The American Dream in pictures

By Kristen Peterson

Thursday, Dec. 9, 2010 | 6 a.m.

It’s a typical McMansion with pillars, a chandelier and an elevator to link its only two floors. The round top windows provide ample light. The floor is dirty. The wallpaper is torn and the front door is open. It’s no surprise, really, that the artist found it on the side of the road. Like many homes in the valley, this doll house has been abandoned, tossed aside. And like most residents here, its current owner, an artist named Alicia, had to address the issue.

Alicia was among 44 students from Arbor View High School who participated in the Contemporary Arts Center’s launch of its Creative Culture in Schools program made possible with a Target education grant awarded to the CAC for a program designed to engage students in critical thinking, communication and learning through the arts.

Foreclosure was the topic and was chosen in response to Nevada's economic and housing crisis.

Students visited the Emily Kennerk exhibit “America’s #1 Most Foreclosed City: Las Vegas” at the gallery and met with the artist. They toured the Arts Factory then participated in classroom workshops with artist Stacey Torma, which resulted in students creating and installing their own photography at Downtown’s Space Gallery for a weeklong exhibit titled “The American Dream: Picture Perfect?” ending Dec. 10. The exhibit featured the dollhouse, in which Alicia placed six framed artistic photographs of a woman doing housework in the home that she lost. Another student, Jessica C., created a mixed-media work composed of everyday household items – silverware, nail polish, toys, rubber band, toothbrush, etc.—and a grid of intriguing images capturing common sights in a home—plants in water glasses on the counter, the condiment door in a fridge, a tub with running water and clothes in a closet.

Other photographs depicted abandoned homes or the idea of people being caged in their homes. Some of the work was personal and students discussed having their homes foreclosed at the exhibit opening.

The students installed their work the day of the show, working with CAC board member Sandy Trant, but weren’t allowed to decide where it hangs, causing discussions that inspired students to articulate thoughts about theirs and others works.

“The really had to engage in the world in a different way,” says CAC board member Kim Schaefer.

This is the first of two projects funded by the $2,000 Target education grant, written by former CAC director Wendy Kveck. The second project begins in January in conjunction with the CAC show titled “Geolocation.”