Arts briefs, Dec. 27-Jan. 2
Art
ARTIST VISITS
LOCAL GALLERY
See the art — and watch the artist in action.
That’s the attraction this weekend when artist Michael Flohr visits the Exclusive Collections Gallery in the Forum Shops at Caesars.
In conjunction with his free exhibit, “Night on the Town,” artist Flohr will be at the gallery, painting during the show. His canvases focus on private moments in the most public of spaces, from bars and restaurants to city streets.
Flohr’s “Night on the Town” will be on display from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday in the Exclusive Collections Gallery in the Forum Shops at Caesars, 3500 Las Vegas Boulevard South. For more information, call 702-432-1154 or visit www.ecgallery.com/index.php/galleries?id=230#nightonthetown.
Family fun
CREATURES FEATURED
AT SPRINGS PRESERVE
The snowmen may be “melting” away Friday, but plenty of other creatures remain to intrigue Springs Preserve visitors.
Friday marks the final day for the preserve’s “Snowman Stroll,” an array of themed snow creatures created by local artists and groups arranged throughout the gardens.
However, photographs of “The Butterflies of Iguazu Falls, Argentina” remain on display through the month in the Patio Gallery, featuring images captured by engineering professor Bill Cooper. He first encountered the South American butterflies in 1983. He returned in 2008, camera in hand, to spend five days taking 5,600 photographs of 99 butterfly species.
The 45-minute film “Frogs – The Thin Green Line,” at 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday in the Big Springs Theater, focuses on a third of the world’s amphibians facing the threat of extinction, from Australia to Panama, and the citizens and scientists racing to stop the environmental crisis.
These activities are included with admission to the Springs Preserve, 333 S. Valley View Blvd., which is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily — including New Year’s Day. For tickets ($4.95-$9.95 for Nevada residents, $10.95-$18.95 general), call 702-822-7700 or visit www.springspreserve.org.
Art
CHINESE NEW YEAR
GETS EARLY START
Technically, the Chinese New Year doesn’t begin until Jan. 31, 2014.
But a variety of artists get a jump on the celebration with “Year of the Horse,” an invitational exhibition on display in the Mayor’s Gallery at the Historic Fifth Street School, 401 S. Fourth St.
The annual exhibit honoring the Chinese New Year spotlights works by artists of various cultural backgrounds. This year’s featured artists include Rainer Bertrams, Thomas Bisesti, Daryl DePry, Ali Fathollahi, Dotty Fenner, Stewart Freshwater, Carol Biering Hendrix, James Henninger, Bobbie Ann Howell, Kim Johnson, K.D. Matheson, Roberto Rico, Melissa Russell, Nanda Sharifpour and Brian Swanson.
The free exhibit, which continues through Feb. 22, is open by appointment only. For more information, call 702-229-1012 or go online to www.artslasvegas.org.
Family fun
KWANZAA EVENTS
HONOR HOLIDAY
Kwanzaa takes center stage Saturday with an all-day “Celebration of African Values, Culture &Community” at the West Las Vegas Library Theatre, 951 W. Lake Mead Blvd.
The free observance, which runs from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., includes excerpts from “El Hajj Malik … A Play about Malcolm X” by N. R. Davidson Jr. and a movie about the Soweto Gospel Choir, a performance by the Jester Hairston Music Association, a community honors presentation, an elders tribute, a Rites of Passage graduation ceremony and a marketplace featuring several vendors.
For information on the celebration, call 702-229-4800 or visit www.artslasvegas.org.
The Las Vegas Natural History Museum also plans a Kwanzaa celebration and activities at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.
Winter break activities, including the chance to make a variety of cultural holiday crafts, continue from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. today and on Monday through Jan. 3 at the museum, 900 Las Vegas Blvd. North. Hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (including New Year’s Day); for tickets ($5-$10) and museum information, call 702-384-3466.
Art
‘PERCEPTIONS’ SHOW
ENDS GALLERY RUN
The countdown clock is ticking for Left of Center Gallery’s “Perceptions in Translation,” which ends its run Saturday.
The exhibition showcases artwork by Ronald Esparza, Alexander P. Huerta and Lazarus Lorenzo, who may share the same ethnic background but display unique styles and perspectives.
Their works will be on display from noon to 5 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at Left of Center Art Gallery, 2207 W. Gowan Road, North Las Vegas. For more information, call 702-647-7378 or e-mail leftofcentergallery@gmail.com.
Art
ARTIST MARKS ‘TERRITORY’
AT COSMOPOLITAN
It’s a zoo out there — by design — as Cosmopolitan artist-in-residence Alisha Kerlin’s “Marking Territory” invites visitors to become inhabitants of a nocturnal zoo habitat and contribute to the process required to sculpt and paint the exhibit’s landscape and costumes.
Shuffling assumed relationships between artist, artwork and viewer, Kerlin’s work includes a variety of media, including painting, sculpture and digital photography. Her paintings often are outwardly oriented, where the work’s anticipated meaning hinges on the presence of the viewer or participant.
Visitors to “Marking Territory” may be voyeurs, watching the artist through glass, as if studying a creature in a terrarium, or they may enter the space to watch Kerlin in action. Guests also may participate by creating a false landscape or making costumes to become nocturnal creatures themselves.
“Marking Territory” continues from 6 to 11 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays, through Jan. 19, in the P3Studio at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, 3708 Las Vegas Blvd. South. A closing reception will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Jan. 16. For more information, call 702-698-7000.
— By Carol Cling
