Museum’s first major exhibit on display even before its building is completed
ART
PHOTOS BY STEVE MARCUS
Photos are displayed Tuesday at the Las Vegas Civic Center Gallery in downtown Las Vegas. At right is “American Mother” by Zora J. Murff. The exhibit, “Family Album,” was organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Photos are displayed Tuesday at the Las Vegas Civic Center Gallery in downtown Las Vegas. At right is “American Mother” by Zora J. Murff. The exhibit, “Family Album,” was organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Heather Harmon, executive director of the Las Vegas Museum of Art, said the exhibit is diverse in its content and the artists who worked on it, and has a deep connection to famed Black architect Paul Revere Williams.
Editor’s note: Este artículo está traducido al español en la página 8.
Art has long been central in Las Vegas resident Laura Machado’s life.
While attending Basic High School in Henderson, she joined the art club and “really found a community there” — an experience that ignited her passion for fine arts and ultimately led to a bachelor’s degree from Gonzaga University.
Now serving as public art and galleries section manager for the City of Las Vegas, Machado couldn’t be more thrilled about the development of the Las Vegas Museum of Art in partnership with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
The Las Vegas Museum of Art last week unveiled “Family Album,” an exhibition marking the first public program from the museum ahead of its 2029 opening.
“We’ve never really had an exhibition from a major museum that I’m aware of, so it’s taken a lot of care and commitment.
To see the work displayed in the way that it is and the objects cared for in the way that they are, it has this way of adding value and saying, ‘This is important, this is history, and this is humanity,’ ” Machado said. “I think it’s really important to have that space here and, just like every other amazing city, we have art and culture, and we want to make sure that it’s highlighted.”
The city announced in late June that it would partner with the future museum to bring the “Family Album” exhibition to a gallery space in the new Las Vegas Civic Center, just feet away from Las Vegas City Hall in downtown. It was supported in part by the Mayor’s Fund for Las Vegas LIFE, the nonprofit established by Mayor Carolyn Goodman in 2017 — but independent of the city — to allow the private sector a way to contribute to community projects.
“Family Album,” organized and curated by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, consists of family photographs from various intergenerational artists that explore “themes of tenderness, of disparity, of love, and is a beautiful way to introduce the (Las Vegas) community to art,” said Heather Harmon, founding executive director of the Las Vegas Museum of Art.
Photos of mothers sitting with young children on their laps, couples standing posed and even houses in Los Angeles’ coastal Rancho Palos Verdes community — designed by famed Black architect Paul Revere Williams — dot the small gallery space inside the Civic Center. Next to each photograph is a small placard in English and Spanish explaining the photo’s details or history.
At least 20 artists are featured in the exhibition, including photographer and filmmaker Dannielle Bowman as well as Los Angeles-based photographer Janna Ireland. Every Wednesday, the gallery will offer guided walkthroughs from members of the Las Vegas Museum of Art team, with opportunities for conversations and programming on the future museum. Admission is free and open to all ages.
Harmon said the exhibition is diverse in its content and the artists who worked on it, and has a deep connection to Williams, which she felt helped connect Los Angeles and Las Vegas. A mural of the La Concha, one of Williams’ most well-known architectural works in Southern Nevada, was also painted in one corner of the gallery by local artist Chase McCurdy.
Harmon added that the portraits of everyday people — hanging out on porches or sitting in their living room — could connect more with the local community because of their organic, domestic feel and representation. Having guidance from the Los Angeles museum will also help the local project bring more exhibits like this to the region, exposing more people in Southern Nevada to this art.
“Everyone has a camera today, and everyone has family photos, so we wanted this inaugural exhibition to be really connected to the community and also show domestic life and scenes that are very familiar to all of us,” Harmon said. “And that collaboration really gives us the ability to open with exhibitions of this caliber and quality from the onset.”
It’s part of an effort to bring more art into Las Vegas and help establish the city as a metropolitan hub like Chicago or Los Angeles, Harmon and Machado echoed.
In her 16 years at the city, Machado has spent most of her time in roles helping to promote arts and culture within Las Vegas — gathering local artists to help beautify street corners, blank walls and developing properties. A vibrant arts and culture scene was one of Goodman’s key priorities to make Las Vegas feel like a true metropolitan area, and city officials said that continues under Mayor Shelley Berkley’s leadership.
If things move smoothly, the Las Vegas Museum of Art hopes to begin construction on its $150 million building as early as 2026. The proposed plans call for it to stand three stories tall and take up about 60,000 to 90,000 square feet, able to house a number of different exhibits and feature an outdoor public space for community events with different greenery and sculptures scattered about the land.
The effort to bring a standalone art museum to Las Vegas had been led by philanthropist Elaine Wynn before her death in April. Wynn had sat on the board of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
“There’s a lot of growth and expansion, there’s a lot of change and I really feel like we should all be proud of the work that we’ve all done together, collectively as a community, in support of one another and in coming together to support the work that the museum is doing and the work that the city is doing for the community,” Machado said.
