Art: A taste of the Neon Museum to come
By Gregory Crosby

A world-class museum that Las Vegas could call its own has been the Philosopher's Stone for cultural mavens here for many years. The glitzy charms of the Liberace Museum notwithstanding, the lack of an institution that would give Vegans a measure of class was often bemoaned. Some thought the struggling Las Vegas Arts Museum might develop into such a space, or were thrilled by the carpetbagging arrival of the Guggenheim at the Venetian. But none of the contenders for the honor of becoming Las Vegas' signature museum has the potential of the incipient Neon Museum, a nonprofit institution created by the Cultural Affairs Division of the city of Las Vegas that now has its own board of directors, a plot of land and big plans to enshrine Vegas' unique artistic vernacular of neon signage for generations to come.

While the Neon Museum currently features several restored signs on Fremont and Third streets, and is the keeper of a neon boneyard across the way from the Reed Whipple Cultural Center, it doesn't exist yet as a building itself. But it soon will, and those interested in a taste of what that museum space will feature have an opportunity to do so at the Whipple's gallery, where The Art of the Sign, an exhibition drawn from the museum's growing collection, is on display.

It's a handsome exhibition, too, mounted by the Cultural Affairs Division's Richard Hooker and the museum's new executive director, Sandra L. Harris. Spread out on the midnight-blue walls of the gallery are artists' renditions of the facades and signs created by companies such as Young Electric Sign Company and Ad Art (the latter donated its archives to the museum upon the firm's closing). The walls are crowded with gorgeous visions of the Strip's commercial architecture, most done in watercolors and acrylics, many of them never realized or heavily modified when they eventually were constructed. Renderings of facades for the Sands, the Riviera, the Las Vegas Hilton (with a proposed sign that resembles the Eiffel Tower transformed into a rocket shop), the MGM Grand, Bally's, Vegas World and the Dunes (whose Oasis faãade of the '80s initially included giant cartoon camels and sultans lounging atop it) testify to the evolving vision of Strip signage and aesthetic from the '60s through the '90s. Also on display is the "Queen of Strip signs," Paul Miller's 1966 rendering of the original Stardust sign, rendered in blue pen that attests to the visual elegance and energy that made this sign so significant.

Amid these visions one can inspect parts of actual, unrestored signs, such as the "G" and part of the scroll work from Kermit Wayne's 1964 update of the Golden Nugget's faãade, or the four-foot-tall letters spelling COIN from the Coin Castle's 1970 faãade. The combination of renderings with the signage itself gives the viewer an idea of what the Neon Museum eventually will be like, as do the models and architect's drawings for the building itself (which will also sit just across from the Reed Whipple).

As marvelous as the historical wealth of art and artifact is, the show includes a welcome surprise: several black-and-white, pen-and-ink drawings of the defunct signs in the boneyard by Brian Swanson. Swanson captures both the abstract charm of signs ripped from their context, plus the strange fairy tale quality of these ruins (a cartoon king's neon head, bulbs hanging from his crown, or the giant's ax of the Normandie Motel that once stood on Las Vegas Boulevard). The inclusion of an artist's interpretation of the legacy of Vegas' neon language points the way toward a contemporary and living tradition in art that certainly should be part of the museum's historical mission.

The only question is just when this vision will come to its full fruition. The Neon Museum has evolved slowly over the last few years, and doubtless needs funds to turn its vision into reality. Anyone who's unsure of their support for the venture only has to see the vision outlined in this exhibit to tip them, one hopes, into making a donation. Isn't the first truly Las Vegas museum of art worth it?