Epilobium canum, formerly Zauschneria californica) I saved the best—or at least the brightest—for last. When I think of fall flower shows, nothing is as striking as the Hummingbird Flower. This sun-loving native of the dry regions of California grows as a spread of gray-green leafy stems about two to three feet tall. It spreads slowly by underground runners, so eventually it can take over an area. However, it’s easily contained in narrow planters, with a 12-inch root barrier, or by hand-pulling it back into bounds. The flower show is spectacular and intense, starting in late summer and lasting well into fall. Masses of thin, fuchsia-colored blooms carpet the plant in a breathtaking, brilliant blaze. When in bloom, this plant has never failed to grab my attention. As the name implies, it is very attractive to hummingbirds. Really cold weather stops the flower show, and after the foliage browns and dries, the plant should be cut down to almost ground level.

***

Some of the plants mentioned are a bit difficult to find in local nurseries, but they’ll order them if you ask. If you order online, the plants usually arrive much smaller for a similar price, but they do grow fairly fast. Gardening in Southern Nevada does come with some special challenges, but it also gives special rewards. The “second spring” of autumn and its flower show is one of the sweetest of those rewards. DC Norm Schilling, owner of Schilling Horticulture Group, hosts (along with Angela O’Callaghan) “Desert Bloom,” which airs on News 89.9 KNPR at 5:33 and 7:33 a.m. Tuesdays during Morning Edition.

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P h o t o g rap h B y C h r i s t o p h e r S m i t h

Alice Roussos (left) with a client at the Design Center’s Jordan Spencer Showroom.

Interior Access

With its new salon, the Las Vegas Design Center lets everyday Las Vegans in on professional services, products and prices. Most of us know the World Market Center—that complex of monolithic structures near the Charleston exit of Interstate 15— as just another trade-show venue, this one reserved for those in the furniture and design worlds. Even if you realized that the campus housed the Las Vegas Design Center (LVDC), which comprises more than 50 furniture and home décor showrooms, you’d assume that access to the latest home furnishings was limited to interior designers who would charge a big markup on anything purchased there on your behalf. That assumption was true until the advent of the LVDC’s Design Salon. When its doors opened this spring, so did a world of interior design possibilities for everyday Las Vegans. In a first for the industry, consumers are being actively courted by a design center. Only in Vegas can you catch a glimpse of the 72 D e s e r t C o m p a n i o n S e p t e m b e r - Oc t o b e r 2 0 0 9

latest designs in furnishings and home décor—wall coverings, flooring, lighting, fabrics, accessories—before the merchandise makes it to retailers. Even better, you can purchase any item in the showrooms for prices considerably lower than at a store. All you have to do is register at the Design Salon inside Building A or C, put on a badge and start roaming. LVDC Vice President Randy Wells decided to “lift the veil” on the industry shortly after coming to Las Vegas from North Carolina—the longtime U.S. furniture hub—a year ago. His idea is to tap into the market of 2 million Southern Nevada residents, our more than 35 million annual visitors, and a substantial number of people within a half-day’s drive of Las Vegas. “The old design center model was broken,” Wells says. “It was too cold, too exclusionary—it taught people they needed to

Home be intimidated by design. With today’s proliferation of lifestyle-oriented retailers, the Internet and design-inspired television shows, people expect to be involved in the design process more than ever.” Wells’ vision has left some in the design trade less than enthusiastic. After all, exclusive access to places such as the LVDC helps make designers’ services sought-after. What made the Design Salon possible, though, was that one trade organization partnered with the LVDC. The regional chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) sanctioned the Design Salon and its mission to court consumers. And when consumers are ready to purchase, they must do so through the Design Salon with the assistance of an ASID-accredited interior designer. “There are some mixed feelings, because designers are working for a bit less at the Design Salon than they normally might in their own practices,” says Bobbie Jo Kinsey, president of the ASID chapter. “But here they have an opportunity to attract a larger volume of clientele without having to do their own marketing, which LVDC does for them.” Alice Roussos, owner of the local Interior Motives design studio, is one ASID member who is enthusiastic about the idea. She staffs the Design Salon each Friday, and reports seeing upward of 15 visitors per day. “Many of the people who stop by are mainly curious about the design center and want to know how it works,” Roussos says. “Of course, not all of our visitors are looky-loos, but are seeking something specific—a contemporary bedroom set, for example. In that case, we are there to direct them to the sleek, contemporary showrooms and away from the old-world, Tuscan-traditional ones. There really is something for everyone here.” That something might include a moderately priced handmade lamp from manufacturer Willow Green, the latest upholstery designs from Robert Allen’s showroom, or a chic, transitional dining room set from Brownstone Furniture. If serendipity is on your side, you might find just what you are looking for at Suite Charity, a showroom that collects unsold items from other LVDC showrooms and sells them at a steep discount (with all proceeds going to local charities). Sometimes a client-designer re74 D e s e r t C o m p a n i o n S e p t e m b e r - Oc t o b e r

