Posts Tagged ‘arts district’

Want a perfectly good excuse to check out the Arts District’s newest lounge while supporting a terrific cause? Then you’ll want to buy tickets now for the First Friday Las Vegas Summer Fundraiser being held this Thursday, June 23 from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. at The Lady Silvia (900 S. Las Vegas Blvd. on first floor of SoHo Lofts).

For only $20 (in advance), you’ll get complimentary “signature” cocktails and hors d’oeuvres while bidding on great art and gift packages donated by local artists and businesses, with all proceeds benefiting Whirlygig, Inc., the nonprofit organization that puts on the monthly First Friday art walk and street festival.

Say what you will about First Friday — there’s ongoing debate about its growth from an art-oriented event to a giant street party — but there is no denying that month after month, no other single force draws SO MANY bodies into the Arts District at one time to enjoy live music, patronize businesses and get out of the suburbs. Whether or not actual art is selling in galleries on that night is irrelevant (but it is, at least out of my wallet!). The mere fact that tens of thousands of people flood the streets around Main Street and Charleston Boulevard for hours on end every First Friday has enabled more and more businesses to open, draw new fans and thrive in the days and evenings between events, and that is something that would not have happened if not for the success of First Friday.

But as someone who has known the hard-working (and oft-maligned) organizers of the event for a long time, I can say if you’ve even attended First Friday once, you’ve reaped the benefits of a lot of others’ sacrifices for the cost of almost nothing, and much like consuming all that public radio programming for “free,” this is the perfect opportunity to give back and say “thanks.” I’ll be there, likely bidding on more art I don’t have room for, so come down and have a cocktail with me. The drunker we get, the higher we’ll bid.

Discussing the art and business of self-publishing with Keith Knight and Ryan Claytor. (Photo by Katrina Miller)

Well, I did it. I broke myself. I kind of knew it would happen, but I was hoping it wouldn’t: I managed to pull through the last few weeks of whirlwind activity and then my body finally gave out upon waking Sunday morning. It’s my usual change-of-season cold (because, of course, the temperature dropped drastically on Sunday as well), but I’m sure it also had something to do with the self-abuse of this past weekend’s shenanigans. But everything went spectacularly well, and despite the stress, it was about as fun as it comes.

Friday — after running around all day with last-minute prep for the weekend’s festivities — we opened the “Inside the Boneyard” original art exhibit at Blackbird Studios during First Friday. It was also the first chance anyone had to get their hands on a physical copy of Tales from the Boneyard. The turnout was great, both for our show, and for the Day of the Dead exhibit in the front of the gallery (in which I also have a terrible piece of art). We sold a bunch of comics, and I sold at least a few pieces of original art. Very exciting! Both shows will be on display through the end of November, so I suggest you waste no time and head to 1551 S. Commerce St. to check them out!

I cut out of the reception early to run over to the Double Down Saloon (OK, so I drove, whatever) to talk comics, music and other shenanigans on Double Down Radio. It’s a pretty impressive set-up they have over there. I expected one dude with a laptop and Radio Shack microphone. But there are actually producers, hosts, call-in lines and all sorts of other fancy broadcasting things going on. Of course, it’s all done while downing shots and beer, but still, impressive. Self-described Star Wars fanatic Dave Prophet hosts the Friday night live shows, and I had a great time just hanging out and talking smack. If you want to hear the program, you can get the full, two-hour episode here, though I don’t come on until about 1:21 (that’s an hour twenty-one).

Saturday morning was a bit of a rough start, as the Double Down was not my last stop the night before, and it got rougher when I failed to find an envelope holding about $125 in petty cash I needed for the Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival, where I needed to be set-up by about 10 a.m. Thankfully, because of sales the previous night at the gallery reception, there was enough cash in that box to get through the day, but misplacing that much cash wasn’t happy news either way (it eventually turned up, two days later).

The festival itself was awesome. We sold copies of Tales from the Boneyard like gangbusters — a feat I owe a lot of credit to the supportive local press, who have been promoting the anthology for almost two months — and my other Pop! Goes the Icon titles didn’t sell too shabbily either. I also sat on my first convention-style panel, a self-publishing discussion with the great Keith Knight and Ryan Claytor. The room was packed, and we must have talked for well over an hour, mostly answering dozens of questions from the crowd.

This year’s festival was packed with people, and felt way too short. I mean, it’s only five hours anyway, but those five hours went by insanely fast. Last year’s event was good, too, but I recall having a few more periods of downtime. Of course, I didn’t have two tables to run or panels on which to sit. It was great to connect with so many people, and I predict next year’s event will just be even more fun.

There was little time to breathe in between the end of the festival (from which I departed at 5 p.m.) and band rehearsal at 6 p.m. It was the first time we were able to practice with our singer Tim in almost a month, and also the first time he’d performed with our former/temporary guitarist Rick in more than a year. But Rick, Mark and I had been practicing nearly every other day, and Tim jumped right into the mix. We blazed through our set relatively error-free, and packed up to head for Brass Lounge downtown, where we were playing the release party for both the Boneyard comic and Dead Neon: Tales from Near-Future Las Vegas.

