Many areas of life have been compromised by the pandemic, and the visual arts are certainly one of them.

Lance Smith is Queer. To quote feminist theorist Bell Hooks “queer not as being about who you’re having sex with (that can be a dimension of it); but queer as being about the self that is at odds with everything around it and has to invent and create and find a place to speak and to thrive and to live.”

SHOWGIRLS IS BAD. This is close to a universally accepted truth. A lot has been written about how and why Paul Verhoeven’s 1995 stripper saga is bad. Some say it’s simply astoundingly bad; some argue its badness is a species of exotic camp worthy of cult-movie status; others make the case that the film is a satire whose badness is part of its stinging commentary.

Many consider Las Vegas to the world’s entertainment capital. This city in the United States is associated with gambling, nightlife, entertainment shows, and bright neon signs. You may however be surprised to know that Sin City also has many very good art galleries. They are in the Downtown, and even in the famous Strip, where most of the casinos are located.

Ashley Hairston Doughty’s solo exhibition, Kept to Myself, is at the Barrick Museum at UNLV through Oct. 9. The exhibition highlights race and gender-based issues through various media, including pillows screenprinted with unsolicited comments the artist received on the streets while living in Chicago. Hairston Doughty moved to Las Vegas in June 2017 to teach art at UNLV.

This week Justin is joined by visual storyteller, Ashley Hairston Doughty. They talk about her latest exhibition, “Kept to Myself,” at the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art and the concepts behind this multidisciplinary artist’s work. Listen in as we learn about Ashley’s history, her love for teaching, and how she shares her experience as a Black woman through the art that she creates.

How’s your new normal coming along? *Listens and nods in glum sympathy* Well, good news: It’s just been enlivened by a roster of safe, sane, and socially distanced fall happenings that prove Las Vegas is a master at adaptation. Here you’ll find drive-by theater, radio read-alongs, YouTube opera, Zoom poetry, and in-person art exhibits with plenty of elbow room. Mask up, wash them germy mitts, and enjoy your 2020 fall culture guide.

The Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art hosted two new show openings on August 17, marking the beginning of its 2020-2021 season.

Five months after closing because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art at UNLV is set to reopen on Monday with new safety procedures and new exhibitions.

Five months after closing because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art at UNLV is set to reopen on Monday with new safety procedures and new exhibitions.

New Mexico State University Art Museum Director Marisa Sage and her co-curator artist Laurel Nakadate spent two years preparing the premiere exhibit, “Labor: Motherhood & Art in 2020,” only to have the worldwide pandemic force them to close the doors of the brand new museum after a few weeks.

Days after the small businesses in the Las Vegas Arts District locked their doors and boarded up their windows, local artists descended onto the stretch of Main Street, turned the plywood into blank canvases and covered them in images of joy and hope.