“Family Album” is available for free viewing 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday through Jan 9. Email info@ lvma.art for more information on the museum project. grace.darocha@gmgvegas.com / 702- 948-7854 / @gracedarocha
Art has long been central in Las Vegas resident Laura Machado’s life.
While attending Basic High School in Henderson, she joined the art club and “really found a community there” — an experience that ignited her passion for fine arts and ultimately led to a bachelor’s degree from Gonzaga University.
Now serving as public art and galleries section manager for the City of Las Vegas, Machado couldn’t be more thrilled about the development of the Las Vegas Museum of Art in partnership with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
The Las Vegas Museum of Art last week unveiled “Family Album,” an exhibition marking the first public program from the museum ahead of its 2029 opening.
“We’ve never really had an exhibition from a major museum that I’m aware of, so it’s taken a lot of care and commitment.
To see the work displayed in the way that it is and the objects cared for in the way that they are, it has this way of adding value and saying, ‘This is important, this is history, and this is humanity,’ ” Machado said. “I think it’s really important to have that space here and, just like every other amazing city, we have art and culture, and we want to make sure that it’s highlighted.”
The city announced in late June that it would partner with the future museum to bring the “Family Album” exhibition to a gallery space in the new Las Vegas Civic Center, just feet away from Las Vegas City Hall in downtown. It was supported in part by the Mayor’s Fund for Las Vegas LIFE, the nonprofit established by Mayor Carolyn Goodman in 2017 — but independent of the city — to allow the private sector a way to contribute to community projects.
“Family Album,” organized and curated by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, consists of family photographs from various intergenerational artists that explore “themes of tenderness, of disparity, of love, and is a beautiful way to introduce the (Las Vegas) community to art,” said Heather Harmon, founding executive director of the Las Vegas Museum of Art.
Photos of mothers sitting with young children on their laps, couples standing posed and even houses in Los Angeles’ coastal Rancho Palos Verdes community — designed by famed Black architect Paul Revere Williams — dot the small gallery space inside the Civic Center. Next to each photograph is a small placard in English and Spanish explaining the photo’s details or history.
At least 20 artists are featured in the exhibition, including photographer and filmmaker Dannielle Bowman as well as Los Angeles-based photographer Janna Ireland. Every Wednesday, the gallery will offer guided walkthroughs from members of the Las Vegas Museum of Art team, with opportunities for conversations and programming on the future museum. Admission is free and open to all ages.
Harmon said the exhibition is diverse in its content and the artists who worked on it, and has a deep connection to Williams, which she felt helped connect Los Angeles and Las Vegas. A mural of the La Concha, one of Williams’ most well-known architectural works in Southern Nevada, was also painted in one corner of the gallery by local artist Chase McCurdy.
Harmon added that the portraits of everyday people — hanging out on porches or sitting in their living room — could connect more with the local community because of their organic, domestic feel and representation. Having guidance from the Los Angeles museum will also help the local project bring more exhibits like this to the region, exposing more people in Southern Nevada to this art.
“Everyone has a camera today, and everyone has family photos, so we wanted this inaugural exhibition to be really connected to the community and also show domestic life and scenes that are very familiar to all of us,” Harmon said. “And that collaboration really gives us the ability to open with exhibitions of this caliber and quality from the onset.”
It’s part of an effort to bring more art into Las Vegas and help establish the city as a metropolitan hub like Chicago or Los Angeles, Harmon and Machado echoed.
In her 16 years at the city, Machado has spent most of her time in roles helping to promote arts and culture within Las Vegas — gathering local artists to help beautify street corners, blank walls and developing properties. A vibrant arts and culture scene was one of Goodman’s key priorities to make Las Vegas feel like a true metropolitan area, and city officials said that continues under Mayor Shelley Berkley’s leadership.
If things move smoothly, the Las Vegas Museum of Art hopes to begin construction on its $150 million building as early as 2026. The proposed plans call for it to stand three stories tall and take up about 60,000 to 90,000 square feet, able to house a number of different exhibits and feature an outdoor public space for community events with different greenery and sculptures scattered about the land.
The effort to bring a standalone art museum to Las Vegas had been led by philanthropist Elaine Wynn before her death in April. Wynn had sat on the board of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
“There’s a lot of growth and expansion, there’s a lot of change and I really feel like we should all be proud of the work that we’ve all done together, collectively as a community, in support of one another and in coming together to support the work that the museum is doing and the work that the city is doing for the community,” Machado said.
“Family Album” is available for free viewing 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday through Jan 9. Email info@ lvma.art for more information on the museum project. grace.darocha@gmgvegas.com / 702- 948-7854 / @gracedarocha