AN ANNOUNCEMENT of a NEW ARTWORK. AN EXPEDITION. TO LIBERATE and ENLIGHTEN. IN THE NAME OF THE ARTS.

Hello Art Lovers,

It is with great pleasure that I announce my next body of artwork. This behemoth looks to be a seven-year odyssey of worldbuilding, fabrication and ballyhoo. Everything I have ever done or pondered has shanghai'd me to this very moment. I would like to tell you a story, in real time.

When I first heard the news that hotelier Elaine Wynn was championing a contemporary art museum in Las Vegas, I was hooked. What a puzzle. A world-class museum in the middle of a windy desert, where the wind chimes tinkle like slot machines.

The history of Vegas is fascinating and the study took me on a wide journey. I found a simple and true cause: This work will create an outpost, a compelling arts attraction, in Las Vegas, in the Name of The Arts. First step: Welcome the locals. When the new, LACMA-backed museum lands, this town will be ready and proper.

With a simple practical design, classic hospitality and old school showmanship, we will build local excitement and national attention to attract arts audiences to Las Vegas. Natch.

There are compelling external issues. The worldwide arts and institutions are in grave danger. The patriarchy, driving the family station wagon, are either scaring me stiff or boring me silly.

As an art news editor, I hear from everybody. The artists are starving. The gallerists are drowning. The One Percent are sorely pinched, and that pain always trickles down. At the end of the art world food chain, the Art Dogs, slang for 'art handlers,' are no longer getting scratched behind their ears. Ouch.

Time for a new paradigm, new economy, and, most aggressively, new art audiences.

Today, in its current evolution, Las Vegas is a sports-crazy town. All in. And into this sweaty milieu, a cool new jewel of a museum, the Las Vegas Museum of Art, will break ground in 2027 and open their doors in 2029.

Las Vegas, for all of its brilliant sportsmanship, is not ready for this great bounty, this museum gift. The local economy is down. Heads are not in beds. The hospitality and gaming industrial complex have no interest in pursuing the highly sought-after arts and culture audience. There are many reasons for this. First, they really need a basketball team.

For me, this new adventure is truly a calling, a quest. My duffle is packed with all the right experiences and skillsets. I hope to create a colony, maybe even a mecca for the arts, in a town as hard and cantankerous as land artist Michael Heizer. The history of Las Vegas success lies in the Attraction.

By example, we shall demonstrate all that is good, beautiful and sustainable in our fine arts and culture. Joy, creation and enlightenment are our weapons of choice.

I wish to present an experiential artwork, a living, expanding Las Vegas attraction titled "Colonizing Las Vegas, In The Name Of The Arts.” There is a slight pause in there, to evoke the gravitas of this holy invocation, "In the Name, of The Arts."

In this western town of fast talkers, fevered gamblers and flim-flammers, tangible accomplishments shall speak for me. A work-in-progress, this expedition has already produced a series of direct Actions. (** See below or Click Here.)

This revenue-generating artwork is designed to bring new audiences to Las Vegas, as a public attraction, and, as a cultural brand that promotes all properties and operations of one international hospitality resort group.
This new brand will become an exclusive media, event and marketing engine for the resort group. Simply, we are creating a series of stellar, old-school Attractions.

The winning hospitality group, partner to this thriving and evolving artwork, will be determined at an auction, on the Strip, in Las Vegas.

~ Gordy Grundy, Impresario

** Already in progress, this world-building expedition has already produced a series of Actions. We have published a sterling collection of 32 artist's essays, which can be found in Las Vegas libraries and in print online. A vital new communications channel aims to unify a disparate Vegas arts community. A major contemporary art movement, Afrowesternism, has been discovered in Vegas; we are broadcasting our excitement and inspiring new creators. In pre-production, we are building a Fine Arts Concierge Menu, our gift to the hospitality industry.

Links can be found on our new site, Click Here.

Art Report Today .com