Columnist Susan Snyder: Exhibiting signs of the future

Friday, Dec. 13, 2002 | 9:16 a.m.

Susan Snyder's column appears Fridays Sundays and Tuesdays. Reach her at snyder@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4082.

Those who financed famous casinos along the Strip and downtown are credited with creating Las Vegas.

But such people as Brian Leming and Marge Williams figured out what Las Vegas would look like.

They, along with such artists as Charles F. Barnard, Paul Miller, Jack Dubois and Bob Miller, designed the neon signs that forever burned Las Vegas into the American psyche.

Their drawings and paintings put the flicker in the Silver Slipper and the glimmer in Glitter Gulch before the first bulb was ever screwed into place.

And for a short time, people can see the renderings used to pique the interest and whet the financial appetites of those who would build the Sands, Stardust, MGM Grand and other famous Las Vegas hotspots.

The "Art of the Sign" exhibit that opened at Reed Whipple Cultural Center Thursday evening is a collection of original paintings and drawings that local sign artists created for casino executives looking to build new places or revamp old ones.

"They've been standing in corners or stuffed in closets," said Leming, art director for Federal Sign and a 41-year veteran of neon design in Las Vegas, whose work is on display.

"People don't realize what goes into the design and engineering of major signs," he said. "Las Vegas is basically a sign, and we were responsible for the image of Las Vegas, visually."

The drawings span three decades and a variety of media ranging from paint to pencil. The exhibit is being sponsored by the city of Las Vegas and the Neon Museum, a nonprofit organization devoted to building a facility to display the old signs that first made Sin City twinkle.

The exhibit is the first project headed up by Sandra Harris, who left the Liberace Foundation two months ago to become the Neon Museum's first executive director. She said that in January they will unveil the design and fund-raising campaign for the museum that is to open in the summer of 2004.

Although many of the images seem familiar, visitors may find it hard -- impossible, in some cases -- to see the signs around town. Some were torn down. Others never were built.

The Grand Victorian never existed. The Park Hotel opened as Rosie O'Grady's and now is Main Street Station. It looks nothing like the Park Hotel in Leming's painting.

Leming strolled among the paintings Thursday, talking about ideas that looked good on paper but weren't practical. A pudgy sultan, two grinning camels and a belly dancer were giant inflatable figures that owners wanted mounted atop the Oasis Casino (later opened as the Dunes).

"But we figured one 60 mph wind would tear the roof off the hotel," Leming said.

The display also includes 14 of Brian Swanson's ink drawings of neon signs stored in the museum's boneyard. Swanson is owner of Cricket Graphics and artist of the city's downtown arts district map. He spent more than a year visiting the boneyard with a sketchbook just because he liked the shapes.

Although the artwork depicts some of Las Vegas' most public images, none was created for public consumption.

"It's only the clients that actually were to see these," said Williams, a Federal Sign artist who worked on the Riviera's neon marquee. "They never appreciated our work before. Not like this."