With typical high-end retail prices often 100 percent more than wholesale, the Design Salon patron stands to reap substantial savings. lationship begun at the Design Salon extends beyond the Design Center. “A customer might decide she also would like help with paint colors,” Roussos says, “or is considering a major remodeling project in her home and would like the designer’s advice. In that case, we also have a chance to introduce clients to products and services beyond what the Design Center offers.” At the Design Salon, the first hour of a designer’s time is free and every hour thereafter is $100. (If a designer consults in a client’s home or provides access to products outside the Design Center, a different fee structure may apply.) When a consumer is ready to buy, the designer actually makes the purchase and “sells” it to back to the customer at an 18 percent markup on the wholesale price. With typical highend retail prices often 100 percent more than wholesale, the Design Salon patron stands to reap substantial savings. Wells is aware of the mild controversy surrounding the expansive, consumerfriendly policy he’s introduced to LVDC, but he’s convinced that his vision represents a new paradigm for design centers across the country. In the meantime, he hopes more locals will venture in, which will benefit the showrooms, the designers and themselves. In a community facing a home foreclosure crisis, people aren’t exactly lining up to reappoint their living spaces. But Wells believes his message is compelling. “We want consumers to experience the value and accessibility of great design,” he says. “And ultimately, the Design Salon can save people money.” DC

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Porray

(from page 43)

in a less-glamorous era and doing his own thing. He prefers to be in his studio inside the UNLV Arts Building, hidden near the corner of Tamarus and Tropicana, when it’s all quiet. It’s an MFA “cave phase,” you might say, and he’s selective about what outside noises he lets in. “I was just reading about Francis Bacon,” he says, motioning to a Web page on his computer screen. “Toward the end of his career he totally tanked, maybe because he started paying too much attention to other artists. He looked at Van Gogh and he fell off almost right away. It’s important to have artists to look up to, but like I just heard on NPR, if you’re trying to emulate someone else, then all you can be is second best. I think that can be a problem in grad school.” You’d think that loud, obnoxious Las Vegas might be a distraction, or even competition, but it’s had the opposite effect. “It’s helped me reestablish a firm connection with my own sensibilities,” Porray says. “I try not to pay much attention to trends or fashion within the art world, so Las Vegas has given me the opportunity to look at my own two feet.”

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Porray’s Other Vital Quality The references that Porray does let into his studio form a constellation of ideas that Professor Burns says “at first may seem disparate,” but it’s the artist’s ability to make connections between them that is his “flash of genius.” That could mean a subconscious seepage of “skateboarding/graffiti/punk” experiences from his early Vegas days, or a compositional move sparked by a conscious effort to better understand cinematography, about which the professor and student have had long talks. Lately Porray has been drawing on his fascination with tunnels (the McCarran connector is a favorite) and channeling his addiction to the Speed Racer video game. But his second passion (after art itself ) is a constant: “armchair science.” His curriculum in and out of the studio includes a heavy reading list of books about theoretical physics and cosmology, a steady stream of science podcasts, and conversations about our strange and wonderful universe with anybody capable of keeping up—or appearing to be. “String theory—M theory in particular— is one of the most exciting fields of research

in the history of our species,” he e-mailed one day. “It’s thrilling to be alive at a time when deep insights into the fundamental fabric of our universe are being made. We can only hope that the Large Hadron Collider will yield information about point-particle structures such as the Higgs boson, but the research comes with some serious fear from the culture at large. It is amazing to me that we are simultaneously comforted and terrified by the prospects of our technology.” The relationship of his art and his interest in science is not “one to one,” he points out. “There is no direct system, per se, that I use to combine the two.” He doesn’t set out to paint a black hole or anything like that, but his knowledge and thoughts on space and time are everpresent in the process, and this indirect system does produce an effect. He starts each piece with an object of his affection, such as the Hadron Collider, and he adds other images—such as a photo of a tunnel or a freeze frame of the Speed Racer game—until he arrives at a digital composition that’s potentially interesting to work with. Then he lets mathematics take over. He runs each design through a series of algorithms, digitally bending, warping and scalloping the shapes, which can be so complex and subtle that, well, unless you have the ability to see in six dimensions, only the artist can really appreciate them. “It’s like looking into a quantum ‘microscope’ at a Calabi-Yau manifold,” Porray says of the nuggets of curled-up space-time that theoretically exist in our universe. “These are shapes so incredibly tiny that physicists can only hope to prove them experimentally by observing their effects through quantum collisions, rather than imaging them directly.” But they can dictate the shape of a structure, which is why—other than personal amusement—Porray bothers to incorporate them into his art. There’s the chance that the obscure reference might give each work a little extra effect, such as that dizzying motion. Obviously, though, it’s a little difficult to pull off six dimensions on a 2-D panel. “My paintings end up looking similar to the ‘failed’ attempts to image these shapes in a physics book,” he says. “Because I’m a painter and not a physicist, I get to be happy with the result.” Sometimes happiness is when a painting starts to take on a characteristic

