The Historic Westside will soon be the recipient of more large scale murals thanks to the city of Las Vegas, the Mayor’s Fund for Las Vegas Life and local artist Chase McCurdy. The mural project was the idea of one of the board members of the Mayor’s Fund, which is the philanthropic arm for the city of Las Vegas.
You are invited to share your ideas in person:
Chase McCurdy’s 33 Gallery
912 W. Owens Ave. in Nucleus Plaza
Thursday, March 17, from 5 to 7 p.m. OR Saturday, March 26, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Please email murals@lasvegasnevada.gov with your ideas on mural imagery/content, mural locations and artists.
Maggie Plaster, Deputy Director for the Office of Cultural Affairs explained, “One of our advisory board members, Christina Ellis, was very interested in more of an art component of the Mayor’s Fund and it was her suggestion we do murals. We have a budget of $250,000 and we’re hoping to get at least four large murals out of that.”
To get the project off the ground, Plaster said they wanted to enlist the help of someone with deep roots in the Las Vegas art community and someone with ties to the Historic Westside. After conducting a competitive process Chase McCurdy was selected to lead the effort.
From his art gallery, 33 G, McCurdy told us he is honored to be selected but wants this to truly be a community project.
“It’s very important for me to start this program from the ground up with the community,” McCurdy said.
This is where the residents come into the mix. Two meetings have been held in his gallery to gather input from the community. An email address has also been set up where anyone can write in with their ideas and concepts for the murals.
McCurdy says you don’t need to be an artist to offer suggestions. You just need to have an interest in the Historic Westside and an opinion on what the murals should look like.
“Everything from where they would like to see the murals or suggestions for where murals should be to… the kind of artwork,” McCurdy said. “This is to include all voices as we try to build this project that’s suited to the folks who will be most impacted by it.”
Citizens with an interest are encouraged to send input to Murals@LasVegasNevada.gov. Once McCurdy feels he has a good idea of what people want, a committee will be formed to make the final selections and then requests will go out for artists.
It’s estimated the entire project will be completed by June 2023.
Public art is extremely important to the city of Las Vegas and to McCurdy. It’s believed to bring community pride, education and an exposure to visual arts that some might not otherwise get.
As McCurdy sees it, “Life can get monotonous. Life can get difficult. We can get caught up in our devices looking down. Public art provides an opportunity, a moment of wonder or curiosity for just a distraction from the every day. And I think we all deserve that.”