Juried fine art show includes work from local art groups

By Becky Bosshart

Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2009 | 5:55 p.m.

If City Lights Gallery's first juried fine art show is an indication of the Las Vegas Valley's artistic future, then it might be a conservative future.

You won't find subversive thoughts or ideological battles here.

You will find a few local landscapes (mostly of Red Rock Canyon) and some that are distinctly non-local (serene beaches, flowing rivers, etc.).

But there are also occasional Las Vegas touches to remind you where you're standing (namely, the Liberace Museum, where the work is on display until Feb. 26): an acrylic portrait of Barbara Streisand, her green eyes seemingly popping out of the canvas (one of the highest priced works at $3,000), or an oil painting of red dice erupting out of Red Rock, (the lowest priced in the show, $55).

"I think this variety is terrific," said Aileen Dike, art show coordinator.

She said the 72 paintings represent the best works submitted from the area's art groups: Henderson Art Association, Boulder City Art Guild, Nevada Watercolor Society, the Vegas Artists Guild and City Lights Artists' Co-op.

Submission fees raised about $600 for improvements to City Lights Gallery at 3 Army St. in Henderson. The gallery plans $1,200 in renovation to cover its windows for more hanging space, to repaint walls and to add track lighting.

This is City Lights' first juried art show, so its draw was undoubtedly less than what it would've been for a more established show with cash prizes. Judge and artist Sylvester Collier selected winners, who took home only ribbons and the smug satisfaction.

With the national art world deflating from top-of-the-bubble prices, many local artists and critics are watching to see what will happen to the small society of those who turned their hobby into a career during the boom.

"It takes a lot of faith — not wishbone but backbone," said Ozzy Villate, a Henderson artist who painted that "Pyramids at Red Rock Canyon: An Empire Built on Gaming."

It's time for artists to get day jobs again, New York Times art critic Holland Cotter wrote recently. But Cotter also sees these darker days as bringing opportunities for artists to reinvent the industry, and themselves.

Dike, who is also a painter, agrees. Her art income is supplemented by retirement savings.

"You'll find there aren't many artists who use their art as a living, you could never do it," she said. "We have many excellent artist who are hobbyists, a lot are retired. Some people have made money on the weekend shows, but they do the circuit. And there are many people who are still working (full-time jobs)."

That may apply to many of the 47 artists represented in this show, but not the two Best of Show winners.

Best of show in painting winner Clayton Rippey is an 87-year-old Summerlin retiree with a John Muir white beard, thick glasses and a slight hearing impairment. His face broke into a wide grin upon hearing that "Stroll at Cannon," priced at $1,100, took the top prize. This painting of the Oregon beach is a tad darker than what you would expect for a typical sunset ocean scene.

"You don't have to have inspiration when you go there," Rippey said. "You go there and it's just so beautiful. Go there at sunset and you'll see it. I did."

The best of show winner in photography, priced at $375, also had the benefit of time during those magic hours — sunrise and sunset. He's a retired business owner.

Charles Siefert, 61, left his Las Vegas home a little after 5 a.m. Christmas day and drove to Red Rock Canyon. He parked on the highest point of the drive and waited.

"I waited for some sun to break though the clouds," he said. "I never saw anybody else. I was the only one who witnessed that sunrise."

View the show at the Liberace Museum Showroom, 1775 E. Tropicana Ave.

Becky Bosshart can be reached at 990-7748 or [email protected].