Columnist Susan Snyder: Arts Factory feeds hunger for creativity

Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2000 | 9:15 a.m.

Susan Snyder's column appears Tuesdays and Sundays. Reach her at snyder@vegas.com or 259-4082.

A week after Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman promised vigorous rejuvenation of downtown, one small group of artists already struggling to succeed there is still cheering.

They are the artists, photographers, architects and gallery proprietors of the Arts Factory -- a hulking brick building wedged among aging strip shops and teeny houses near Main Street and Charleston Boulevard.

Wes Isbutt, owner of the building and of Studio West photography, has spent the past three years convincing a handful of talented colleagues to join him by opening studios and galleries. He's sowing seeds of the culture all hope will sprout throughout downtown.

There's an architect's studio, graphics design businesses and six galleries featuring work by contemporary local and national artists.

There were seven galleries. But a day after Goodman's speech board members of the nonprofit Nevada Institute for Contemporary Art announced they were closing their doors because of financial problems.

Isbutt and the others are undaunted. Isbutt has a waiting list of prospective tenants. The other artists have faith.

"A lot of the people who come here are surprised -- and grateful -- that it's here. They are hungry for creativity," said Dar Freeland, a painter who co-owns Cricket Graphics.

Down the hall George Sturman hawks an eclectic personal collection amassed over 50 years -- including an original Andy Warhol drawing and animation cells from Disney movies and the Beatles' film "Yellow Submarine."

Most visitors are tourists. Sturman would like to see more locals -- lookers and buyers.

"They're buying these million-dollar homes. They ought to put something good in them," Sturman said.

He figures it's only a matter of time before the valley's newcomers demand a distinct arts community.

"People are moving to Las Vegas from other areas where they've been exposed to this," he said. "It's got to work -- maybe not in my lifetime -- but as the population grows."

Sturman's shop is tucked behind Smallworks Gallery, featuring works by national and regional contemporary artists.

Smallworks, a gem for serious collectors, also lures the less-serious with a shop packed with kitschy Las Vegas souvenirs like dice from the Dunes and 7-foot replicas of swizzle sticks from the Tropicana and Flamingo casinos.

Mario Intino, a gallery assistant, said the funny stuff helps keep the place afloat financially.

"It's necessary," he said, poking the tummy of a talking "Mr. Bill" keychain. "You do what you have to do. And it's a fun kind of art all on its own."

Smallworks owner Jim Stanford said an art colony provides an escape from the town's cookie-cutter stucco and flashy facades. The downtown location scares some away, but he said it's not a dangerous neighborhood.

"Nothing could be farther from the truth," Stanford said. "There's nothing but businesses here. This is a sterile neighborhood."

Sterile, perhaps, until the Arts Factory's concept takes hold.

"This is our first, best chance of making something happen," Stanford said. "And we're going to do everything we can to make it work."