Museum featured in Newsweek

Friday, March 23, 2001 | 11:17 a.m.

Newsweek magazine this week included the Guggenheim museum under construction at the Venetian Las Vegas in a story on the vast expansion of prestigious museums into cities around the nation including smaller markets like Seattle, Denver, Kansas City, Mo.; Fort Worth and Austin, Texas; Milwaukee, Cincinnati and Minneapolis.

On the Venetian museum, Newsweek wrote:

"Sound tacky? Even the museum's unorthodox director, Thomas Krens, was skeptical at first. But he learned that 1 million people a year paid $12.50 each to see Steve Wynn's modest collection of old-master paintings in a Vegas hotel. 'His gallery was sandwiched between a wedding chapel and a yogurt stand,' Krens said. 'People were standing in front of the paintings with real reverence, having a cultural experience.'

"With Vegas's 38 million annual tourists in mind, Krens signed a deal to create two Guggenheim spaces in the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino for $30 million -- at the Venetian's expense -- to open next September."

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