The downtown Las Vegas Arts District has been hard hit by the economic crisis as artists, galleries, and shops are forced to close their doors. Even the venerable First Friday art festival put its street fair events on temporary hiatus for the summer months as funding dried up.
Fortunately the artistic community is one resilient bunch. Slowly but surely the arts are making a comeback downtown, as evidenced by the grand opening of Place Gallery at 1054 S. Main St., just across from the S2 Arts building. The gallery has dedicated exhibit space, working artists studios, and space for music and performances. The staff is busy preparing for its inaugural exhibit, which happens to coincide with the anniversary of First Friday on October 2nd. The mild weather of the anniversary event typically draws the largest crowd of the year, something gallery manager Gina Quaranto is counting on given the scope of the opening show.
Place Gallery’s inaugural exhibit will feature works in a group show from the members of Art Renegades, a local art collective. “We have about 60 emerging and established artists in our ranks, about half of which will be showing work”, says Art Renegades founder Mike Arthurholtz. “We’re bringing Las Vegas artwork it’s never seen before, and we‘re hoping to spoil the walls for anyone who follows.”
According to the groups website, Art Renegades generally subscribes to the fringes of the art world, i.e. underground, alternative, lowbrow, kustom kulture, outsider, tattoo, graffiti… raw, inspiring, disturbing, and all out bad ass art…” – certainly not a collective of “black turtleneck” artistic types. Local members of the collective with work in the show include Lance Smith, JSKA Priebe, Peter Mengert, Juan “Frijol Boy“ Muniz, Mike Biggs, Mark Zeilman, and Teresa Williams. Other notable artists include Leslie Ditto, Amandalynn, Ashley “COREROC” Voss, Fernando Carpaneda, and Bruce New. The group will also feature works by Danny Roberts and Gina Quaranto.
Place Gallery will kick off the opening night reception Friday night at 6pm, and the festivities will run until 11pm. The exhibit can also be viewed the night before on Preview Thursday, when all participating First Friday venues open their doors 6-10pm. Wine and hors d’oeuvres will be served and artists will be in attendance. The exhibit will hang from October 2-30, with hours Friday thru Sunday, and by appointment throughout the week. Visit www.artrenegades.com for more information and hours.
