Art galleries show off for Third Thursdays

By Jeremy Twitchell

Thursday, Oct. 2, 2008 | midnight

It's just after 6 p.m. on a Thursday evening, and Henderson's Water Street District is stirring with signs of life.

Most of the cars on the street belong to city employees heading home or the early crowd descending on one of the downtown casinos, but a few clusters of people are meandering along the sidewalk, taking in the sights and sounds of the city's Third Thursday event for September.

Each month, Henderson hosts the event in an effort to drive traffic to the art galleries and mom-and-pop restaurants that make up the stalwart core for the city's downtown redevelopment efforts. It's a marriage of convenience — the galleries get their customers and the city gets to show off its dedication to Water Street and woo other tenants to open up shop in one of the district's abandoned storefronts or vacant office space.

"This is very important. Third Thursday is our only sales day of the month," said Al Matwiejow, assistant gallery director at the City Lights Gallery.

The co-op gallery hosts the work of 22 local artists, displayed in a converted home at 3 Army St., which the artists keep open by working volunteer hours. The location, half a block off Water Street, has been slow since the co-op moved there last year, Matwiejow said. Some days, volunteers will sit in the gallery for eight solid hours without seeing anyone.

So when Third Thursday brings 77 people in one night, as it did in August, it's a big deal for the artists.

"It's a great opportunity to show work off to a lot of folks from the community," said photographer Geri Kodey, whose work was on sale around the corner and up the street at the Water Street Gallery, located at 155 Water St.

Kodey, who has been living in and shooting the Las Vegas area for more than 40 years, said she was attending Third Thursday for the first time and was pleased by what she saw.

"I remember downtown when it was so alive and vibrant, so I'm happy to see it being revitalized," she said.

By 7 p.m., the Water Street Gallery is packed, drawing dozens of art aficionados to see its new display of photographs focusing on the Las Vegas Wash. The gallery is located in a storefront constructed within the last few years. The floor-to-ceiling windows, hardwood floors, lighting and wine table create a sharp contrast with the homey City Lights Gallery.

Photographer and Water Street Gallery owner Fred Sigman said it is important to have galleries with different styles and appeal to offer something for everyone on Water Street.

He said he hopes more galleries will take advantage of the city's subsidies and assistance programs and relocate to Water Street.

Unlike other businesses, Sigman said, art galleries don't compete with each other, but thrive off each other and are strengthened when additional galleries set up nearby.

"Every (gallery owner) is going to have to figure out how the water flows for them," Sigman said. "But we need more spaces like this."

Sigman said he first set up on Water Street in 2006, when the city offered rent-free space in a former warehouse to artists and gallery owners. When he opened his gallery last year, he purchased space above it to run an art reproduction business to pay the bills.

Though the vision of the Water Street District as an art district has been slow in developing, mostly because of the economy, Sigman said, he still sees the potential for the city's vision to be realized.

"There's a quaintness to Water Street," Sigman said. "I live here, so I walk up and down this street. I'm up at the crack of dawn, and I see what really goes on."

Sigman said the two main complaints he hears from gallery owners in Las Vegas are about security. With police headquarters around the corner and the city continually expanding its parking infrastructure for Water Street, those are not concerns he shares.

"All the things that I hear people complain about in Las Vegas aren't even issues here," he said. "I just need more people to purchase art, because this ain't no museum."

As the evening turns into night, the knots of people circulating between the galleries, craft stands and musical performances grow steadily larger.

One group of friends who discovered Third Thursday last year and were returning for a girls' night out said they were disappointed to see attendance wasn't higher.

"I think it's a shame that a lot of people either don't know about this or just don't come out," Jennifer Smith said. "These galleries have some nice stuff."

Another member of the group, Margaret Klestinec, said she was appreciative of the joint effort between the city and business owners to restore Water Street.

"People are not coming downtown," she said. "I think it's great that they're trying to renovate the downtown area and get people down here…People who aren't coming are losing out because it has a lot to offer."

Jeremy Twitchell can be reached at 990-8928 or [email protected].