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7/30/09 11:56:04 AM

of a certain cosmic phenomenon—like the reverse acceleration that will someday accompany the heat-death of our universe—even though such a reference may be too obscure for the viewer. When told that the Hadron Collider was in the painting that rocked her world, Walsh replies, “I don’t even know what that is.” “His use of hard science to cocktail up his paintings is really fascinating, and he gets really passionate about that stuff,” Burns says. “But sometimes I’ll ask him, ‘Aren’t we allowed to just enjoy them?’” Porray knows that, “in the end, what I have is a painting [that] has to go out into the world and do the sorts of things that paintings do.” What he hopes Speed Racer, quantum physics, supercolliders and tunnels really add up to is “visual excitement.” So when New Yorker art critic Peter Schjeldahl, who had popped in for a studio visit while in town to speak at UNLV, referred to Porray’s work as “zippy abstracts,” the artist was quite pleased. That was last year, and his art has progressed to where, as Walsh puts it, he “takes the figurative to the very edge of abstraction.” While the Vegas-style spectacle of colors gets the viewer’s attention, what holds it is that “they know something’s there but they’re not sure what it is.” Then the vaguely familiar elements form a new, bigger picture, which offers more to think about. And if he succeeds in enhancing the zippiness—the motion or acceleration, that is—you get the feeling that he’ll have really found something. Burns would call that the right mix of frosting and cake. This balance seems to be what the homestretch of Porray’s MFA pursuit is about: experimentation and discovery, combining his obscure references to see what looks good and hits a certain depth—all the while sharpening the many artist tools Walsh listed. “In some ways these are still school paintings,” Burns says, “where he’s working through a number of formal issues and making sure his skills are at a peak level. But I tell him, ‘Once you’re free from school and it’s just you, the great paintings will come along.’” This is where perhaps Porray’s leading virtue—understanding his place in time—comes in handy. “I’m in a luxury situation right now where I can just work,” he says. “I don’t have to force an evolution. Whatever it is, it’s going to shift naturally, starting with me making 25 paintings this summer.” DC

Mob

(from page 49)

Business of the Year” in 2003 if it hadn’t sold a surprising number of lipstick pens and belt-buckle cameras. While the Mob Museum will have a sense of humor—that was evident early on with the unveiling of the museum’s redacted logo—but, like Spy, it’s an otherwise serious cultural endeavor. “This is not an attraction, it’s a museum—a very engaging museum,” Dennis says. “It’s designed to take you into a different world when you walk off the street, because you want people to start thinking in a different way. That was our goal with Spy, and I hope when you walk into the Mob Museum you’ll walk into the world of crime and law enforcement.” The tough part is distilling a librarysize subject into a two-hour tour. The Barries have been working on the storyline since they were hired three autumns ago, and the editing conundrums have been many. How do you condense, for example, the Bureau of Narcotics story? How interesting is it anyway? And how do you balance the good guys and the bad guys to help make the museum “legit” and live up to its proper name? Focusing on human nature and valor seems to be the answer. While visitors can look up details about such events as the 1935 grand jury investigation into vice and racketeering in New York, the real engagement with history is meeting someone like Eunice Carter. “She was an African-American prosecutor in Tom Dewey’s office,” Kathy says, “and they put her on the prostitution detail—I think it was Lucky Luciano’s outfit that ran the ring. But here she was, the first woman in that office and the first AfricanAmerican in the office. I’m thinking, Whoa, what would it have been like to have been Eunice Carter?” There will be stations for listening to wiretapped phone calls, and you’ll hear guys getting “made” at a big crime family conference. There will firsthand video testimonies by living participants about their mob connections, “so you can see the person’s face and emotions,” Kathy says. “That dimension helps a great deal in getting the point across that this is a real story, not a cartoon. These are real people.” And the Barries like to show sides of famous characters that museum visitors don’t know about. At the Rock Hall, for example, across from all the Jimi Hendrix memorabilia is a wall of drawings from the late guitarist’s childhood. At the Mob Mu-

