Monday, Jan. 14, 2008 | 2 a.m.
Anyone attending the First Friday street festival will be asked to cough up a $2 donation to help fund the monthly art-driven ruckus at Colorado Avenue and Casino Center Boulevard.
The admission fee is an attempt by Whirlygig Inc. to help fund the 5-year-old event, which until recently received year-round support from the city.
The city is still supporting First Friday to the tune of $80,000 annually but that pays for only six months.
Whirlygig, the nonprofit group that runs the event, has been paying the costs to keep the festival going during the winter, when the crowds aren’t as big.
Organizers are concerned that the donation will sully the mood, but the $2 isn’t required at other First Friday events in the Arts District and those who don’t want to contribute $2 won’t be turned away, officials say.
“We’ve thought long and hard about it, but the reality is that it’s become a big event and I hope people will support it,” says Nancy Higgins, executive director of Whirlygig. “I don’t think people realize what it costs to put on an event of this size.”
First Friday draws as many as 10,000 visitors to the Arts District in the peak months spring and fall. Higgins says $11,000 to $20,000 is spent each month for barricades, security, stages, tents, lighting, sound, portable toilets, cleanup and the trolley service that shuttles visitors to each location. In October, the organization replaced its annual Bachelorette Auction with a fundraising party in a SoHo Lofts penthouse and charged $50 to $75 for admission. The event raised $14,000, which covered one of the monthly festivals.
First Friday also includes the Arts Factory at Main and Charleston, galleries on Main Street and Commerce Street and the Holsum Design Center, where the atmosphere is more subdued and draws a more adult crowd. The donations apply only to the gated area at Colorado Avenue and Casino Center Boulevard.
“We basically talked about everything what First Friday should continue being,” Higgins says. “One thing we realized is that the street festival is an integral part of the event.”
Details: www.firstfriday-lasvegas.org
Las Vegas Art Museum
British artist Paul Morrison arrives this month for the creation of his exhibit at the Las Vegas Art Museum.
Morrison is known for his black and white graphic-style botanical and landscape paintings, often applied directly to museum walls. He will paint a large work on the walls of the Las Vegas Art Museum’s main gallery. His hanging works will be featured in the Polis-Carver Gallery.
The exhibit will run from Feb. 2 to April 27.
In May the museum will open “Las Vegas Collects Contemporary,” showcasing works collected by Las Vegas residents.
“This will be an opportunity to discover what some of your neighbors are buying,” says Libby Lumpkin, the museum’s executive director.
“I don’t think people realize the kind of collections that are being formed here. You’ll probably see works by Damien Hirst, James Turrell, Julian Schnabel and Jean-Michel Basquiat.”
Details: www.lasvegasartmuseum.org
Banking on Chiurazzi
Can’t make it to the Vatican or the Bargello in Florence? How about the bank? Can you make it to the bank?
Good. Anyone looking for bronze reproductions can check out Chiurazzi Worldwide’s sculpture exhibit at City National Bank’s Nevada headquarters at 10801 W. Charleston Blvd. The show has been extended through Jan. 25.
More than 21 bronze renderings created by the historic Naples foundry are on display. Chiurazzi, founded in the mid-19th century, is in Naples and owns more than 1,300 molds.
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