CULTURE STOCK

Local event recommendations are in our DNA. The first magazines that Nevada Public Radio published were the 2003-2007 Cultural Guides, with covers featuring such headlines as “Right on Q! Las Vegas is poised to steal Broadway’s spotlight,” and “Las Vegas Brushes With Greatness” (over a photo of artist Sush Machida). Based on the success of these volumes, then-president and general manager Lamar Marchese tapped freelance editor Phil Hagen to launch Desert Companion in 2007 as a seasonal city-regional magazine, focused on — you guessed it — arts, culture, and recreation.

I moved here in 2004, which means I’ve never known a Las Vegas without either some iteration of Desert Companion or enough arts and culture activities to keep me busy all year. That may be why I’ve always found complaints of the city’s lack of cultural options a bit annoying. Do I wish we had a large-scale metropolitan art museum? Of course. Do I wish local millionaires were as onboard with that project as they are with sports stadiums? Absolutely. Do I have trouble getting tickets to the author talks, independent cinema screenings, and black-box plays I love going to? Nope. If locals supported fine art with the same enthusiasm we showed for the Knights’ pursuit of the Stanley Cup, then we’d have a 100,000-square-foot public art museum by 2030, I bet.

In this sense, to me, our fall culture guide (p. 63) — along with all the other artists and happenings covered throughout this issue — is more than just a useful preview of the concerts, exhibitions, performances, and festivals being produced over the next few months. It’s an invitation to show up, to vote with your presence for endeavors that comprise the kind of community where you want to live. It’s a list of the options that we do have to invest in Las Vegas as an arts town.

And perhaps most important, it’s 75-plus ways for us to connect with each other over a common love of creative expression. Here’s hoping you’ll take us up on a few of them. If you see me there, say hello.

Artfully yours, Heidi

Stephanie Forté is a Las Vegas-based writer covering women’s issues and outdoor recreation. Her articles and essays have appeared in national magazines such as Climbing and Prevention. Decades before #vanlife, she lived on the road rock climbing. She’s working on a memoir.

Tracy Fuentes was born and raised in Las Vegas, where she recently graduated from UNLV. She serves as co-chief editor of Kindergarten Mag, an online publication she cofounded. She is currently a master’s degree candidate in NYU’s English program.

Award-winning journalist and filmmaker Pj Perez cut his teeth as a reporter and editor in Las Vegas, where he worked for nearly 25 years. He is currently producing a documentary about the 1998 murders of two anti-racist activists that inspired his article in this issue.

PRESIDENT & CEO Mark Vogelzang

COO Favian Perez

EDITOR Heidi Kyser

ART DIRECTOR Scott Lien

ASSISTANT EDITOR Anne Davis

GRAPHIC DESIGNER Ryan Vellinga

Account Executives

Allison Hall, Markus Van’t Hul, Britt Quintana

REVENUE SYSTEMS SPECIALIST  Marlies Vaitiekus

WEB COORDINATOR Stanley Kan

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Josh Bell, Meg Bernhard, Richard Boland, Soni Brown, Sarah Rose Cadorette, Sarah Calvo, Morrigan DeVito, Scott Dickensheets, Eric Duran-Valle, Gary Dymski, Stephanie Forté, Tracy Fuentes, Jason Harris, *CoCojenkins, Reannon Muth, Pj Perez, Mike Prevatt, Luke Runyon, Lissa Townsend Rodgers, Kaya Williams

CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS

David Anderson, Brent Holmes, Olga Minkevich, Jeff Scheid, Danijel Zezelj

CONTACT

EDITORIAL: Heidi Kyser (702) 259-7855 heidi@desertcompanion.com

ART: Scott Lien (702) 258-9895 scott@desertcompanion.com

ADVERTISING: Favian Perez (702) 259-7813 favian@desertcompanion.com

SUBSCRIPTIONS: Marlies Vaitiekus (702) 259-7822 marlies@desertcompanion.com

WEBSITE: www.desertcompanion.com

Desert Companion is published bimonthly by Nevada Public Radio, 1289 S. Torrey Pines Dr., Las Vegas, NV 89146. It is available by subscription at desertcompanion.vegas, or as part of Nevada Public Radio membership. It is also distributed free at select locations in the Las Vegas Valley. All photos, artwork, and ad designs printed are the sole property of Desert Companion and may not be duplicated or reproduced without the written permission of the publisher. The views

BOARD OF DIRECTORS OFFICERS

DON HAMRICK chair

Chapman Automotive Group

RICHARD I. DREITZER, ESQ. vice chair Fennemore

ROBERT C. GLASER treasurer

BNY Mellon Wealth Management

MARK VOGELZANG secretary

Nevada Public Radio DIRECTORS

NEHME E. ABOUZEID

Madison Square Garden Entertainment

STEPHANIE CAPELLAS Carma/Connected

CYNTHIA A. DREIBELBIS

Brownstein, Hyatt, Farber, Schreck

WILLIAM GROUNDS

Burraneer Capital Advisors

GAVIN ISAACS Consultant

FRED J. KEETON

Keeton Iconoclast Consulting, LLC

EDWIN C. KINGSLEY, MD

Comprehensive Cancer Centers

AMANDA MOORE-SAUNDERS Live Nation

DERIONNE POLLARD, PH.D Nevada State College

ERNEST STOVALL

Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino

DIRECTORS EMERITI

CYNTHIA ALEXANDER

Dickinson, Wright, PLLC

DAVE CABRAL Business Finance Corp.

LOUIS CASTLE

Amazon Games Seattle

PATRICK N. CHAPIN, ESQ. Patrick N. Chapin, Ltd.

ELIZABETH FRETWELL

C4WARD Strategies

CHRIS MURRAY

Avissa Corporation

JERRY NADAL

WILLIAM J. “BILL” NOONAN

KATHLEEN M. NYLEN Retired

ANTHONY J. PEARL

MARK RICCIARDI, ESQ. Fisher & Phillips, LLP

MICKEY ROEMER

Roemer Gaming

TIM WONG

Arcata Associates

LAMAR MARCHESE president emeritus