Despite fears that we’d clear out the room of Saturday night revelers whom Kirby Krackle (which was just a solo, acoustic Kyle Stevens) warmed up, getting them dancing, our performance actually went really well — maybe the best in years. I don’t know if it was Rick’s (temporary) return, the energy of the crowd, the free drinks, or what, but people were actually dancing to our rock-metal-punk attack, and inexplicably cheering. Of course, that was nothing compared to our follow-up act, Jarret Keene’s Dead Neon, which was the obvious main draw of the night. The trio’s post-apocalyptic sludge metal was strangely hypnotic, infectious and grooving, and some hardcore fans were actually hanging on every growling word from Jarret’s mouth.

The final band of the night, 11K, featured a few members from Dead Neon, but its sound was more indie-dream-rock than death metal. Still, it’s a shame so many people left after Dead Neon finished, because 11K put on a great set, and I was kind of sad to learn the band only reunited for that night’s performance (most of the same line-up appears in Minor Suns, who was supposed to play originally).

All in all, it was a good night. We sold a few more copies of Boneyard, and hopefully impressed the booking agent at Brass to invite As Yet Unbroken to perform in the future. Of course, we’re at another crux, as our full-time guitarist parted ways with the band a few weeks ago (hence Rick’s pinch-hitting appearance). Much as we did about this time last year, we’ll probably focus on recording before diving back into the search for a new guitar player. Or, you know, just build a guitar-playing robot. Hmm …

I’m taking it relatively easy this week, though this mild cold I have is also kind of forcing me to do so. I’ve been trying to plug away at my NaNoWriMo entry, but apparently, I’m a slow writer. Also: Brain borked the last few days. I do have one event to attend this week, but I’ll talk about that more tomorrow. Back to my headache and work …

Illustration by Michael Todoran

Place Gallery is a scrappy, homespun art gallery and artist studio run by one of my oldest friends, the awesome Gina Quaranto. In recent months, Place, located on Main Street across from the S2 Art Center, has become a favorite among the local underground/low brow/outcast art scene, hosting multiple shows every month, with epic First Friday receptions including artisans, live music, libations and more. It’s technically the first gallery in which I’ve ever formally shown art (in the LVSK8 IV group show). And, sadly, it’s become a victim of multiple factors threatening to crush its already delicate existence.

This summer, the building housing Place has had power and air conditioning problems — not something that a business in the Las Vegas summer can endure. Then, a few weeks ago, an exploding electrical transformer rocked Main Street, damaging businesses for blocks, including Place, which is now missing several window and door panes. The gallery has been temporarily closed due to the conditions, and while insurance will cover replacement of the glass, it won’t do so without a steep $5,000 deductible, which Place just doesn’t have in pocket.

Art Renegades, the collective that organized LVSK8 IV, is moving the skateboard art show temporarily to Todd VonBaastian’s Alios Gallery, a few blocks south of Place at 1221 S. Main St., where a second reception for the group show will be held this Friday. At the same time, a fund-raising event is being held at Alios for Place, called “Picking Up The Pieces.” Details are still being worked out, but there will be some sort of art auction, raffle prizes, bake sale and other fun stuff to raise funds for Place — whether it’s to pay for repairs to the existing location, or help pay for the gallery to move somewhere less volatile.

I donated five of the Giant Robot prints (as seen in my online store) for the art auction, as well as a complete set of comics from Pop! Goes the Icon (including The Utopian #1-3 and Omega Comics Presents #1-2), and I’ll be down there for the benefit auction/reception as well. It starts at 6:30 p.m., and I highly recommend you come down and toss in a few bucks. Great deals on locally grown art can be had. And you can see the monstrosity I painted on a skateboard deck as well.

If you can’t make it to the event, donations are being accepted online as well.

Art from Elizabeth Blau's new show, "Mentalist & Medium"

I love that Las Vegas gallery owners have embraced the logic of opening their new exhibits on dates other than First Friday, downtown’s monthly art festival. While they still tend to be grouped together — as with the three openings this Friday, Jan. 9 — it draws traffic to parts of downtown that would otherwise be shunned three weeks out of the month.

My dear friend Elizabeth Blau is showing all-new works at The Fallout (1551 S. Commerce St.) in an exhibit called “Mentalist & Medium.” The show offers mixed media paintings and drawings constructed using a myriad of imagery, patterns and painting techniques, part of Elizabeth’s “ongoing investigation of modern life and her dialogue with contemporary painting” (according to the gallery). The reception is from 6 to 9 p.m., and the gallery is normally open noon to 4 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday.

"Wanderlust" flier

Meanwhile, over at another pal’s gallery, Henri & Odette (124 S. Sixth St.), UNLV BFA candidate Thomas Willis debuts his show, “Within/Without.” I can’t find a whole lot of information about the show, but judging by Willis’ Flickr account, look for interesting, layered works using such media as dirt, charcoal and fire. Seriously. That reception is also at 6 p.m., and the gallery is typically open Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., with a European-style closing from 1 to 4 p.m.

And one more reception you won’t want to miss from 6 to 9 p.m. on Friday is the last one in Main Gallery‘s current space at 1009 S. Main St. “Wanderlust” features works by Kim Virasone and Adam Morey on the theme of, what else, travel and wandering. The gallery is also open noon to 5 p.m., Wednesday through Friday, or by appointment.

I know there are CES and AEE parties all week, but maybe take a break from the boozing and schmoozing to support that silly little art scene thing. OK, maybe not a break, but at least a different kind of boozing and schmoozing. I’ll be there — isn’t that enough?