Vegas Visionary Illustrator Brian Swanson
ATA Sights – Inflight Magazine, by Leslie Balla, Photos by Seth Kushner.
Las Vegas’ Arts District is home to more than 50 galleries, studios and boutiques.
Las Vegas is also known as Sin City and the Entertainment Capital of the World. It’s a neon utopia filled with clanging slot machines, glittery showgirls, Cirque du Soleil, Elvis and poker chips – not really the kind of space that screams “high culture,” unless you count the strolling opera singers at the Venetian. But beyond the lights and the fantasy lies a burgeoning local art scene that’s turning heads both locally and nationally. From First Friday in the Arts District to the graffiti “galleries” found beneath the Strip, there’s a hub of creativity that’s hard to ignore.
No one really mentioned art in Las Vegas until Steve Wynn opened the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art at the Bellagio hotel and Casino in 1998. Art critics were skeptical, but at the time it was as close to sophistication as it got on the Strip. The Venetian followed suit with the Guggenheim Hermitage Museum, which featured works by Monet and Ansel Adams. These were turning points for the arts in Vegas, and the slot-pulling masses took notice.
In flight magazine featuring Brian Swanson, Dar Freeland of FaceUp Gallery, Jennifer Main, Danny Roberts and other artists and companies making up the Las Vegas Arts District and the First Friday event.
*Sad Note: Photographer Seth Kushner passed away after a bout with leukemia May 17, 2015. Techtimes: Remembering Seth 