New Yorkers warm to art revival in downtown LV

Diana Sahagun

Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2001 | 9:38 a.m.

Jack Solomon was making final preparations to move his world-class lithography business from New York to downtown Las Vegas when America was blindsided by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

As if shipping his antique lithography presses -- some weighing more than 10 tons -- to Las Vegas wasn't challenging enough, Solomon was caught in the midst of chaos as his business plummeted and his employees struggled to come to grips with the events of Sept. 11.

Solomon is president of the S2 Art Group, which is based in New York, one mile north of the World Trade Center. His employees, arriving at work the morning of Sept. 11, watched the low-flying commercial jets slam into the towers. Business dropped as the offices remained closed for eight days.

Solomon also has an office in Chicago, in the 100-story John Hancock Center; it has been evacuated twice in the past month because of phony bomb threats. Employees fear the tower could be the next target, he said.

Still, Solomon and his wife, Carolyn, say they are moving forward with plans to move their business here -- albeit at a slower pace -- to help breathe life into a new downtown arts district.

"We have been through a lot, but we're not panicking," Solomon said. "We're going ahead with our plans."

Solomon announced in June that he was moving his lithography business to Las Vegas from New York. Solomon's plans mirror those of Mayor Oscar Goodman, who envisions a thriving arts district downtown.

Las Vegas' Neighborhood Services Department also has helped the company, providing $100,000 to assist Solomon with the costly move.

Workers are readying the S2 Art Group's new building -- at the corner of Charleston Boulevard and Main Street -- for an opening by the end of this month.

Large art prints are plastered on the windows, and three of the company's five lithography presses have been delivered to the property. The antique presses -- which weigh between 6 and 12 tons -- are so heavy that the ground floor had to be reinforced with steel.

One 12-ton press made its journey from London by ship, which passed through the Panama Canal before arriving in Long Beach, Calif. In fact, workers had to remove the building's giant windows to get the press inside.

Solomon, who will maintain offices in New York and Chicago, has begun hiring employees, including Christopher Creyts, who will be the master printer. Before making the move to Las Vegas, Creyts worked for the now-closed Tyler Graphics Limited in New York.

"I heard Vegas has a growing arts scene, so I was very excited about moving here," he said. "Hopefully, we will be helping excite and stimulate the economy."

Creyts also specializes in photogravure, a photographic printing process used to reproduce photographs to create original, limited edition prints. He also practices a form of Japanese wood-block ink printing.

By the end of this month, Solomon said, the presses will be running and producing original artwork for his clients from around the world. Although it will not open to the public until next year, Solomon hopes to build glass walls inside the building so people can watch the printing process without distracting the printers.

The 22,000-square-foot art facility will ultimately include retail and wholesale art sales, a wholesale showroom and retail art gallery. It will also serve as a center for the group's e-commerce operations.

Solomon said he has been welcomed by his art neighbors, including the Arts Factory, which is next door. City officials are hoping the two buildings will serve as a gateway to the city's proposed arts district, which will run along Las Vegas Boulevard to Garces Avenue.

Already, city officials say, the area is showing signs of promise. Last month more than 100 local artists turned out to preview the "Aerial Gallery," a mile of artwork on light poles along Las Vegas Boulevard. The "gallery," which runs from Las Vegas Boulevard to Fremont Street, will continue for a year.

Richard Hooker, senior cultural program specialist for the city of Las Vegas, said the S2 group, along with the Gateway Arts Association and the Gateway Arts District Neighborhood Association, are driving the development of an arts district, which will include cafes and artists' galleries.

"I think that S2 moving into the neighborhood has really been a boost to developing the neighborhood," he said. "They bring this vital, established commercial enterprise to the neighborhood."

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