The primary purpose of constructing Las Vegas’ Civic Center & Plaza was to consolidate city offices in one place. But thanks to foresight and careful planning, it also serves as a site for community gatherings and public art.
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- Downtown’s new Civic Center is a home for public art
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Located across from Las Vegas City Hall, two buildings contain offices as well as 5,000 square feet of retail space and two pads for future restaurants. A 15,000-square-foot courtyard sprinkled with 100 trees provides an area for events like music and food festivals, pet adoptions and farmers markets.
One of the most exciting features of the $190 million development is the 2,400-square-foot Civic Center Gallery, which opened its first exhibit on October 14. Presented by the City of Las Vegas, the Las Vegas Museum of Art and Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Family Album showcases an intergenerational roster of artists examining histories through family photographs. It is open 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday.
Art isn’t confined to the gallery. Feast your eyes on some of our favorite artworks scattered throughout Civic Center.
“Beyond the Meadows”
Gig Depio “Beyond the Meadows”
Look closely at Gig Depio’s “Beyond the Meadows” and you’ll notice themes of risk-taking and luck. The 12-by-12-foot oil on canvas painting features three “cowboys”—explorer Rafael Rivera, neon icon Vegas Vic and a UNLV football player. A drone, a tiny UFO and a depiction of the Boring Company’s tunnel machine represent technology and innovation, summing up Vegas’ penchant for pushing boundaries.
"Mah-naī-knee”
Fawn Douglas “Mah-naī-knee”
“Mah-naī-knee” is a Paiute word that means “energy,” and that’s embodied in Fawn Douglas’ installation. Inspired by the basketmaking of the tribe, the artwork is composed of conduit, wire and acrylic paint, offering a fresh take on tradition and symbolizing the deep and enduring heritage of Native Americans in Las Vegas.
“You are Here, Welcome Home”
Valentin Yordanov “You are Here, Welcome Home”
Bulgaria-born, Las Vegas-based artist Valentin Yordanov offers a cubist, candy-colored distortion of our city’s skyline with “You Are Here, Welcome Home.” On a house-shaped canvas, palm trees, neighborhoods, resorts, mountains and sky take up separate planes and yet are all connected. The city’s dynamic nature is captured with strategically placed lines, calling to mind urban transformation.
Krystal Ramirez “Neon Study #2”
One of the most beautiful things about the desert is how light plays on all its surfaces, natural and artificial. Contrived breeze blocks and light in Krystal Ramirez’s “Neon Study #2” remind us of that beauty in a culturally specific and minimalist fashion. The materials also echo her forthcoming life-size Civic Center courtyard installation “The Night We Met.”
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