Summerlin gets ready for major art festival next week

La Strada dell'Arte and Celebration of the Arts will combine for the fifth consecutive year to create the 2007 Summerlin Art Festival -- a weekend arts event at Summerlin Centre Community Park to be held Sept. 29 and 30 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., each day.

Professional and amateur artists will literally paint the sidewalks next weekend while more than 120 artists display and sell their artwork.

The free outdoor festival will also feature a full entertainment lineup, including performances by the Academy of Nevada Ballet Theatre both days at 11 a.m., noon and 1 p.m.

There also will be food art demonstrations (pumpkin and ice carving) both days between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. by Chef Chanh Bhoupa of Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts Las Vegas; roving entertainers from The Grand Canal Shoppes at The Venetian and live music both days from 2 to 5 p.m.

Sixtiesmania takes the stage Saturday while jazz musician David Van Such headlines Sunday.

Food and beverages will be available for purchase.

According to Tamara Badik, who organized the first Celebration of the Arts in Summerlin in 1993, the juried event has brought high-quality art to the community for more than a decade. This year, Celebration of the Arts hosts a collection of artwork such as paintings, glasswork, pottery, jewelry, sculpture, mixed media, apparel, handmade soaps, and handcrafted dolls and woodcrafts.

Artists Mindy Rodman and Paul White, who call their partnership Rodman White House, are creators of whimsical, polychromatic sculpture and furniture.

They are among more than 120 artists who will exhibit and sell their works at the Summerlin Art Festival. The couple, who live and work in an Oakland, Calif., warehouse, create indoor and outdoor sculpture, as well as art furniture.

Their primary media are wood, metal and steel with common hardware store-item accents, such as pipes, nuts, bolts and washers. This will be the couple's first show in Las Vegas, where they already have a few loyal customers.

The couple credit their cinematic background, coupled with their love of music and dance, as strong influences.

"Many of our pieces pay homage to such artists as Matisse, Miro and Picasso, and we draw heavily from the Art Deco and art nouveau movements," Rodman said.

"Most importantly, all our pieces include a healthy dose of humor. Our goal is to remove art from the rarefied halls of a museum and bring into the home where it can be used and interacted with on a regular basis. Our typical customer is a modern art lover with a sense of adventure who is not afraid to think and live outside the box."

La Strada dell'Arte, the second major element of the Summerlin Art Festival, once again features guest artist Julie Kirk from Chino, Calif., an experienced street painter who is frequently commissioned by national corporations. She will spend more than three days creating a sidewalk masterpiece for public viewing at La Strada dell'Arte.

The public can also participate in the Summerlin Art Festival by purchasing their own sidewalk squares for $5. The price includes chalk and a knee pad.

Sponsored by Summerlin, KTNV, Summerlin News and the Las Vegas Review-Journal, admission to the event is free. For more information, visit summerlin.com and click on the Summerlin Art Festival. To apply to be an official La Strada dell'Arte artist, applications can be downloaded at summerlin.com. For more information about Celebration of the Arts, visit celebrationoftheartslv.com or call 255-6645.

Developed by The Howard Hughes Corp., an affiliate of General Growth Properties Inc., Summerlin began to take shape in 1990 when the far western edge of the valley was still mostly raw desert. Summerlin is a 22,500-acre master-planned community that remains a work in progress.

The community is currently home to more than 95,000 residents. With about 7,500 acres still to develop, including its urban core of Summerlin Centre.

The master-planned community is home to more than 100 neighborhood and village parks, more than 150 completed miles of the Summerlin trail system, nine golf courses, a dozen houses of worship, shopping centers, medical facilities, business parks, 22 public and private schools and more than 100 actively selling floor plans.

Homes are available in a variety of styles -- from single-family homes to townhomes, condominiums and lofts -- priced from the low $200,000s to more than $2 million.

Custom home sites in The Ridges are priced from the $500,000s. Apartment homes offer monthly rents starting from the low $1,000s.

For more information, visit summerlin.com or call 888-898-5015.