Vegas Valley’s older areas home to arts, performances

“A single person can take a huge amount of credit for the county taking arts and culture seriously,” said Patrick Gaffey, cultural program supervisor for Clark County. “That’s Patricia Marchese, who’s married to Lamar Marchese, who started KNPR. She worked for the city of Las Vegas and started their Cultural Division. When she left the city, she was hired by the county to do the same thing, and she did.”

Out-of-town wags often claim that Las Vegas has no culture, but it seems they’re basing that on a few hours on the Strip or a false comparison to the place they’re from. The valley is steeped in culture, and there is something culturally enriching to do every day and night of the week. There is so much to do and see that often events are under-attended, simply because of the competition between the county, three cities and, of course, the resort corridor to provide enriching entertainment. Here are some of the notable venues on the east side of the valley.

The Winchester Cultural Center, 3130 McLeod Drive, is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays.

The site has been the major center for the arts and culture for the county for a quarter century. Originally built as a recreation center in 1982, over the years, renovations have transformed it, turning a gymnasium into a performing arts space in 1989. Marchese influenced it and added more classrooms and a state-of-the-art dance room.

“The amount and quality of diverse entertainment we bring to the Winchester is truly amazing,” Gaffey said. “This year already, we’ve had String Thing, a group that includes Paraguayan, Senegalese and Chinese musicians; Meshugginah Klezmorim, a Klezmer group; a one-woman show about Edith Piaf and ‘Monologos de la Vagina,’ ‘The Vagina Monologues’ in Spanish.”

Visit clarkcountynv.gov or call 702-455-7340.

The Whitney Library, 5175 E. Tropicana Ave., is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday through Sunday.

The facility, like most of the valley’s libraries, includes a well-appointed gallery with new shows about every two months, typically with an artist’s reception near the beginning or end of the show’s run.

“We try to get our shows to several of the library’s galleries in different parts of town so everyone gets a chance to see them,” said Darren Johnson, gallery services coordinator at the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District.

“We really love to get great art out there, especially local artists. We get great comments from people, and the openings are usually very well attended.”

The current show is “The Stumps of Flattop Hill,” featuring work from the new children’s book by Kenneth Kit Lamug.

Visit lvccld.org or call 702-507-4010.

The Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road, is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday through Sunday.

In addition to the gallery, the library boasts a 399-seat main theater and 110-seat Jewel Box Theater with diverse programming. Visitors can see anything from classic films to belly dancing there. Valley high schools and UNLV have been known to use the theater for performances. The theater has also hosted performances from a variety of cultures, including Mariachi shows, hip-hop performances and Taiko drummers.

“The library district has been building theaters in our buildings since at least the ‘90s,” said Karen Bramwell-Thomas, public relations manager for the library district. “Culture is an important part of our programming. We want to be people’s third place when they aren’t at home or at work.”

Visit lvccld.org or call 702-507-3400.

The Hispanic Museum of Nevada, inside The Boulevard Mall, 3680 S. Maryland Parkway, is usually open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. seven days a week, but it is currently closed until May while it undergoes renovations.

The Hispanic Museum of Nevada is dedicated to promoting awareness, education and resources of the diverse Hispanic cultures and traditions to enhance intercultural understanding among community members. The space is dominated by a gallery featuring local artists.

Visit hispanicmuseumnv.com or call 702-773-2203.

UNLV, 4505 S. Maryland Parkway, is one of the busiest cultural hubs in the valley, with several art galleries and performance spaces. It is a place to see well-practiced students, instructors and experts doing recitals and visiting artists. The galleries show internationally known artists along with thesis work by students and themed group shows.

“Visiting our galleries is an enriching experience,” said Jerry Schefcik, UNLV director of galleries. “Culture and arts have far-reaching effects beyond that, and they can affect real change in the community.”

Many of the performances are free, particularly the recitals. During the school year, there are almost always three or four events scheduled, ranging from full production musicals, musical recitals, including performances on the state’s second largest pipe organ, the Maurine Jackson Smith Memorial Pipe Organ, to lectures from visiting authors with the Black Mountain Institute.

“We sometimes call the arts the front porch or the front door of the university,” said Louis Kavouras, the chair of UNLV’s dance department. “What we strive to do, in a city as vibrant as Las Vegas, is to also provide a really vibrant art scene. I love to see people from the community, who are drawn here by a performance, find their way onto the campus and interact with our young people.”

Kavouras noted that the campus has a wide range of performance space that gives the students experience in the range of places that they might find themselves performing after graduation. He feels that and the community surrounding the campus are part of what creates a group of strong and talented performers.

“I’ve been here since 1992, and I’m constantly amazed, delighted and excited by the caliber of artistic work on the campus,” Kavouras said. “I feel it serves a really vital purpose in the city. I love the energy of the city and the interplay of the worlds of art and entertainment that happens here. I think that only in Las Vegas can some of the things that happen happen.”

Visit pac.unlv.edu or call 702-895-2787.

The Onyx Theatre, 953-16B E. Sahara Ave., is no longer tucked behind a fetish wear shop, but it continues to mount unusual and challenging shows by emerging and fringe playwrights. Recent productions have included “Reservoir Dolls,” a gender switched adaptation of the Tarantino film; “Geek,” a play set at an anime convention; and “Sordid,” which is described as a black comedy about white trash. The final performance is scheduled at 8 p.m. March 26, and the next show, “Heathers The Musical” opens at 8 p.m. April 7. The venue also hosts improv classes, burlesque performances and other rarities. The theater’s more lurid neighbors might frighten off some suburbanites, but the low-priced, quirky offerings usually bring in a formidable crowd to the small space.

Visit onyxtheatre.com or call 702-732-7225.

To reach East Valley View reporter F. Andrew Taylor, email ataylor@viewnews.com or call 702-380-4532.