seum, alongside, let’s say, an image of the dapper Moe Dalitz sparring with Senator Kefauver, you might see a photo of him on horseback during one of his hunting trips in Montana or the home movie he filmed along the early Las Vegas Strip. “What people will be really excited about are the personal things that are going to be in there,” Dennis says. “Maybe it’s somebody’s cuff links, their prayer card or their family photos. It shows their human side. I always find those things fascinating.” It’s the Barries’ mission to tell it like it is, out of respect for accuracy and in effort to gain respect for the project. “One of our great satisfactions,” Dennis says, “is that the CIA uses the Spy Museum for its historical training.” And they’d like to achieve that level of respectability in Las Vegas, where law-enforcement agencies would come to learn from the Mob Museum. “It’s got to be that important,” Kathy says. Telling it like it is in a world with so many versions of reality is the best way to understand American culture. If this sounds obvious, consider that the Rock Hall, pre-Barrie, was going to be a museum that was all “happy days and sock hops,” Dennis says. “I thought, This is B.S. How can you talk about rock and roll with no sex or drugs?” To his great satisfaction, the museum included the mood-setting film Rock Is, starring a very forthright Pete Townshend of The Who. “That place wouldn’t be the same without it,” Kathy says. It was post-Mapplethorpe proof of Dennis’ commitment to pulling no punches when dealing with a provocative subject. There’s bound to be another shock wave of controversy when the Mob Museum opens, and the Barries are braced for it. “The Spy Museum was only open about 10 minutes,” Kathy recalls, “and we had people walking up to us saying, ‘Jonathan Pollard is not a spy. Jonathan Pollard is a patriot!’ And you’re like, OK, he pled guilty. With Moe Dalitz, charges were dropped both times he was arrested, so … There’s always going to be something controversial.” “Wait till I whip out photos of naked mobsters!” Dennis interjects. He’s just joking, of course. But if he changes his mind, this time he’ll have an experienced defense attorney on the team—one who very much appreciates Barrie’s nose for controversy. “I have only one regret about him now,” the mayor says. “That I didn’t represent him in that Mapplethorpe case myself.” DC

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Desert Companion 79

Essay

b y G r e g B l a k e M i l l ER

Nostalgia in 33 Tweets

A Las Vegan-in-exile reflects on the old hometown, in bursts of 140 characters or less. One of the dubious gifts of the digital age is that it permits us to leave a place without leaving.

But I am not nostalgic for the Rat Pack. I am nostalgic for Las Vegas. Controversial statement: The Rat Pack is not Las Vegas.

Before the boxes are unpacked in your new home, you can join your old town’s digital diaspora.

Neon signs are not Las Vegas. Dashboard dice are not Las Vegas. Even tall women wearing pink feathers are not Las Vegas.

You can text your old pals from the road.

I am not nostalgic for symbols. I am not nostalgic for what they symbolize. I am nostalgic for lived moments in lived-in spaces.

You can visit Shutterfly galleries from the second floor of the Bakersfield Days Inn. My longest sentence so far: 99 characters. I am operating within the boundaries of the Tweetosphere. That last sentence was 100 characters. I still had 40 to spare. I am ready for the future. I need to prepare myself for the digital future so that I can more effectively cling to my past. Three years ago I left Las Vegas, my hometown, for Eugene, Oregon. I have kept my friends posted on my life, and kept myself posted on their lives. I have done so by calling them on the telephone and by flying to Las Vegas on airplanes.

I am not nostalgic for my friends as an archive of periodically updated masks on a digital “wall”; I am nostalgic for their friendship. I do not long to “keep up with” lived-in spaces in which I no longer live. I see no charm in digital surveillance of the friendscape. What I miss is the kinetic act of being. Being there. With them. Back then. Social networking does not permit time travel. Memory does. Strange: While I miss being there with them back then, I would not want to return to back then. Not even there. Not even with them. To miss a moment and to desire its return are two different things. My longing is not to restore the past but to engage it as I build a future.

I could have established a more persistent presence in my old friends’ lives. I could have friended them on Facebook.

I try to live new moments among old friends. That is, I try to keep my old friends new.

I could have persuaded them to become my followers on Twitter.

My old town does a fine job of keeping itself new. Every so often I will visit. I will dream of what it was. I will dream of what it can be.

They could follow me everywhere I go. But why should they follow me everywhere I go? I don’t even want to follow me everywhere I go.

I will be there, in person. I will be a person who has been away.

To properly keep in touch, one must allow for healthy periods of being out of touch. The alternative is called stalking.

The blessing of virtual return can easily become the curse of virtual non-departure.

I miss Las Vegas, but I can’t quite say what it is that I miss.

Only if I am willing to lose track of the old world can I know the pleasure of rediscovery.

This morning, I Googled three terms at once: “Las Vegas,” “diaspora” and “nostalgia.” The first site on the list invited me to see the following shows: Jubilee, Legends in Concert and The Rat Pack Is Back. 80 D e s e r t C o m p a n i o n S E PT E MB E R - OCT o B E R 2 0 0 9

Greg Blake Miller, who grew up in Las Vegas, teaches journalism at the University of Oregon. He occasionally writes in complete paragraphs.

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You can tweet from the candy aisle of the Barstow Circle K.

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