ARTS NOTES

Monday, Jan. 22, 2007 | 7:14 a.m.

Is the Las Vegas Philharmonic facing a symphonic tug of war?

David Commanday, a finalist for the Las Vegas Philharmonic conductor's job, has just been named a finalist with the South Carolina Philharmonic.

Commanday is one of three finalists for music director of the Las Vegas orchestra and one of seven in Columbia, S.C.

You might remember Commanday, music director of the Peoria Symphony, for his stellar performance with the Las Vegas Philharmonic in October, in which he brought along violinist Lara St. John.

Commanday hasn't lost interest in Las Vegas. "It's nice that South Carolina wants me to come out and guest conduct," he says, "but my enthusiasm for Las Vegas has not abated in any way."

Overlapping is common during conductor searches and he wouldn't speculate about Southern Nevada or South Carolina. "Time and events have to take their course."

He is scheduled as a guest conductor in South Carolina during the 2007-08 season. The Las Vegas Philharmonic expects to have its new director in place for that same season.

Meanwhile, Las Vegas classical music fans are waiting to hear from Peter Rubardt, music director of the Pensacola (Fla.) Symphony Orchestra. He is scheduled to conduct the Las Vegas Philharmonic on Feb. 17.

The other candidate is David Itkin, music director of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. He conducted the Las Vegas Phil in November.

More information: www.lvphil.com

Double Down

"No more whiskey," said Dirk Vermin after waking at 2 in the afternoon, completely naked in a New York City hotel room with the key still in his room door.

It was Vermin's second day in Manhattan. He was flown out to paint a mural on the new Double Down bar in New York - an offshoot of the popular local dive dubbed as "the birthplace of the bacon martini."

Vermin, who is owner of Pussykat Tattoo near Maryland Parkway and Flamingo Road, is one of two Las Vegas artists selected to paint murals in the New York bar. Mark Zeilman heads to New York in February to paint a mural at the "boozatorium."

Double Down owner P Moss says the artists were chosen "not only because of their talent, but because they get the Double Down vibe."

Despite hard partying in the Big Apple, Vermin managed to create a four-armed, sexy mermaid with a dagger in a hand and scar over her eye, on a large wall in the New York Double Down Saloon. He'll eventually return to create the background. Vermin says, "It's going to look like an old sideshow banner from the 1940s."

Vermin's unfinished mural has been well received. "It has become a focal point of conversation," Moss says. "People think it's a killer mural and they want to know who the artist is and where they can see more of his stuff. When they find out he is also a tattoo artist, in Las Vegas no less, you can imagine the possibilities."

Zeilman says he has been given no instruction for his mural, but adds, "I'm pretty sure that it will involve a midget in a tuxedo holding a bacon martini."

Moss says New York artist Terry McElroy painted the bar's other two murals.

Moss anticipates nothing but the best from his Las Vegas duo.

"From the beginning, Mark Zeilman has made this a personal contest, initially boasting that his mural will be better than Dirk's. After seeing photos of Dirk's mural, Mark was extremely impressed, but still vowed to 'blow him out of the water,' " Moss says. "If there is to be a winner in such a contest, it's me. And, of course, the people of New York."

More information: www.doubledownsaloon.com

New gallery

After years of showing art in the back room of her antique store, Cindy Funkhouser, owner of the Funkhouse and the originator of First Friday, is opening a gallery with her fiance, Rick Dominguez.

The Fallout will be in the Commerce Street Studios, 1551 S. Commerce St., replacing Obstacle Art miniature golf course, a nonprofit effort that opened last February for a temporary run.

Funkhouser, building manager of Commerce Street Studios, says the gallery is going to show contemporary work by emerging artists.

The first exhibit will feature San Francisco artist Jessalyn Haggenjos, whose sculptures and paintings of old nuclear power and industrial plants portray how the plants blend (mostly contaminate) with today's environment. Exhibits will usually run between six and seven weeks.

More information: www.thefallout.net

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