PUBLIC ART

PUBLIC ART IN LAS VEGAS HAS BEEN ON MY MIND SINCE I BECAME A CITY OF LAS VEGAS ARTS COMMISSIONER IN 2020. IN THAT ROLE, I HELP RECOMMEND PUBLIC ART PROJECTS FOR APPROVAL BY THE CITY COUNCIL USING THE PERCENT FOR THE ARTS FUND, WHICH IS A CITY ORDINANCE THAT ALLOCATES 1% OF ALL CAPITAL PROJECTS TO SUPPORT THE CREATION OF PUBLIC ART. BECAUSE OF THIS, I OFTEN THINK ABOUT THE ROLE PUBLIC ART PLAYS IN OUR LIVES AND HOW THE TERM IS DEFINED. HOW DO PEOPLE KNOW WHEN THEY’VE ENCOUNTERED “PUBLIC ART”? WHO DEFINES WHAT IS PUBLIC ART? AND HOW DOES PUBLIC ART REFLECT A CITY’S IDENTITY?

ON SOME OF MY RECENT TRAVELS I BEGAN NOTICING MONUMENTAL SCULPTURES AND MURALS, SMALL HISTORIC MARKERS, AND ARTFUL GARDENS. I’D EVEN SPOT A VIGNETTE IN PUBLIC THAT I FOUND SO MOVING; COULD IT BE CONSIDERED PUBLIC ART? BECAUSE OF MY ACADEMIC BACKGROUND, I FEEL NEARLY CERTAIN WHEN I SPOT A LARGE, SCULPTURAL OBJECT (LIKELY PULLING FROM THE BASEMENT OF MY ART HISTORY MEMORIES) THAT IT MUST BE ART, BUT HOW DOES THE PUBLIC SEE THE PIECE? IS IT RECOGNIZED AS ART? AND HOW DO MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC FEEL ABOUT TAX DOLLARS BEING SPENT ON ART?

TO FURTHER COMPLICATE THE THEME, LAS VEGAS AND OUR PENCHANT FOR THE DRAMATIC MEANS THAT A SIMPLE DRIVE LEADS YOU PAST STUNNING ARRAYS OF NEON REPRESENTING THE FAR EAST, MIDCENTURY MODERN DESIGN ELEMENTS AND MY PERSONAL FAVORITE, A 60-FOOT CLOWN. (DISCLAIMER: I WORK AT THE NEON MUSEUM.) IN A TOWN LIKE LAS VEGAS, WHERE “SHOWGIRLS” WELCOME YOU TO DOWNTOWN AND A PINK, BUG-EYED ELEPHANT AWAITS YOUR VIEWING PLEASURE ON THE SOUTHEND OF THE STRIP, HOW DO WE DEFINE PUBLIC ART AND HOW DOES PUBLIC ART DEFINE US? THE ESSAYS HEREIN ADDRESS MY QUESTIONS FROM DIVERSE PERSPECTIVES AND OFFER NEW QUESTIONS.

Jennifer Kleven Guest Editor

Jennifer Kleven is a lifelong Las Vegan committed to expanding access to arts and culture for under-resourced local communities. Upon graduating from UNLV with a BFA in Art in 2009, she opened a gallery in the former Emergency Arts building on Fremont Street, and exhibited local, national, and international artists. Kleven joined The Neon Museum in 2010 and currently serves as Director of Advancement, responsible for achieving the Museum’s philanthropic goals. She is President of the Nevada Museums Association, chair of the City of Las Vegas Arts Commission, and a grant reviewer for the National Endowment for the Arts and other agencies. In her spare