LOOKING IN ON: CITY HALL

Monday, Dec. 24, 2007 | 6:54 a.m.

David Hickey, winner of a MacArthur Foundation "genius grant," and Las Vegas' very own world-renowned arts critic, threw out a thought last week that "intellectual capital, artistic capital is real capital."

He was talking about the potential for greatness in Las Vegas, but only if residents can wrap their minds around the importance of funding education and creating a nurturing environment for the arts.

That vision, it seems, is coming to life.

Hickey's wife, Libby Lumpkin, executive director of the Las Vegas Art Museum, is intimately involved in that vision, announcing this year movement of the museum, currently about eight miles west of the Strip on Sahara Avenue, to a spot on Sunset Road closer to the Strip. The move will quadruple the size of the museum and bring it closer to the 40 million-plus people who come here every year.

And another move toward fulfilling a vision, Lumpkin says, is on the horizon.

City Hall sources say the owners of a large and substantial collection of contemporary art, Poju and Anita Zabludowicz, have created renderings of a museum of contemporary art that they are considering putting up in downtown Las Vegas.

Poju Zabludowicz is CEO of Tamares Group, a group of private investment companies based in Liechtenstein. The group owns the Plaza hotel and casino downtown, and recently finished demolishing the Ambassador East to create a three-acre plot to build a 500-unit high-rise residential building upon. The Zabludowiczes, who could not be reached for comment, are also donors to Lumpkin's Las Vegas Art Museum.

Lumpkin said she had talked to the couple about the potential for the downtown museum, which she said would add to the artistic cachet of the city.

"The more the better," she said, referring to comments some have made about how another museum might compete with her own. "There cannot be enough. I cannot encourage others enough to put in art space here. And hopefully, all this will spur even more galleries, which would add to Vegas becoming an art destination."

To offer an idea of what the couple might bring to Las Vegas, much of their collection is shown at www.zabludowiczcollection.com.

"They see the obvious potential for Las Vegas to become a serious art destination," Lumpkin said. "Say what you will, but Las Vegas is at the apex of the world in terms of innovative and creative entertainment design, as it has been in casino architecture. And there's no reason we can't add to that the complexity and innovation of the fine arts."

More art is on the way, outdoors.

The City Council on Wednesday approved plans to refurbish two vintage neon signs, the Binion's Horseshoe rotating sign and the Silver Slipper shoe sign, both of which will be erected on Las Vegas Boulevard next year.

The signs will be retooled and erected at a cost of $420,000. They are the first of many signs that will be placed on every block of Las Vegas Boulevard from Sahara Avenue north to Washington Avenue. By April, the revolving H is expected to be installed on the median, 100 feet north of Washington. The slipper will be on the median halfway between the Natural History Museum and the Reed Whipple Cultural Center.

Also Wednesday, the city announced that the Federal Highway Administration is giving it $235,000 to restore two more neon signs.

Art in the sky is in the works for New Year's Eve.

Fireworks by Grucci is putting together the production for "America's Party," as it has been dubbed. At midnight, fireworks will be ignited from the tops of eight casinos - MGM Grand, Planet Hollywood, Rio, Flamingo, the Venetian, TI (Treasure Island), Circus Circus and the Stratosphere. The theme of the eight-minute, 20-second display is "The Best Is Yet to Come," and it will feature innovative pyrotechnics, such as special effects that look like colorful buzzing bees.

More than three miles of wiring and 8,000 computer-controlled circuits will be needed to pull off the feat. About 300,000 revelers are expected to visit Las Vegas for New Year's festivities.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman will be downtown, kicking off the New Year's party at the Fremont Street Experience. Tickets for that event, which includes music by the Doobie Brothers and the Bangles, are $60.