The public is invited to attend the city of Las Vegas Employee Juried Art Exhibit, which opens on Friday, Dec. 4, 2009, at the Bridge Gallery in Las Vegas City Hall, located at 400 Stewart Avenue. This exhibit is free and open to the public. There will be an artist’s reception between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. on Dec. 4. This exhibit was juried by Jerry Schefcik, the director for the Donna Beam Art Gallery on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Employees were invited to submit work from the following variety of media categories: 

• Drawing and Mixed Media (two-dimensional, including printmaking and other techniques, mixed-media and collage).
• Painting (oil, acrylic).
• Watercolor.
• Pastel.
• Photography (black and white, color digital, Xerox, etc.).
• Sculpture (three-dimensional).

The artwork submitted must have been made within the last three years. All full- and part-time city employees were eligible to participate. There was no entry fee for this exhibit. The juror was looking for artwork that was well executed and incorporated the principles of design. This exhibit was a blind juried exhibit where all artist’s names and information were undisclosed. Those chosen to exhibit are: Liz Ackley, Noelle Garcia, Keith Gronquist, Bobbie Ann Howell, Michael Ogilvie, Rita Schoonmaker, Lisa Stamanis, Jeanne Voltura, Sandra Ward and Lynda Whitehair.

Schefcik has held the position of director of the Donna Beam Fine Art Gallery since 1991. He is also curator for the Jessie Metcalf Gallery, Tam Alumni Center on the UNLV campus.  Schefcik worked as curator for the Nevada Institute for Contemporary Art from 1989 to 2000 and for five years as curator for McCarran International Airport Arts Advisory Sub-Committee. He has also served as a panelist, board member, juror, lecturer and consultant locally and regionally.

The exhibit runs through February 5, 2010, and is presented by the city of Las Vegas Office of Cultural Affairs. The Bridge Gallery is located on the second floor of City Hall, near the information desk. Visitors may enter through the breezeway from the 2nd floor of the parking garage, which is on the southwest corner of 4th Street and Stewart Avenue. The gallery is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and closed Sundays, Mondays and holidays. Call (702) 229-1012 for more information.