But is it art? Panel will decide for Arts District

By Kristen Peterson

Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2007 | 7:09 a.m.

For a city that pops up neighborhoods and planned communities overnight, the downtown Arts District has remained a creaky, rusty tank, inching forward with ambition, frustration, hope, excitement and disappointment.

So it's no surprise that it's a contentious process to pick the artist for a project to celebrate and identify this 18-block area of auto shops, galleries, artist studios, boarded-up buildings, boutiques and antique stores.

The international call to artists drew 116 responses from artists, with four proposals reviewed last month by a Las Vegas Arts Commission subcommittee.

New York artist Dennis Oppenheim was selected at the end of a confusing meeting in which protocol was questioned and concerns were raised about security issues, aesthetic taste, budgets and the perceived agendas of committee members.

Those who attended - and even those who participated - are still scratching their heads over what happened. Some complained the meeting was poorly run and not the ideal way to decide how public money should be spent. The subcommittee discussed not choosing any artist, launching a new search or having artists revise their proposals before settling on Oppenheim.

"I honestly would rather have nothing going into the Arts District than a big neon sign that says, 'Arts District' in paint buckets," said Grant Turner of Boulder City, who favored the proposal made by local artists and said choosing an artist for the sake of choosing an artist is a "frivolous" way to spend tax money.

On Thursday, the Arts Commission will make a decision on Oppenheim's proposal - an archway lighted by LEDs that portray a can sequentially spilling paint that morphs into flamingos at the intersections of Charleston Boulevard and Main Street and Charleston and Las Vegas boulevards.

Arts Commission Chairman Joshua Abbey said he agrees with the subcommittee's decision to pick the internationally recognized public artist, which "reflects a maturation of the Arts District in its effort to become more vital locally and more relevant in the art world."

"Oppenheim's submission for the 'Gateways Project' and his widely acknowledged completed public art achievements ... illustrate his abstract pop aesthetic sensibilities that will certainly complement and challenge the Las Vegas motif."

Arts Commissioner Patrick Duffy, who served on the subcommittee and voted for Oppenheim, but for a different proposal made by the artist, said, "His works speak to an international fine art audience and Las Vegas needs to move in that direction. We live in a very, very decorative city ... and we need to very simply move Las Vegas into the fine art world."

The $700,000 project is partly funded from the Nevada Transportation Department's highway enhancement funds ($360,000) and is a partnership between the Las Vegas Arts Commission and the city's planning department.

Other finalists were Romero Britto of Miami, Lawrence Argent of Denver and the Las Vegas team of Miguel Rodriguez, Zak Ostrowski and Barret Thomson.

Arts Commissioner Candy Schneider, a member of the subcommittee who voted for Britto, said she plans to attend Thursday's meeting with a blank slate. After serving for 12 years on the Nevada Arts Council and various arts panels, Schneider is familiar with subjectivity in public art.

"The subcommittee had different views, but you put 100 people up there and you'll get 100 different views," she said. "There's the idea that some will like it, some won't, some will respond in a personal way. Some will drive or walk by and not even notice it."

But, she adds, "whenever I travel I am envious of other communities that have public art. It looks and feels like there is a great sense of pride in their community. It's something that they want to share about their community.

"It brings peace, tells a story, identifies a certain area and engages individuals in whims or sometimes deep emotional thought."

Calls and e-mails to other commissioners were not returned. Nancy Deaner, city cultural affairs manager, was out of the office last week. Elizabeth Herridge, managing director of the Guggenheim Hermitage Museum, is new to the commission and said she would rather not comment. Arts Commissioner Jack Solomon, owner of S2 Art Gallery, is not voting because he represents Britto.