Mural to spruce up Water Street’s Rainbow Club Casino

By Becky Bosshart

Monday, Jan. 5, 2009 | 12:01 a.m.

Many people are looking for a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, and artist Ozzy Villate wants to provide it.

Only he'll be painting it on the front of a Water Street casino. Though some may find gold coming from a slot machine, that's not his intention.

"Wisdom and knowledge are at the end of the rainbow — not a pot of gold," the mural artist said.

Villate still needs some real gold. The 46-year-old Henderson artist must raise about $17,000 to paint his art moderne design beneath the neon lights of the Rainbow Club Casino, 122 Water St. He already has brought in about $20,000 toward the $37,000 cost in just over five weeks.

Villate is doing the 50-by-19-foot mural, which he calls "Promise," for the community at half the normal cost, he said. Arching across the space will be a rainbow, and he plans to paint gold leaf onto several features. At the end of the rainbow will be a Rodin-style male figure reading a book.

The centerpiece of "Promise" will be the historic Basic Magnesium Industries gear spouting water, which flows on the bottom of the design. BMI produced the magnesium used in World War II planes and bombs.

"Water Street flows from the wellspring of its origin — it all started with BMI," Villate said.

Every element in the mural is symbolic. Villate eagerly described his sunrise, which is found in the city seal, and the apple in the reading man's hand. It symbolizes the All People Promoting Literacy Efforts Partnership, a program the city started in 2004.

It will be the fifth public art display in the Henderson mural project, which is directed by the Henderson Redevelopment Agency and the Cultural Arts and Tourism Department.

"Public art is something that is missing from the valley as a whole," said Bud Pico, cultural arts and tourism programs manager. "Art helps spur economies."

The city hopes the murals will attract tourists and provide historic background on Henderson for residents, said Lisa Sich, principal redevelopment administrator.

But art gets harder to fund during a recession.

Anne Angora, Rainbow Club marketing director, said the casino contributed $8,900 toward the project.

Henderson Libraries donated another $8,900.

"The mural project in the arts district is a key aspect of redevelopment," Henderson Libraries Director Thomas Fay said.

Villate, owner of Ozart Studio, paints landscape murals for businesses and homes. He did the 2005 centennial mural on the Fremont Hotel and Casino in downtown Las Vegas.

He hopes to start painting the Henderson mural in January after the funding is complete. He expects it to take about eight weeks to complete.

Becky Bosshart can be reached at 990-7748 or [email protected].