Las Vegas Arts Commission Approves Two Fabulous And Important Projects For Downtown
-Submitted by Brian Paco Alvarez
Last night the Las Vegas Arts Commission approved the final gateway for the Las Vegas Arts District. The sculpture, designed by World Famous Uber Artist Dennis Oppenheim, will be two large 50ft paintbrushes reaching into the sky at varying angles over the street. One of the sculptures will be placed at Charleston and Las Vegas Boulevard and the other at Commerce Street and Charleston. Each sculpture will be placed on opposite sides of the street.
The giant paintbrushes will be made of galvanized steel and covered with LED lights that will be sequenced at varying speeds of motion. The top of each paint brush will have multiple beams of light protruding from the brush at an angle equal to the angle of the sculpture on the street. Eventually each beam of light will cross at a point several hundred feet above Charleston Boulevard.
The Arts Commission also approved the new Aerial Gallery for Las Vegas Boulevard. The Aerial Gallery consists of 50 Banners placed on polls high above Las Vegas Boulevard from Charleston to Fremont Street. Each banner will be 8ft by 3ft and will feature special inks that will glow in the dark for several hours at night. The well known artist that was chosen to design the banners is Ivan Brunetti whose work has been featured on the cover of the New Yorker Magazine.
The theme of the 2008 Aerial Gallery is “Thirst.” Brunetti captured the essence of the word by creating a collection of images that feature the life of water and how it travels from the clouds and through our urban environment. The collection is whimsical and satirical which are common themes of Brunetti’s work. I was proud to have been chosen to sit on the Arts Commission sub-committee that chose the work for next years Aerial Gallery.
With these two new and exciting projects by important internationally recognized artists Las Vegas is well on its way of becoming a Mecca for Culture and the Arts in the region and beyond.
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