A piece by Robert Beckmann, featured in Barrick's Recent Acquisitions.

For all the exceptional artists who’ve had a presence in Las Vegas, there’s been little more than a paper trail to mark their time here, no solid heritage collection to showcase works, ideas and discussions that evolved or transpired—aside from a chunk of works in the Las Vegas Art Museum collection. And so when the Barrick Museum switched its focus from natural history to art, it moved swiftly to build one, and last week opened its Recent Acquisitions exhibit, dedicated to the creative force and pursuits in and around Las Vegas.

The show features work by Wendy Kveck, Daniel Habegger, Shawn Hummel, Sam Davis, Rita Abbey, Brent Sommerhauser, Danielle Kelly and more than two dozen others, including a handful of pieces donated to LVAM’s collection, which is housed at the Barrick. “We wanted to document what’s going on here now and form a solid collection,” says program director Aurore Giguet, adding that in the past six months the pursuit has sped up. Much of the work came to the Barrick with assistance from Shannon McMackin at VAST Space Projects, who helped bring in pieces by California artists Nicholas Shake, Patricia Burns and others who’ve shown (or participated in projects) here.

A piece by Erik Beehn, featured in Barrick's Recent Acquisitions.

Though the Valley’s gallery scene continues to be in flux, and career artists come and go, there’s now at least a place to celebrate, and learn from, the presence that’s been here.

Recent Acquisitions Through September 19; Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Saturday, noon-5 p.m. UNLV’s Barrick Museum, 702-895-3381.