Our country might still be mired in pandemic-born states of social isolation, but on the walls of Core Contemporary gallery in the Historic Commercial Center District, 20 artists meet in visual conversation. The occasion? The gallery’s second annual national juried art show, Use Other Door.

On Oct. 9, 1986, at the height of anti-gay hysteria during the AIDS crisis, a biracial gay couple from Reno, Nev., made a remarkable announcement: They were going to create what some called “a gay homeland” in the Nevada desert.

UNLV’s Student Union Art Gallery showcases works created by eight Beginning Painting students in the exhibit “Seeing in Paint 2: Selections From Fall Beginning Painting.” Works by artists Emily Fisher, Sam Ganados, Micah Haji-Sheikh, Jasmine Hernandez, Olga Krolevich, Alina Lundquist, Jeremy Miller and Jessica Rios are on display through March 27.

Sunday will mark one year that Heather Harmon has been working to give the people of Las Vegas their first standalone dedicated art museum.

Spring has sprung (or has started to) in northern New Mexico (where our Southwest US editor Ellie Duke lives), and that means it’s time to come out of hibernation to explore the artistic offerings of the season. As always, there are many wonderful exhibitions, festivals, and art events taking place during the coming months throughout the southwestern US.

I define authentic as something derived from a lived experience. Every creative endeavor should be produced from a place of honesty. Creating any type of cultural artifact should be done in earnest. The world is already too cluttered with lies manufactured by disingenuous and profit-driven motivations. Keeping your creative space true is an exercise in freedom.

UNLV’s Student Union Art Gallery showcases works created by eight Beginning Painting students in the exhibit “Seeing in Paint 2: Selections From Fall Beginning Painting.”

This year, Las Vegas visual, literary, theatrical and performing arts scenes took several decisive steps forward. Here are just a few of the year's highlights.

Last Friday, Dec. 6, the Master of Fine Arts students at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas held an open studios night. Andrea Heerdt dropped by to find out what they’re working on. She caught up with five of the program’s 12 MFA students and asked them to describe their current work. The biographical notes we included here are condensed versions of student bios provided by UNLV. 

UNLV’s Master of Fine Arts candidates show off their recent works Friday at the Open Studios event.

The latest exhibition of work by Yasmina Chavez reminds me how protean she is, how flexible, how much she surprises you.

Southern Nevada–based artist Justin Favela’s work embodies the qualities of Las Vegas by affirming the startling originality of smart near-copies. Last spring, I visited Favela in his temporary studio at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Reliably buoyant, Favela can shed light on seemingly any aspect of the folklore of contemporary Las Vegas. The complex and teeming overwhelm of the city imbues his work. In the studio, he mused on Siegfried and Roy’s late white tiger, the four-hundred-pound Mantecore, who bit Roy onstage at the Mirage and left him paralyzed.