A Beautiful Deep Dive Into Our Worldwide Arts + Culture
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A Beautiful Deep Dive Into Our Worldwide Arts + Culture |
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IN LAS VEGAS, THE ENGINE OF THE FINE ARTS COMMUNITY IS THE PUBLIC LIBRARY |
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by Gordy Grundy
Across our grand republic, most cities, counties, burgs and burbs have an arts community, each with a unique personality and distinction. Las Vegas, with very few commercial art galleries, has a surprisingly vibrant arts ecosystem, which annually produces over 80 art shows, across 15 galleries, exhibiting 400 artists. These outrageously big numbers are distinctive, especially for a high desert outpost. Las Vegas has a busy fine artist community, outside the stagecraft trades of the Strip. It is diverse and hard to find. Small collectives in alternative spaces keep the campfires burning. Commercial galleries on the Strip rarely feature local art. Naturally, media attention is scant. And distinctively, the Las Vegas artist has incredible exhibition opportunities. I asked Kelvin Watson, "Across the country, how uncommon is this Las Vegas library art exhibition system?" He thought a moment and stated, "Very unique." Watson knows best. He is the Executive Director of the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District. As a mover and shaker in the US library community, he has an eagle-eye view of the nation. 15 local Las Vegas libraries in the Clark County system feature some type of exhibition space, from an upscale museum-worthy complex to a very fine hallway. The success has been remarkable. Mother Nature provided Las Vegas with natural springs and little else. Mankind imagined the rest. Las Vegas is an entertainment town, reliant on performance and gaming. Today, over 80 art shows, across 15 galleries, exhibiting 400 artists rests on the shoulders of one man, Darren Johnson. At the helm for ten years, his official title is Gallery Services Manager, but one could easily add Director or Chief Curator. He and his assistant Bee Aspinall run the entirety of the programs across the valley. Art Report Today: Those numbers, your volume, is incredible. Unheard of. Darren Johnson: About ten percent are group shows. We host many solo exhibits, and we have about ten groups that regularly show with us. Clark County Artist Guild. Las Vegas Woodturners. Clay Arts Vegas. KNPR's Desert Companion. Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. Nevada Clay Guilds. Beyond us, there are other venues and community centers. The city has galleries, and the county has exhibition galleries as well. And you curate the rest? Oh, no. Quite modestly, Darren Johnson ponders his answers before he speaks. He doesn't have the coastal trait where conversation is an eruption. I might draw a comparison to a soft-spoken cowboy, but Johnson is from Illinois and an artist. He's thinking and, like an artist, he is always seeing and observing.
Yeah, there are a lot of opportunities for artists here. That's the special thing about Las Vegas. You probably can't come here thinking that you're gonna get sales, but, you know, everyone has a huge opportunity for a solo exhibit. And here, you're getting an experience. I mean, if I was an art student at UNLV, I'd be all over your program trying to get every show I could. But they also have a lot of opportunity there. Right on campus. And College of Southern Nevada has several galleries.
Universities and museums can't compete with your volume. It's a public service. You're creating this—you're allowing this experience. You know how privileged it is to be able to show your work. It's really a big moment in an artist's life. You must have stories. I think that there's probably been a lot more than I know about. There's a lot of little stories. This might be that person's first show, and then from there, now they've got this growing art business. Now, they're doing big public murals. Maybe they're international now. If 90 percent of your shows are solo shows, are quite a few of those solo debuts? A surprisingly low amount. Maybe that's to be expected. A solo debut is a rather gnarly rite of passage. Because most of our people have shown more than once. Most of our artists are local as well. And we can see their work, evolve over time, through your shows.
Your output is incredible. I ask new hires, "Who does more new shows every year?" I list the Guggenheim Museum, the Metropolitan Museum, the Louvre, and then I ask, “All of the above, or our Library District?” And the answer is us. If you think about it, it's staggering. I know you're focused, but I hope you can really appreciate how cool this job is. Definitely. You're the glue to a beautiful community. The open opportunity. You're it. Yeah, I guess so. I mean, the library galleries rely on just us, like recently, when my assistant Bee Aspinall was out after an auto accident, and I was in the hospital. We're it. You have a management job, but you do so much more than manage. You're the reassuring voice. A counselor. (laughing): I'm managing, I'm managing.
How do you do it? Are there any kind of management tricks you've developed to deal with this curatorial volume? We have to really kind of set a good schedule for ourselves, right? We have to really work with our communications as well, which is not really my strongest suit. I'm not a big talker. I'm not, you know, giving a lot of explanations, but trying to make it clear. if there's a little problem, we just roll with it. Our goal is the same: Put on a good show, right? I think that's the short answer. You completely have the proper disposition to make all of this work. That's what I try to do. You're an artist. So you know exactly what your artists are dealing with. Preparing for a show, it's nerve-wracking for an artist of any stature. You're the perfect person to shepherd them through this process. There's a lot, of a lot, to learn for the artist, for their first show, but they get it together.
I bet the program has had some artist successes? Yes. Many. Like, Chase McCurdy. He runs 33 Gallery in town. Tell us. Chase might have had some exhibits previously. But he had a solo exhibit with us at West Las Vegas because that's where he's from, the Historic Westside. And then from there, he did a show at the Barrick. [The prestigious Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art is the prime exhibition venue at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.] And then he did a big arts project for the city. And now he owns and operates 33 Gallery. No small achievement. Did all this evolve for him? He's doing the big steps. Right, right. Which I think are pretty big steps. A gallery is never easy. What's his primary medium? He has a background with photo, but now he's doing a lot of painting and sculpture. Fantastic. Tell us another story. Gig Depio has done well. Have you met him? Not yet. He's an artist. I'm pretty sure I gave him his first solo show. And then from there, he has done murals, and he has shown internationally.
