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A Beautiful Deep Dive Into Our Worldwide Arts + Culture |
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 Photo Courtesy of Elaine P. Wynn & Family Foundation THE ART OF ELAINE WYNN (1942 - 2025) |
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by Gordy Grundy
Damnably, I will never have the chance to meet Elaine Wynn. She died night before last. I hope peacefully, at a righteous age of 82. The word circulated yesterday morning. A new friend, a Vegas artist, texted me early, which I did not see. A bank of TVs at the gym spread the afternoon news with silent closed captions. My heart sank on the treadmill. Last night, the Sphere and all of the tall, bright hotels went dark at 8:30 in her honor. I would have liked to shake her hand. What a gal. What a well-lived life.
Elaine Wynn was never a trophy wife, though she looked like it. She had a beautiful, welcoming smile. Photographs throughout her life reveal a warm and open face with bright eyes and a reserved grit. In a city full of wisenheimers, I bet she could spot a grifter in a 'New York-New York Hotel & Casino' minute. She was a true partner with her husband Steve Wynn. Never a quitter, she married and divorced him twice. Historians and publicists like to label Las Vegas with epochs. Elaine Wynn is tagged with her focus and advocacy of 'the experience.' One cannot force an experience, for it must be revealed, earned and appreciated. To create a positive experience for a guest, management can only start from the ground up. Wynn's advocacy for her employees is well-known and documented. As a philanthropist, Elaine Wynn was generous and sincere. Her good works, primarily education reform, were very involved and hands-on. Such attention to detail extended to her reach of design and art. As a SoCal kid, nearby Vegas offered only shennanigans until I first saw the Bellagio. Opening in 1998, the eye-poppin' hotel was a designer's fantasy of possibilities and the way things could and should be. Wynn set a very high standard. "The Bellagio was the change of everything," says Las Vegas-based art advisor Michele C. Quinn, "The hotel brought art to the people, with the unexpected placement in a casino, and a far greater reach than a museum." Elaine Wynn collected art. In a big way. The breadth and focus of her collection is not known, as she had a reputation as a very private collector. It has been reported that she was a fan of the Irish-born painter Francis Bacon. In November of 2013, the art world was atwitter. In a fierce, high stakes bidding war at Christies auction house, with a pre-sale estimate of $85M, someone bought a Francis Bacon triptych "Three Studies of Lucian Freud" (1969) for $142,405,000. In January, the media reported the mystery buyer was Elaine Wynn. The King Kong in her private collection was the prized Francis Bacon. Most every museum in the world wanted to call the triptych their own, a crown jewel to any institutional inventory. Endowment campaigns were devised and emissaries sent. As hen house cocktail party chatter has said, Wynn was royally courted by them all. The prince who won her attention was Michael Govan, the heartbeat of LACMA, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Ambition is a funny thing; I thought I could bury mine in the 50th state, in the middle of the Pacific. Couldn't do it. Six years ago, I launched Art Report Today because I could not imagine our civilization without such a creative resource. Hawai'i was a lovely place to Covid. Our arts + culture news platform and sister sites survived the pandemic, the insane lockdowns, the Covid economy, ad-killing inflation and art economy malaise, fueled by a diet of cheap surfer sandwiches and ramen. Rearing its head, ambition had me looking for the next move. I am a loving native of Southern California. Like a jilted lover, I am embarrassed to conclude that the west coast of America is in a sad decline. Where to go? I looked, and I researched, and I came to a conclusion that surprised me: Vegas is the place. Two considerations forged my decision.
 Photo by Stefanie-Keenan for Artillery magazine The top dog in a museum is usually the Museum Director. Michael Govan [rhymes with 'coven'] is the CEO of LACMA. No dilettante, Govan was a hands-on Deputy Director at the Guggenheim Museum. He oversaw the construction of their Frank Gehry designed Bilbao, Spain annex. His next 16 years were spent as director of the Dia Art Foundation. Again, he supervised the construction of their new digs in the Hudson Valley. Their art holdings doubled. In 2006, Govan hitched his pony with LACMA, in the glittering city by the sea. Again, he has flourished spectacularly. Clearly, he has a love of art and the flair of a showman. His reign at LACMA has inspired memorable works of public art, true collaborations with artists in fascinating ways, and a major remodel of the campus, which is in progress.
I love any and all art works by Chris Burden. When his installation "Urban Light" debuted on Wilshire Boulevard, fronting LACMA, in 2008, I smiled, nodded and mumbled listlessly, "OK. I get it." Today, it has my greatest, enthusiastic respect. "Urban Light" is now an international selfie fave and a venerable LA, go-to, must-see landmark. Now I really 'get it.'" And I applaud the unseen hand that placed it there.
A raging fever, a starry-eyed curse, has infected many museums in the capital cities around the globe, and the effects of the illness are very, very expensive. 'Starchitects' are the darlings who can sketch fancifully, but do not have the practical comprehension to attach a nut onto a bolt. 'Engineering' is not in their vocabulary. Sadly, there is only one cure: Just keep throwing money at it. I do not think the upcoming Las Vegas Museum of Art (LVMA) will have such a problem. Elaine Wynn has constructed, designed and furnished more than a few hotels. Nuts and bolts. I would never peg her as a dawdler or a cash machine. Raising a casino in Las Vegas is governed by one simple maxim: How affordably fast can we get butts in the seat of a slot machine? The Las Vegas Museum of Art, should it open, will debut as an instant, undeniable world class destination. The powerhouse combo of Wynn, Govan and LACMA's vast resources are a winning hand.
 Preliminary Concept Design Visualization: Kéré Architecture The marriage of LACMA and the hopeful Las Vegas Museum of Art (LVMA) are a win-win for both cities, just 270 miles apart. Not everyone thinks so. In LA, many folks would have liked to see, at worst, a LACMA annex closer to home, or at best, inside the city line. In Vegas, darn near everyone I have spoken with hangs their head and whispers, "It's not gonna happen." Nevadans have been stood up at the altar before. A surprising number of big name institutions and powerhouse galleries have courted, proposed and split, just as the organist keyed the Wedding March. Not too long ago, a local group assembled, hoping to partner with the Nevada Museum of Art in Reno, to open a branch in Vegas; Covid killed that idea. Las Vegas artists are weary. They would like to have a local museum that celebrates their work and the indigenous, desert culture. They fear the new museum will be too international or too LA.
I am very sorry that I will never get to meet Elaine Wynn. I am a fan. I am sorry that she will never be able to walk through the open doors to her new museum. Can you imagine how sweet that must feel? I am sorry that she will not be on site, to smooth out the inevitable bumps in the construction road, and finesse the bureaucratic hurdles. Besides, her fingerprints are all over the LVMA plan. No one can ever really say, but I bet she stays on the museum job, working from a well-designed office with a grander view, in far more comfort and peace than we can ever imagine.
This cowboy is in Las Vegas and my pistols are loaded. I'm not here for the weather. You see, this creative can say that Hollywood kept me in canvas and paint. My 'day job' was in marketing and promotion for the film studios, primarily alongside the hard-knuckled Disney; my track record was flawless. And, I tend to think like a Todd, Barnum, Disney, Carroll or Govan. The new museum will need a community infrastructure of support and I have a five point plan. To summarize it simply, I truly and sincerely believe that "Las Vegas Is the Crossroads of American Arts + Culture."
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