Artists show their wares at 10th Annual Fall ArtWalk

By Jenny Davis

Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2008 | midnight

People making a regular trip to the grocery store Saturday and Sunday at the Trails Village Center in Summerlin also experienced a trip to Las Vegas' largest juried art show during the 10th Annual Fall ArtWalk.

White tents spanned the length of the shopping center, where more than 70 new and returning artists stood to display paintings, jewelry, sculptures and other art media to about 6,000 attendees.

Every year 20 percent of the artists, both local and regional, are new to the event. The producer of the show, Mark Vranesh, an artist for 30 years, said he enjoys helping emerging artists.

The idea behind the art festival at the shopping center is to make art and culture more accessible to the masses, he said.

"I think it's nice to have an art museum at the Bellagio and places like that, but people can be intimidated to enter into those kinds of galleries," he said. "At this event, people can meet artists, talk to them and can afford some of the paintings. It's like bringing a large gallery to the people."

This year the theme of the ArtWalk honored Native American Heritage month, which is November. Members of the Las Vegas Indian Center demonstrated ceramics, bead work, weaving, flute making and other crafts for children.

While making a choker out of horse bone and leather, John Bearinside explained that Indians would use chokers to protect their necks during war time. Also on display was a breastplate made of 45 layers of buffalo horns, which took nine months to make.

Bearinside grew up in Mississippi with his grandparents, who taught him the traditions of his Apache heritage.

"I was always taught that if you know where you come from, you'll always know who you are," he said.

Now Bearinside enjoys sharing his culture with others.

"This is what I do, I share my culture," he said. "There are still a lot of misconceptions about Native Americans."

When the ArtWalk began 10 years ago, the motive was to draw new Summerlin residents to the shopping center at a time when Summerlin was still a small community.

"Back then in Summerlin there wasn't much else out here," said Sandy Rae, marketing consultant for the Trails Village Center. "We wanted people to know that there was now a shopping center that was close and convenient for them, so we started with an art festival."

Now the goal is to thank Summerlin residents and the community for supporting the center.

The most populated area of the ArtWalk is the art park for children. Under tents, children can participate in free craft-making activities. Within the past 10 years, the ArtWalk hasn't replicated any of the previous years' crafts. This year children made Halloween crafts and also followed the Indian theme.

While members of the Las Vegas Indian Center showed children how to weave using yarn and cardboard, they also told stories of their heritage, including the story of the Spiderwoman.

According to Indian heritage, when the Great Creator created all things, the Spiderwoman was created to weave and keep all things connected, said Debra Reed, executive director of the center.

"That is why everything we do impacts somebody else," she said. "We are all connected, and that is why you treat other people with respect and honor."

Jenny Davis can be reached at 990-8921 or [email protected].