He's kind of gone through this—I don't want to say process... Building from the opportunities in Las Vegas, right? Being able to have that show. There's no greater gift. It's an opportunity. That's what I think. With any of our galleries, take a picture of your show, in that gallery, and you can really sell yourself someplace else, right? It looks good. It looks great. A solid line on the CV. [Curriculum Vitae is the resume of an artist, listing all exhibitions, media attention and awards.]
How did you come to Las Vegas? So after my MFA [Master of Fine Arts degree] in Ohio, I moved my partner to Santa Clara, California. That was during the recession and I was having trouble finding much work. And then I had a friend, in Vegas, and they said that I should come down here and try Vegas. At first, I was just getting weird gigs on Craigslist, right? And then, just coming out of the MFA, I had a body of work and a background in the arts. I was making art, and entering jury shows, and applying for whatever kind of artist's opportunities that I saw. I got the Nevada Arts Council Fellowship Grant that year. And I got a public arts job painting those utility boxes. Then, I did a jury show with the library. The woman, who held the position I have now, became aware of my work, and she scheduled an exhibit that toured around the city. So you came in as an artist and, over time, walked out as a curator. I began to volunteer at a place called the Contemporary Arts Center, where they were doing really good museum quality exhibits. The director Wendy Kveck put me on the exhibition committee. It got me connected with those artists and gave me a little bit more experience. All of that happened within that first year. Before that, I was in California, living in the Bay Area, arts and culture all around, and nothing was happening for me. There was a lot happening in Las Vegas. It may be very hard to find the arts community, very hard to find that culture, but it is here, and, there is so much opportunity. I took a few part-time art jobs. Then the library position fell open. Perfect place at the right time, I think. You've been curating for 10 years now? In March of 2025, the annual two-day WrestleMania blew into La Vegas for the second time. The event at the Allegiant Stadium, home field of the Las Vegas Raiders, was the highest-grossing event in WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) history.
You have shows of all kinds and sizes. In the last year, the wrestling show was a big one for you? "Vs: Wrestling Art" was a unique one, because I put that together, instead of someone submitting an idea for a show. It was meant to appeal to a wider audience, you know? Absolutely. I like it because you probably intrigued a lot of people who would have never gone to an art exhibit. That's what I hope the library accomplishes. That reaching hand to pull you into the art, right? No matter what your background is, or why you're at the library, come see the art, it's yours. This is for you to experience. It's not for you to be afraid of, or, to say that you don't understand it. You can see it, or if you can, you know, occasionally touch it... (Like any curator, he laughs nervously.) If you can be a part of it, then that's it, you know? You do understand it. You do get it. You. You're a part of it. Well-said. And, you're also saying that wrestling belongs in a gallery, which was probably an interesting idea for a lot of people. Maybe so. Yeah. The WWE has done so well. Those colors. That music. You know, they were smart. That's art. Like the very first WrestleMania in 1985, Andy Warhol and Liberace were there. Yeah, Art is there. ART: How many artists did you have? Hmm, maybe around 15. How many artworks? At least 30. Fun! All from Vegas? Yeah. One guy from Los Angeles. One from Bogata. But most were local. Do you build-out a wrestling ring for all your shows? It can't be a wrestling show without wrestling. That performance factor was a major component. I knew that we could fit a ring in there. But there were a lot of legal and insurance concerns... (Laughing.) (laughing) Uh-oh. Actually, it wasn't bad. We had such a great group of artists, that it came together and came down fine as well.
And in a beautiful gesture, your program is open to all artists, not just locals. Absolutely. Most of our applicants are local. We don't have a budget to pay for the high cost of art shipping or anything like that. The artists have to take that on, as they do now. Like I told you, we have a person who sent us a show from Israel right now. We have a person from Italy that we're showing, and we've had lots of artists from LA. How did those shows come about? They applied? They find us somehow. Yeah, they applied. There's not really rules of who you can show and who you can't, because of who you are, or where the artist came from. It's about the work itself. Bringing things to Vegas, and presenting them, is interesting. We had a show from Molly Schulman, who's an LA-based artist. She did drawings and writings on these giant Post-its. I wasn't sure how people were going to take it here, you know, because it's, a little bit more, out of the box. People ate it up. The show received lots of comments in the guest book, and big numbers at the door counters.
Speaking of discovery, upon arriving in Vegas, the first show I stepped into was the retrospective-like Yoko Kondo Konopik exhibition at UNLV's Barrick Museum. I did not know the work of the 94-year-old, lifelong painter. Solid, big body of blue-chip work. Studied. Never a careerist. She just focused on her canvas and painted. She is consistently growing and pushing, hidden here in Las Vegas, Nevada. There's a lot of that. You think you know everybody, and then you go for a studio visit, and they've got huge, impressive works. And it's a surprise, a hidden surprise. Maybe we don't communicate as much as we should be, or used to, or something. It's terrible when people don't get along. I think there was probably a lot of that in Las Vegas before. You can't really build an arts community that way. And it's changing. All of us in Las Vegas, we're all connected. We reach out to each other and say, "How did you do this?", "Is this OK?" or "Have you seen this artist?" We work off of each other.
As a veteran of many arts organizations, I am quick to assert that such a program can in no way be institutionalized or franchised. Graduate art degrees or managerial theories have no advantage. Great success to the mission statement can only occur organically. The director needs to possess the heart, soul and generosity of a working artist. American libraries are confronting the digital age. Repurposing is the keyword. Kelvin Watson, the library Executive Director, says, "We're building a new West Las Vegas library and we'll have a proper gallery there." The future is full of opportunity. ----------------------------------- Artist and writer GORDY GRUNDY is the Editor-in-Chief of Art Report Today
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