Images of insurgency
Businesses give artists canvas to record unrest
IN the days following mandatory stay at home orders in Nevada, the Las Vegas Arts District became a hub for public art that instilled messages of hope.
Now, almost three months later, the Arts District is once again becoming
home to contemporary artworks.
During the week of Juneteenth, two businesses in the Las Vegas Arts District covered their walls with art installations and murals that support the Black Lives Matter movement.
Five decades later
Las Vegas muralist and one of the founding artists of the Arts District, Dray, has completed a mural depicting Kathleen Cleaver, an organizer of the Black Panthers in the 1960s.
While watching the news, Dray,
54, says the current protests and demonstrations reminded him of growing up in Los Angeles during the 1992 riots that followed the acquittal of four police officers who beat Rodney King.
“Eighteen years later, it’s the same thing,” says Dray, who goes by one name. “the names have changed but the circumstances are the same. The Black Panthers movement started to challenge police brutality. It felt like a good time to express that, five decades later, the same thing is still a problem.”
The mural is located inside the Alt Rebel thrift store in Las Vegas. Its opening has been delayed due to coronavirus.
Store owner Taylor Rice says that her father owns artwork from Dray’s commercial business. She hired him to design a mural of his choosing on the store wall.
“I asked Dray who was the woman in the mural,” says Rice. “He told me it was Kathleen Cleaver and sent me Youtube videos. She was one of the original civil rights activists. It ties in with the idea of ‘rebel’ in the store. And what’s going on in today’s world.”
Dray says that he hopes customers will be inspired to ask who the woman in the mural is and do some research into her work with the
Black Panthers in the ’60s and ’70s, and her later years as an American professor of law.
“It was a boiling point when Rodney
King happened. And it’s a boiling point now with George Floyd,” says Dray. “Back then, protests were the majority one ethnic group. With what’s going on now, you see people of all cultures going to protests.”
Black Lives Matter
A few block away, Majestic Repertory Theatre covered the large spray-painted rolling door that read “Wash Ya Hands” with an art installation in partnership with experiential company Good All Day Collective.
The design is hundreds of vibrant graphic posters that have messages such as “No Justice No Peace” and “Black Lives Matter.” On the front of the building is a sculpture of a heart, composed of 1,500 yellow roses.
“A mutual friend asked if I would want it on the building, and it was an easy yes,” says Troy Heard, artistic director for Majestic. “It’s on Juneteenth so it celebrates and honors that day. They’re doing the install. I’m just providing space.”
Good All Day created an installation for a hair salon in Los Angeles after a major protest left the small business damaged and looted.
“A lot of stores were affected by looters, but the owners were saying that it was about the bigger picture,” says Amy von Rosen, co-founder and executive director of production and design for the company. “I was inspired and wanted to do something to beautify the stores and show support for the cause.”
Heard says that he expects the temporary installation to come down naturally, as protesters will pilfer the posters to use in demonstrations.
Last month, the theatre garnered attention when a mural of Mayor Carolyn Goodman and former Mayor Oscar Goodman was altered with face masks.
“Like I told people, I left those masks on because there was nothing offensive about it,” says Heard. “This is different. If you’re offended by someone saying ‘Black lives matter,’ you need to look inside yourself.”
Contact Janna Karel at jkarel@ reviewjournal.com. Follow @jannainprogress on Twitter.