Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

The case of the missing reptile art

chris bauder centered public art vandalized

Mikayla Whitmore

A look at the current state of Chris Bauder’s “Night Eyes” installation for Clark County’s Centered public art project in Las Vegas on May 17, 2017. One of the pink crocodiles is missing; the art was also vandalized last year.

Chris Bauder's Public Art Vandalized

A look at the current state of Chris Bauder's Launch slideshow »

One of six pink crocodile sculptures that surround a golden lion in a busy Las Vegas Valley median has gone missing.

The missing sculpture was located on Decatur Boulevard near Flamingo Road and is part of Clark County's “Centered” program, in which art is placed on road islands throughout the valley.

County officials are unsure of what happened to the pink, metal reptile re-creation.

“I don’t know if somebody stole it, drove up and hit it or potentially destroyed it or what may have happened,” Clark County spokesperson Erik Pappa said.

Pappa said vehicles have occasionally run up on the median and struck some of the art involved with the “Centered” program. A police report has not been filed with Metro Police on the incident, according to officer Michael Rodriguez.

Chris Bauder, the Las Vegas artist behind the "Night Eyes" installation, said he was aware of the missing art but had no further information.

The incident marks the second such incident at that median. In April 2016, the lion was lifted from the site and the crocodiles vandalized. The lion was found a day later in a desert area and reinstalled at the site.

“This is the second time I'm dealing with this problem and most likely will be dealing with it for a while,” Bauder said. “I've moved on from the first incident and have been working on other art aspects in my life.”

He said he is open to repairing the crocodile if it is found or creating a new one if asked.

CORRECTION: This version of the story corrects the animal depicted in the missing art. | (May 19, 2017)

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy