Columnist Susan Snyder: Fine art makes way to Vegas

Tuesday, March 6, 2001 | 8:36 a.m.

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

If you doubt Las Vegas' ability to attract "real" art, a few minutes with David Carver will cast some doubt on those doubts.

Carver is president of the Las Vegas Art Museum. And last Friday he helped unveil the West Sahara Avenue facility's exhibit of work by internationally acclaimed glass sculptor Dale Chihuly. He's the Tacoma, Wash., artist who designed that amazing light fixture in the lobby of the Bellagio.

Before he introduced Chihuly, Carver said the museum had just signed an agreement with the Smith- sonian Institution to bring our local art museum exhibits we might otherwise have to see in Washington, D.C.

"The Smithsonian has thousands of pieces of artwork 'in the basement' so to speak," Carver said. "The affiliation allows us to go in and custom design the shows."

And the shows will be here for three to 12 years at a time -- much longer than exhibits typically are here. The first is to arrive late this year, Carver said. Its pieces have not yet been chosen.

Carver says he's not concerned about possible competition from the Hermitage-Guggenheim Foundation's museum being built adjacent to the Venetian on the Strip. Bring them on, he says. The more the merrier.

"That absolutely is not a problem," Carver said. "We are a locals' museum."

One that floored Graham Graham (his real name), the artist who designed the installation of Chihuly's exhibit here. Graham, who once blew glass for Chihuly, says he has installed his work in many places across the world. But the call to design the display of the exhibit here came as a huge surprise.

"I said, 'Las Vegas?' We have this certain image of what Las Vegas is," Graham said. "I would've expected some kind of, I don't know, log cabin or something.

"But then I walked into this space," Graham said, turning his gaze to the museum rooms that glowed with Chihuly's breathtaking creations.

"This is a staggering facility," he said. "To have this volume of space in a town like this is an amazing resource."

This is our neighborhood museum he's talking about. A museum built by a local art organization that Carver says has been plugging away for 50 years. A museum we need to patronize.

"If the community comes out, this will continue to happen. This could be a start to getting exposure to a lot of the international artists," Graham said of the Chihuly exhibit. "I hope the community just falls over itself to see it."

Just don't fall all over yourself -- or anything else -- once you're inside. We're talking glass art valued in the really high, scary numbers.

For those who have never been, the Las Vegas Art Museum is in the same building as the West Sahara Library, which sits on the north side of Sahara just west of Fort Apache Road.

It's kind of amazing to think an internationally acclaimed artist had work sitting right here in one of our neighborhoods, in the museum built for us first and the tourists second.

"We're mounting the best shows in the world," Carver said.

Keep your peepers peeled. Something tells me he's not fibbing.

And by all means, go.