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Online Article 6/14/08 The Arts District and the Growth of Downtown Las Vegas

Today'sVintage.com 5/22/08

More Magazine, February 08

Centennial Hills Magazine, September 2007

http://www.944.com/lasvegas/more.php?type=webex&article=354 

http://www.fusedmagazine.com/Articles/Travel/First_Friday.aspx

http://www.reviewjournal.com/bestoflv/2005/LongReturns.jsp?bestID=7440

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/cityguides/lasvegas/worthdoing.htm

http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/2004/09/30/firstfriday.html

http://www.lasvegasmercury.com/2004/MERC-Nov-11-Thu-2004/25223421.html

Thursday, September 04, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Mercury

A/E: Happy anniversary, First Friday

By F. Andrew Taylor

The traditional first anniversary gift is paper, so we suggest you come down to First Friday bearing cold hard cash (always appreciated) or a bucket of origami prawn. Either way, you'll find that the 12th installment of the monthly downtown arts festival is a lot bigger and more elaborate than the first.

First Friday is not a unique event--Las Vegas is a borrowing kind of place, and this is no exception. Other cities have First Fridays, Thursdays and other artsy kinds of days that are larger and more elaborate. We're just getting started, really, and it's an uphill battle, considering our decentralized downtown and an antipathy toward the arts shared by too many Las Vegans. With all that going against it, it's astounding to see First Friday not only making it to the first anniversary, but growing larger and more polished each month.

As always, the event, starting at 6 p.m., features art openings, open studios and live performances. We recommend you start your visit at the Arts Factory (101 E. Charleston Blvd.) or The Funkhouse (1228 S. Casino Center Blvd.), where you can pick up maps and events listings. You also can enter a drawing for mad art bling-bling, which includes First Friday T-shirts, tickets for two to the Liberace Museum and a year-long pass for two to the Guggenheim Hermitage Museum.

At the Arts Factory, the Contemporary Arts Collective will host the opening for Bushwick Farms Presents..., a collaborative effort by artists Tara Cuthbert and Stuart B. Solzberg. The work consists of photographs of an imaginary vaudeville company consisting of characters the artists have invented and acted out for the camera. The Dust Gallery will have the opening reception for Shill, paintings by Jerry Misko and Mark Brandvik, while the Cricket Studio and Face Up Gallery will have the continuing Interconnection show, featuring work by Dar Freeland. There are many other galleries showing their current work. The Arts Factory will feature the Las Vegas Slam Poetry Team and jazz by Lolita Flys.

The Funk House features art by Joe Clark. The show, titled So Rare, consists of weird and wonderful lamps constructed by Clark out of all manner of unusual materials. There also will be music by No Fret and the folk duo Green. The Las Vegas Rape Crisis Center will be selling stuff for the benefit of the center. Also, look for the Balcony Lights performance and fire-eating troupe and an assortment of fortune-tellers, performance and visual artists.

The Nevada Arts Council will show The OXS Exhibition Series 2003-2004, featuring photography by Cara Cole of Carson City and Shipibo tribal arts by Elena Nunta of Las Vegas. S2Art at 1 E. Charleston Blvd. will have refreshments and, at 7 p.m., demonstrations of lithography using an antique printing press.

The Opportunity Village thrift store has been revamped, vying for the title of the coolest thrift store in town. It'll have live mannequin models in its display windows, Eastern European musicians playing throughout the evening, art displays and a live band around 7 p.m. It is open for business, so be prepared to lug around that antique deep-sea diving helmet you can't resist.

The Gypsy Caravan Antique Village will have the surf band Vista Four playing in the parking lot from 7 to 10 p.m., and the Iowa Café will have live music from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.

The official after-party starts at 10:30 at the Ice House, when Chez Bippy presents "The Get Back" with DJs John Doe and Danny Boyas, as well as the Las Vegas Slam Poetry Team, fresh from its triumphant performance...uh, about an hour before at the Arts Factory.

Jillian's at Neonopolis will have Michael Soli and Alister of "Acoustic Asylum," as well as Minus One. At the other end of the arts district, Dino's Lounge at 1516 Las Vegas Blvd. South will have the uber-hot and versatile Killian's Angels from 10:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m.