Hunting for Art in Las Vegas

Looking for a socially distant activity that will get you out of the house? Take a car ride and go hunting for sculptures, murals, and graffiti.

One of my favorite activities is to go hunting for street and public art, which has the added bonus of being something you can do largely from the safety (and air conditioning) of your car. It’s kinda like when I was a kid and we used to drive around to look at houses in fancy neighborhoods like Rancho Circle, only much more culturally enriching.

If you’d like to take a drive and look for some art, here are some suggestions.

Fremont Street

In Downtown Las Vegas, you see everything from gang tags to massive murals from the Life is Beautiful Festival. 

This mural by D*Face was created for the first Life is Beautiful Festival in 2013 and is one of Downtown's most well-known murals

Drive east down Fremont Street from Las Vegas Boulevard and you’ll find amazing murals on Fremont as well as along intersecting streets (roughly within the footprint of LIB). As you get past Fergusons Downtown at 11th Street, things start to taper off in the artwork department. You’ll recognize Fergusons Downton by the s-shaped semi truck sculpture in the courtyard, “Big Rig Jig.”

"Big Rig Jig" in 2017, not long after it arrived in Las Vegas. The complex is much spiffier now. 

Main Street 

Over on Main Street, you’ll find vintage shops and trendy new places along the recently renovated street (which is now one-way only – traffic flows north). On the streets intersecting Main are where you’ll find wonderful murals adorning the sides of the buildings. 

About a block west of Main Street, you’ll find Graffiti Alley, which runs parallel to Main. It’s full of ever-changing artwork, tags, and messages (as are many alleys in this area). In general, the further away from Main Street you go, the artwork is more graffiti than murals. 

I have to offer a warning: Fremont and Main Street are downtown, and you may encounter mentally distressed individuals, people under the influence, and those who could simply be called “colorful.” Be respectful and aware of your surroundings. I saw one Google review that said of Graffiti Alley, “Not what I expected and the area was pretty chock full of vagrants and homeless people,” but I honestly have never had any issues. 

If exploring alleys in Downtown Las Vegas sounds too sketchy for you, don’t worry – we have plenty of other artwork around the valley.

Utility Box Art

Did you know Las Vegas has an official program to promote art on utility boxes? The program started in 2005 and has prettied up utility boxes throughout town. Personally, I’m a big fan of the lizard and snake over on Lone Mountain, but you can find these gems by Desert Breeze Park, along Maryland Parkway, and in several other locations. Check the program's website for a list of the neighborhoods featuring artful utility boxes.

Median Art

We’ve also got fancy medians that feature sculptures of Joshua Trees, coyotes, scorpions, and other desert flora and fauna. I’m not sure why our medians also feature saguaro cactus sculptures since they’re native to the Sonoran Desert, not the Mojave, but inclusivity, I guess? No cacti left behind?

In addition to the desert-themed beautification on medians all over town, Clark County took it a step further with their “Centered” project. Ten artists were selected to create original sculptures, like the large metal heads on Eastern at the 215 and the octopus on Pecos-McLeod, south of Desert Inn. The project’s website lists all the artwork. 

I’d also recommend Alta from Rampart to Valley View for home-grown, local murals. Every time I drive it, I see a few new pieces. I think it’s an up-and-comer for street art.

You can find all kinds of art along the Strip, especially at Aria and CityCenter, but you have to get out of the car and proceed on foot to see anything. While that’s a little too much potential ‘rona exposure for me, if you’re masked up and low-risk, you’ll find plenty to enjoy, like Maya Lin’s sculpture of the Colorado River, which is over the front desk at Aria. Lin also designed the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, DC.

Have you been out hunting for art in Las Vegas? What are some of your favorite finds?

All photos by Terrisa Meeks

Vintage Vegas on Main Street Las Vegas

Main Street was once the place to go for things like cheap furniture and upholstery supplies. Today it’s home to several vintage and antique shops, plus some impressive street art.

 

When I walk into many of the shops on Main Street, it’s like a trip back in time. It’s delightful, except it’s a little unsettling that I own (and still use) some of the things I’ve found for sale.

This display kitchen at Retro Vegas, for instance, holds several objects that are very familiar to me. See that little folding stool by the counter, in the corner? I have an identical one at home, inherited in the few things left from my childhood home in the Charleston Park area Downtown.

If you’ve seen the movie “Casino,” you’ve seen what I call Vintage Vegas style. The look is heavy on orange, olive, glass, and gold in a mid-century style that’s actually pretty cool. It saw its apex during the 70s. I think the earlier, slightly less gaudy 1960s style is cooler, but it’s a little harder to find. Retro Vegas is filled with vintage pieces from prior eras.

 

While Vegas-centric items are the focus of several Main Street stores, that’s certainly not all you’ll find in the way of shops. Case in point: Las Vegas Oddities and Antiquities, which is light on Vegas-themed items but has everything from fine art to skulls. 

Modern Mantiques has a great combination of vintage and interesting items. My favorite piece here was a metal dragon sculpture. “Look, it’s your spirit animal,” my son said. 

JJC Clocks & Antiques is full of clocks (of course), but also has an area filled with an assortment of vintage and antique pieces alongside unexpected things, like this elephant. 

The number of ash trays in most stores is astonishing. It’s a reminder that everyone smoked everywhere all the time from the 60s through the 80s. Ash trays were functional and decorative. Today, the prettier ones have survived and can be re-purposed, unless you’re using them for their original purpose. This is one I have, and I think it's way too pretty for cigarette ashes. 

When you’re wandering down Main Street from store to store, you see plenty of street art along the side streets. It’s one of the best reasons to walk to a few shops.

It’s nice to see a mix of businesses in the area. The vintage shops are neighbors to car repair shops, restaurants, plumbers, tattoo parlors and other businesses that are hold-overs from Main Street’s prior life.

The word “gentrification” gets mentioned a lot when talking about this part of town. Personally, I like it the way it is, but everything changes, especially in Las Vegas. In August, LV Weekly featured a piece on Main Street, complete with an artistic conceptualization of how the new, redesigned, one-way Main Street will look like after road construction is done (whenever that may be). I’m sure it will be pretty, but I’ll admit I’m a big fan of authentic grittiness when it comes to my home town. But I have hope we’ll get it right, something like what has happened along Fremont East.

An afternoon on Main Street is sure to be entertaining, especially if you’re hunting for a specific hard-to-find item, or if you’re of a certain age and remember seeing this stuff when it first came out. If you dislike glossy newness and cookie-cutter things, Main Street Las Vegas is the place for you.

Are you a vintage and antique shop lover?

Fun Fact:

Perhaps not coincidentally, the owners of Retro Vegas own a home that was once an embodiment of the Vegas Vintage style in every way. A few years ago I read a story in Las Vegas Weeklyabout the owners’ purchase of the former home of Doyle Brunson (also once the residence of Jackie Gaughan), a place I knew well once since I was friends with Brunson’s daughters when we were kids. It’s an amazing house that was once filled with furnishings that would fit right into its current owners’ shop.

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All pictures by Terrisa Meeks. See more from Main Street Las Vegas on my flickr page.