Let’s play nine holes of art

By Kristen Peterson

Sunday, Feb. 19, 2006 | 12:33 p.m.

It's one thing to look at art. It's another to play in it.

Todd VonBastiaans decided that we could do both.

VonBastiaans is the mind behind Obstacle Art, a nine-hole, artist-created miniature golf course that operates more like an interactive installation exhibit.

"It's a gallery show that you can play," VonBastiaans said.

The course, located in the Commerce Street Studios at 1551 S. Commerce St., opens March 3 for a three-month run. For $3 you can putt your way into the creative psyche of Las Vegas artists.

VonBastiaans, who put up most of the funding for the project, said he had seen similar golf courses in other cities. For the project, he partnered with Cindy Funkhouser and the rest of the folks at Whirlygig, the nonprofit group behind First Friday.

A guide to the course:

Given the smooth flat surface of this T-shaped hole, you might want to putt lightly.

Created by Jennifer Devereaux, in collaboration with her husband, Shan Michael Evans, the hole is based on the game Candyland and incorporates style elements borrowed from toys in the couple's TragicMagicHead toy company.

Hot-pink trees border the fairway. If you look yonder, you'll see a silhouette of Devereaux and Evans' son, Elliot. Tiny white lights add a little flash to the hole.

The biggest obstacle is the spread of giant, fuzzy gumdrops.

You might not get a hole-in-one, but "As long as you hit it softly, it works well," Devereaux said.

Maneuvering your way through this Golf-zilla hole means working left-handed and putting up a steep ramp into what looks like a war-torn building.

Your ball can enter three different slots. Beware: The easiest slot to access puts you right back at the beginning.

Golf-zilla is a three-dimensional rendition of John Fanok's "Just A Little Girl" digital-art series. The episodes revolve around a young girl, her evil nemesis and her clones. They fight each other and, in this case, Golf-zillas.

Of the challenges, Fanok said, "Looks are deceiving. Just like the little girls."

This U-shaped hole was inspired by the cheesecake paintings of Korey Erra, aka Dollface, and brings tattoos to life. (Think Sailor Jerry.)

If the sexy mermaid on a rock doesn't stop you, the twinkling treasure chest just might. Once past the pirate ship, you're home free.

Looking at the layout, which includes blue artificial turf to represent water, Erra said, "I grew up in Southern California so there was tons of miniature golf. I spent a lot of birthdays playing.

"I love the old sailer tattoos. I thought it would be great to make a tattoo flash (page, an art board,) three dimensional."

In a memorial to the fallen soldiers in Iraq, Danny Sidlow used black artificial turf and three military helmets for this T-shaped hole.

The tee block is a cutout in the shape of Iraq. Military helmets representing three different camouflage patterns, worn by U.S. soldiers during the Iraq war, serve as obstacles.

The view is of a black backdrop featuring a penny for each U.S. soldier who has died in Iraq.

"I just figured it would be a tribute to them," said Sidlow, who is originally from Southern California where he played the traditional windmill-and-castle miniature golf courses.

As far as making the cup, Sidlow said, "It's going to be simple. It certainly should be able to be done in two shots."

Architect Stephen Jackson's colorful assemblage sculpture, created in a gridlike fashion, incorporates the game of pinball into miniature golf.

Jackson combined squirrel feeders, circular table tops, plungers, plunger sticks, more than two-dozen candles and a ventilated panel to create his kinetic sculpture/hole.

The tee-off is from atop a candle. The tiny grid of holes in its flooring offers a textured panel for the ball to roll around.

Inspired by a past trip to Lowe's, where Jackson grabbed random objects to build a unique drawing table, the course is visually explosive and lively.

"It's a little bit like a pinball machine in the layout and the way the ball might bounce off the bumpers," Jackson said. "Supposedly there's a shortcut right down the middle. You could conceivably get it in a par 2, but I seriously doubt that will happen often."

