Poster brings national attention to Clark County Museum

Wednesday, May 15, 2002 | 8:46 a.m.

Las Vegas artist Christina Wilkinson did not enter her digitally produced poster "Spirit of Place" with hopes of earning honorable mention in the prestigious National Preservation Week Poster Contest.

She and her artist-husband, David, wanted nothing less than to win first prize, if, for nothing else, their sponsor, the Clark County Museum Guild.

"I was a little upset because if we had won, the museum guild would have received a large cash award," Christina said. "This honorable mention, however, shows us we have a chance to win when we try again next year."

Wilkinson, the mother of 16-year-old award-winning artist Brandyn Wilkinson and 8-year-old Bethany Wilkinson, a promising artist, acknowledged that the winner of the National Trust for Historic Preservation-sponsored contest "did a great job."

The winner of the $2,500 first prize was Northwest artist Heather McIntosh for her poster of diverse cultural landscapes. The award beneficiary is Historic Seattle, a 28-year-old nonprofit organization that promotes preservation of sites in King County, Wash.

Although the Clark County Museum Guild did not receive any prize money, the nonprofit organization that raises funds for the Clark County Museum at 1830 S. Boulder Highway, Henderson, was excited about the honorable mention.

"This was a very big honor for us because it shows that the guild is committed to preserving Southern Nevada," guild President Jeanne Brady said, noting that area governments have had a history of not always preserving local historic sites.

"We are taking an active role in preserving our past with projects like this contest and by raising $7,000 to move one of the old downtown Las Vegas railroad cottages to the museum to renovate it."

Brady said plans are for the Wilkinsons' 18-by-24-inch preservation poster that features cowboys, quilts and a faded bridge linking Southern Nevada's present with its past, to eventually hang in the Clark County Museum.

The guild and the Wilkinsons met about a year ago when the guild hired their company, Sabre Design and Publishing, to change the museum's logo and image to a more modern, progressive organization.

The 9-year-old company, whose clients include celebrities Siegfried and Roy, David Cassidy and Desi Arnaz Jr., has long done work for nonprofit organizations, including Goodwill and Kidscharities.org.

Sabre's preservation work extends statewide to efforts to save the Tonopah Historic Mining Park.

In addition to their commercial work, the Wilkinsons also are artists who work in pen and ink, pencil, water colors and other mediums. David, Christina and Brandyn, whose work has been purchased by the New York Racing Association for its marketing campaign, have a show Saturday at the Red Rock Country Club.

The Wilkinsons took one week, from conception to completion, to create "Spirit of Place," one of 75 honorable mention-winning posters. The top three finishers shared $5,000 in prize money.

Since Sunday, the start of National Historic Preservation Week, "Spirit of Place" has been hanging with the other award winners in the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. The exhibit ends June 13.