The next time you drive in to work, head to the store or walk to the bus stop, look up. What you see might surprise you.
Billboards around the Las Vegas Valley have been transformed with the work of 10 local artists, thanks to a partnership between Save Art Space and Meow Wolf. Titled Portals & Pathways, the public art exhibition seeks to replace ads with the greatest promotion of all: the people of our community.
Work by Q’Shaundra James
Nonprofit Save Art Space began this mission back in 2015 in Brooklyn’s Bushwick neighborhood, where co-founder Travis Rix watched alcohol and clothing advertisements erase murals overnight. “That’s not why people are living here, and that’s not what artists want. … So we were like, we should do something about it.”
Save Art Space began raising money to fund public art installations around New York City. Soon, the projects expanded to more than 35 U.S. cities, with the work of more than 300 artists displayed on more than 600 ad spaces. Installations touch on important topics of the time. Some series have focused on ending police brutality and Asian hate; others have declared trans people are sacred.
Sometimes, Rix says, the artwork even includes members of the community, from autistic middle school children to senior citizens in their 90s. “It’s supposed to be meaningful, what you want to see on your billboards,” he says.
Spencer Olsen, art director of Meow Wolf Las Vegas, and four other Meow Wolf curators (Cultural Engagement Specialist Fawn Douglas, Programming & Outreach Manager Christy Sakamoto and Artist Liaison Robin Slonina) helped select the artists for Portals & Pathways. And sure, they could have plucked talent from any corner of the world, but highlighting locals “was a really important criteria,” he says. “There’s a lot of amazing talent in Vegas. … It’s a bit of an underserved community, and we’re trying as much as we can to undo that, or at least create a more healthy ecosystem for artists to be able to cycle projects and do cool stuff.”
Work by Joshua S. Levin
Olsen says that among roughly 250 submissions his team received, finding diverse talent mattered most. It searched for emerging artists, established artists, artists from every age group and from every cultural background—as many perspectives as possible, to bring the theme to life. To Rix, Portals & Pathways is still one big ad. “But this ad isn’t trying to sell you anything,” he says. “It’s just trying to open your mind.”
Olsen says the exhibition loosely calls back to Omega Mart’s narrative of “portals to other worlds opening.” But he also wanted to leave room for artists to develop their own meanings. The goal of the billboards, he says, is to shake up your routine.
“Maybe it makes someone’s day, just seeing something beautiful,” Olsen says. “There’s this thing we always fall back to as a foundation. Subverting expectations by presenting something familiar, but it’s new. It’s different. It’s intriguing. It makes you feel curious. If you’re used to seeing injury lawyer billboards … and instead you see this amazing painting or graphic art, it should give you pause.”
Where to view
Sameer Asnani: 3641 W. Sahara Ave.
Ruby Barrientos: 3890 W. Tropicana Ave.
Changoart: 3305 S. Decatur Blvd.
Nancy Good: 3355 Spring Mountain Road
Brian Henry: 2784 Las Vegas Blvd. S.
Q’Shaundra James: 3152 S. Highland Drive
Gem Jaxx: 6593 Las Vegas Blvd. S.
Joshua S. Levin: 1920 E. Sahara Ave.
Cristina Natsuko Paulos: 260 S. Decatur Blvd.
Joseph Watson: 4360 S. Decatur Blvd.
Portals & Pathways Through October 10, various locations, saveartspace.org/meowwolf
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