Teeing off at this hole can be tricky. If your ball carries up the steep ramp and into the chicken coop, you're on your way. A chicken, perched at another entrance, releases the ball down another ramp and places it close to the cup.

From there, it's a matter of a soft putt.

This is one of the larger structures at Obstacle Art. The hole, created by Casey Weldon and Brian Thornton, is inspired by a painting by Weldon on the origins of good-luck charms.

"Brian does furniture, so he's crafty on the building and architect level, so I was pretty confident that we could accomplish it," Weldon said.

The hole includes helmeted chickens with red glowing eyes and empty beer cans strewn about. Don't fear the rough. It's decorative.

A cautiously soft putt across this retro Formica-like green might give you better control of the ball as it moves through a series of retro appliances, including a toaster, blender, coffee pot and iron.

The cup is a kitchen-sink drain, and the view is a retro painting of a June Cleaver-esque housewife pointing to the delicious food she made with her appliances.

The appliances appeared in Walsh's painting series known as "Whirr, Buzz, Presto!"

Portraits of the appliances represent family, friends and relatives who Walsh knew as a child. The theme, she said, translated well into miniature golf.

"My work is so much about memory from childhood and sensory experiences, so this tied into all of that," Walsh said.

This course invites you into the wildly wacky (and surprisingly peaceful) world of Shan Michael Evans, whose soothing robot and alien characters welcome you to a friendly game of golf.

The course is in the sky. The main obstacles are wood cloud cutouts and characters that pop up through the clouds.

"The Giver" at the end helps mark the hole. It's a not-so-difficult hole with a gorgeous view.

"It's about bringing unseen things to this world," said Evans, whose course also includes an image of son Elliot. "It's just fun and imaginative, really."

You might want to keep an eye on your soul as you navigate through David Allington's hole.

Though you tee off at birth and try to land at the feet of the Lord, there are many tricky obstacles.

Inspired by pinball games and haunted houses, Allington's course is played in the dark under a black light that illuminates biblical illustrations.

A sensor at the end of the course triggers a light once you are there, and see, you're facing a mirror.

"If you were lucky enough to follow Jesus, the hole takes you all the way to judgment day," Allington said, pointing to the slots that could make this happen.

"But if you miss, you end up in temptation. If you're lucky enough to find redemption, you go forward to judgment day. If you don't find it, you end up here (on a carpeted area), which gives you a long shot to judgment day."

But, Allington explained, "Your chance at redemption is really quite slim."

Las Vegas artist Jennifer Main has seen a lot of success with abstract/figurative paintings. Now she's letting you play in them.

Drawing from her paintings and the large-scale structures found at the old Scandia Family Fun Center, which included a miniature golf course, Main created an 8-foot wide, 6-foot tall colorful head of a woman whose lips are the destiny in this course.

You putt the ball straight up a ramp and into the mouth.

"I kept it simple," Main said. "I wanted it to be fun, like if you were going to Scandia."

This hole humorously mixes communism with golf. It has sharp corners so there is no straight shot. But it's biggest challenge might be the raised hole on Red Square.

"You could, in theory, get a hole-in-one off two banks," Danny Roberts, the course's creator, said. "It's not terribly complex. I was less worried about the course than the scenery."

The hole includes Lenin holding a golf club in his raised arm. Soldiers are dressed in argyle. The communist hammer and sickle is replaced with a golf tee and sickle.

"Propaganda as an art form is kind of funny," Roberts said. "Golf is funny. It just put a smile on my face."

This elegant and beautiful hole was based on Picasso's "World Without Weapons" and appears to be simpler than it is.

Artist Cindy Chinn used the dove's body as a border to frame the hole. The hole is the dove's eye. The surface is smooth.

"On my very first try I hit a hole-in-one," Chinn said. "But I haven't been able to get it since. If you wind up in the back, you're hooped."

A soft putt will keep you from ending up in that difficult situation. Chinn, a big pool player, suggests banking the ball off the wall.

Chinn selected the theme because of its message.

"It had a sentiment I felt strongly about," she said. "We need a world without weapons."