No time for arts events? Consider these

By Kristen Peterson

Friday, April 24, 2009 | 2 a.m.

The banter over cultural offerings and local support of the arts is ongoing. It has been for years. Some complain that cultural enrichment is not a priority here. Others say it’s impossible to get people out of their homes.

Events are hit or miss. Art openings are hopping one weekend, dead the next. The arts calendars, though real, are sometimes treated conceptually — something to ponder and discuss, but not really support. So who’s participating? Maybe a checklist will help. We can speed things up a little, bypass the analysis and let readers decide whether they find these enticing.

For every listing here, another three or four could be added. We’ll begin with the Las Vegas Art Museum, which had little community support and attendance and closed this year.

Las Vegas Art Museum: Featured work by contemporary artists such as James Turrell, Jean-Michel Basquiat, John McCracken, Victoria Gitman, Paul Morrison, Martin Mull, Anish Kapoor and presented exhibits by architect Frank Gehry, emerging Los Angeles artists and former UNLV students who studied with renowned art critic Dave Hickey.

Nevada Ballet Theatre: Wowed crowds with “Giselle,” “American Masters” and a collaboration.

Contemporary Art Center: Hosted “Off the Strip: Two Weeks of Performance and Video Art” with artists from Las Vegas and other cities.

Samuel Beckett Festival: A series of mostly absurdist theater productions by local companies, held each fall in the Arts District.

Heritage Street at the Clark County Museum: This lovely time warp on a shady lane features accurately furnished historic homes that were rescued and transferred to the museum.

Poets Corner at the West Las Vegas Arts Center: Every third Friday of the month, it has an open mike night like no other in this town. A rich evening of diversity, rawness, passion, wit and humor.

Mads Tolling Quartet: This Bay-area group performed at the Summerlin Library in March. To see them again, you’d have to go to Yoshi’s in the Bay area.

Organ recitals: The Southern Nevada Chapter of the American Guild of Organists brings in stars of the pipes to perform on the impressive Rudolf von Beckerath organ at Doc Rando Recital Hall.

Pinball Hall of Fame: Collection of vintage and contemporary pinball machines features great pop art and design that covers a broad spectrum of Americana.

Atomic Testing Museum: Artifacts and memorabilia from the Cold War and Nevada Test Site.

Onyx Theatre: Edgy experimental and alternative plays; late night romps feature Cirque and other Strip performers, doing their own thing.

Bellagio Gallery: Fine art on the Strip.

Downtown galleries: Cutting edge works at Naomi Arin Contemporary Art; art and illustration from artists from Las Vegas and elsewhere at Trifecta Gallery; contemporary art, photography and monthly art house film screenings at Michele C Quinn Fine Art Advisory’s gallery; exhibits at the county and city cultural centers.

Neon Boneyard: Tour this graveyard of signs, neon and style from the city’s past.

Las Vegas Philharmonic: Masterworks Series concerts

UNLV: The university offers a wide range of lectures, forums, plays, concerts, art exhibits and touring performers and hosts events such as the recent Composers Symposium.

Midcentury Modern: Take a driving tour of the valley’s modernist architectural gems.

Centennial Plaza’s public art: Lewis Avenue Poetry Bridge, Stephen Hendee’s Monument to the Simulacrum and nearby historic Fifth Street School

Film festivals: Dam Short Film Festival in Boulder City, UNLV’s Festival of Shorts, CineVegas or the ongoing film series’ at local libraries.

First Friday: A festival of the arts every month