Seven Magic Mountains, shown in this July 14, 2022 photo, could be losing its “Instagrammable” appeal with graffiti and stickers sprawled across the boulders, and excess garbage seemingly everywhere.
Sunday, July 24, 2022 | 2 a.m.
Stephanie Heiner arrives at the Seven Magic Mountains public art exhibit on the outskirts of Las Vegas and shakes her head in disbelief at the mess.
The desert art installation of seven towers of colorfully painted boulders standing up to 35 feet high, and with the mountain ranges, desert and Jean Dry Lake backdrop, is one of the notable places in Southern Nevada for visitors to take photos. Celebrities from Beyonce and Jay-Z to Bollywood star Rashimi Deji to members of Korean pop sensations BTS have made pilgrimages to the site.
The site could be losing its “Instagrammable” appeal with graffiti and stickers sprawled across the boulders, and excess garbage seemingly everywhere.
Heiner, a Las Vegas resident, and her sons four years ago started working at the installation the past four years to clean the area. It used to be a monthly commitment — now, they are at the site twice weekly.
“Cleaning these mountains for so long, they just become — it’s not just really a job, but you take pride in the art. And certainly seeing them the way they are now, it’s kind of heartbreaking every time you go out there,” Heiner said.
Seven Magic Mountains, a brainchild of Swiss artist Ugo Rondinone, was erected in 2016 on the northbound side of Interstate 15 near the southern end of Las Vegas Boulevard, about 30 miles south of the Strip. The $3.5 million project was originally supposed to be removed after two years, but the contract was extended through 2027.
The Nevada Museum of Art, which produced the exhibit in partnership with Rondinone and New York’s Art Production Fund, noticed vandalism “has increased exponentially” in the past several weeks, Rebecca Eckland, the museum’s director of communications and marketing, said in a statement to the Sun. Officials were already discussing ways to revitalize the installation prior to the uptick in graffiti, she said.
The display has twice been repainted since its debut six years ago, but that was because the rocks’ colors had faded due to the wind and rain, and not because of visitors intentionally altering the artwork. The markings range from a heart with two names on the inside to vulgar phrases.
There have also been dumpster fires, directional signs that have been bent, and cars that have crashed through a nearby fence, Heiner said.
“We are aware of the severity of the vandalism and are working on a timeline of repair and restoration.” Eckland said in the statement.
When COVID hit in early 2020, the attraction spiked in popularity because it was one of the only open attractions near Las Vegas, Heiner said. By April, the monthly cleaning visits, paid for by the museum, became weekly.
They are responsible for picking up trash, emptying dumpsters and maintaining directional signs near the attraction’s entrance. Caring for the signs is “difficult because they’re covered with stickers and they’re hard to get off.”
The family used to attempt to remove graffiti made with pens and markers on the rocks, but the graffiti wipes they used would smear and diminish the integrity of the boulders’ paint. Instead, they take pictures of the rocks and submit them to officials on a maintenance tracking form.
Most days, the work is a three-hour labor of love.
“It’s really difficult because we can clean and do everything we can to make it spick-and-span and the next day it’ll look like nobody’s even cleaned it,” said Heiner, who does the cleaning with sons Noah and Brady.
In all of their years servicing the site, Heiner said, “the graffiti on the rocks has not really been an issue until this year.” Specifically, she said, it’s become worse since April after RM, the leader of BTS, posted pictures on Instagram of himself standing in front of the boulders. That led fans of the internationally famous boy band to flock to the art installation.
Interest in being pictured with the boulders — whether it’s a family on the way for a weekend in Las Vegas or fans of a popular music group — gives officials plenty of motivation to get the attraction cleaned as it’s become one of the can’t-miss stops when visiting here. The installation attracts 325,000 people annually, according to the federal Bureau of Land Management, which helps manage the site.
Countless others notice the art on the drive in and out of town, which is why the Clark County Parks and Recreation Department this spring started to financially support maintenance at the site with a$50,000 annual maintenance sponsorshipthat will extend through 2026.
County Commissioner Michael Naft, who is also one of 14 members on the board of directors of the Las Vegas Visitors and Convention Authority, said tourism officials have been faced with the reality of losing the exhibit or figuring out a way to make it work.
And he stresses, “I think the value is significant.”
That’s something Heiner has long preached. When the family drives up the display site, she’s still amazed at its beauty — even with the rampant graffiti and other vandalism.
“The more that people do it, the more that other people think it’s OK to do it,” she said of the vandalism. “It looks horrible now.”
