At a crossroads: Picking art for Vegas

By Kristen Peterson

Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2007 | 7:05 a.m.

The question seemed simple enough: Who should design the gateways to the Las Vegas Arts District?

With $700,000 to spend on the project, the city puts out an international call to artists and selects a handful of well-known finalists to create proposals for gateways at Main Street and Charleston Boulevard and Las Vegas and Charleston boulevards.

But the artists' presentations, delivered before the Arts District Gateway subcommission of the Las Vegas Arts Commission on Saturday, fell short of expectations. There were maintenance, conceptual, security or logistical issues, among other things. In one case, there was, as art critic Dave Hickey put it, art that "isn't art."

The biggest issue? Nothing was blowing them away.

The deciders - gallery owners, downtown players, museum executives, collectors and professionals - were stumped. The artists and their concepts couldn't be more diverse. There were tension, confusion, disagreements on which artist fell short on what.

But who can blame them? This is public art , after all, contentious in any city. And the whole process is relatively new for Las Vegas and its "percent for art" program, which sets aside 1 percent of the budget for capital projects for public art. Already under way: the county's $2.5 million trailhead project funded by a Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act grant. As representatives have said about recent projects, nobody wants to blow it.

So Hickey says , "I have a question: What happens if we don't recommend anyone? Can we make a motion to not recommend?

"I'm not trying to be a princess. I just want the ground rules."

(Why is it reality TV is wasted on cooking, travel and business?)

Hickey made a motion not to recommend any of the projects and it got a second.

Some members felt there wasn't enough information to make a decision. Could the committee go to artists to see whether they want to modify their proposals? Or could it do a new search?

Part of the money - $360,000 from the Nevada Department of Transportation - is time - sensitive. So that ruled out another search.

But then what? If a decision isn't made, it falls into the hands of the Arts Commission and the subcommittee's voice is never heard? Hickey withdrew his motion and, after a lot of discussion, members cast their votes.

By a 6-to-4 vote, New York artist Dennis Oppenheim was granted the commission. If the choice is ratified by the Arts Commission at the next monthly meeting, he's our guy.

The subcommittee

The members are Barbara Stout, Patrick Duffy, Dave Hickey, Libby Lumpkin, Yorgo Kagafas, Wes Myles, Richann Bender, Cindy Funkhouser, Naomi Arin and Louisa McDonald.

Dennis Oppenheim - The internationally collected sculptor and prominent conceptual artist who lives in New York, has created several public works, such as "Bus Home," a spiraling steel public transit shelter in Ventura, Calif., and "Monument to Escape," a stack of three steel and concrete prison cells in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Using a PowerPoint presentation, he discussed the thought process behind his proposal and his research on Las Vegas, which mostly included trips to the Neon Boneyard, the Strip and the Arts District.

"We always thought it would be impossible to do a piece here ," he says. "But when I heard about it I got excited. It's always loomed in the imagination."

He decided the Gateway should include light, use materials related to the art world and carry on a conversation about the history of Las Vegas. The work should be simplistic, elemental, direct and conceptual, but "not intimidate in a lofty conceptual way."

The proposal: Oppenheim offered two proposals. One would be 40-foot paint brushes on each side of an intersection that would emit light beams described as "vertical pathways" and a programmable light show. The second would involve neon-inspired LED paint buckets that flicker sequentially, fanning outward and pouring color. It would sit 50 feet above the intersection , be visible from both sides and might include images of flamingos.

Not selected

Lawrence Argent - Born in England and based in Denver, the artist has created a diverse collection of works for Denver, including "I See What You Mean," a 40-foot blue bear peeking through the windows of an atrium at the Colorado Convention Center, and "Pillow Talk," a stack of white marble pillows downtown.

He begins his presentation by saying with a smile : "This is a rather intimidating forum we have here. I feel like I'm being grilled for something I've done wrong."

Argent discusses contemporary art and what art is "supposed to be." He talks about changing experience and site and breaking down and nonhierarchical art. His pitch includes concepts of magic, the "mysterious quality of enchantment that Las Vegas creates" and the "barren desert transformed into a city of abundance and illusion."

"Why do people flock to Las Vegas?" he asks rhetorically. "Because anything is possible."

His proposal: A 21-foot magician's black top hat atop a 25-foot post at one intersection. A 22-foot rabbit at the other. The rabbit faces the hat (four blocks away) as if it's about to jump back into the hat - a "play on the magic that has happened and will happen again."

The piece is illuminated by lights in a column. The rabbit and the hat would be fiberglass.

Not selected

Romero Britto - A Brazilian-born artist living in Miami who is known for his colorful, cartoonlike, optimistic paintings and sculptures, Britto has works all over Miami. He's well versed in public pieces and well-known in certain circles. He teamed with Cirque du Soleil to create a living canvas for the pregame show for last year's Super Bowl.

His assistant made a brief introduction, discussing the artist's philanthropy and reading a letter from Guy Laliberte, founder and chief executive of Cirque du Soleil, written on Britto's behalf. Then came a 20-minute upbeat video with splashy music and quotes from politicians, community leaders and celebrities discussing Britto's "genius," with comparisons to Andy Warhol, Keith Herring and Roy Lichtenstein and past works, including a pool deck on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship.

Next came Bernie Yuman, Siegfried & Roy's manager, who spoke of the happiness and joy in Britto's work.

Also present was Larry Ruvo of the Lou Ruvo Brain Institute, who spoke about Britto's philanthropy and joy, celebrities who support Britto and how Britto's work is likely to be featured at the institute.

It was 35 minutes before Britto began talking about his project. His talk took less than five minutes. Britto said : "My work is direct, simple, not something very few people can understand. My work is for everybody."

The proposal: A gateway that crosses an intersection and includes a collage of Britto-style images.

Britto has not considered materials because of a "hectic schedule." The gateway would probably be concrete, aluminum and fiberglass.

Not selected

Miguel Rodriguez, Zak Ostrowski and Barret Thomson - The three UNLV graduates teamed together for this project. Ostrowski received a master's degree in architecture this year. Thomson, a designer and illustrator, earned his bachelor's in fine arts last year. Rodriguez is a sculptor who studied with ceramics professor Mark Burns.

Now professionals, they discussed current individual projects and careers, art history, branding, relationships with local fabricators, the personality of the Las Vegas Arts District and the chameleon like personality of Las Vegas. They presented samples of climate-tested materials that would be used . Said one of the artists: "The DNA of this piece reflects classic Las Vegas signage."

Their design process involved Las Vegas' visual history - casino signage, neon and decades of representational Las Vegas sculpture.

The proposal: For the intersection of Charleston and Las Vegas boulevards, the trio presented a sculpture for the median topped with an 8-foot-high stylized owl cast in industrial-strength fiberglass. It sits on a 35-foot half-arch illuminated with LED lights. The design for the other intersection includes lighted sculptural columns.