It appears that the Downtown Arts District is about to get a boost from the Strip.
Godt-Cleary Gallery Director Michele C. Quinn says plans are moving along to install an exhibition-only branch of the Mandalay Place gallery in an arts-district storefront. She was reluctant to go into details about the space, because a lease has yet to be signed, although that might happen soon. If everything goes according to plan, Godt-Cleary Projects, as the adjunct is to be called, should open in October with an exhibition of paintings, photographs and other works by actor Dennis Hopper.
The gallery is owned by Glenn and Renee Schaeffer. Glenn Schaeffer is president and chief financial officer of Mandalay Bay Resort Group, and is the founder of the International Institute of Modern Letters, which has headquarters in Las Vegas and Wellington, New Zealand. The local headquarters also plans a move Downtown, into a renovated Fifth Avenue School building.
Although the gallery and the institute are separate entities that will occupy sites in different parts of Downtown Las Vegas, their moves will mark, said Quinn, "the beginnings of something that really has a lot of potential to develop into a significant community" built around the arts. That would neatly serve Mayor Oscar Goodman's plans to rejuvenate Downtown along the model of an East Coast city center, with a variety of galleries, shops and apartments and condos.
"Hallelujah!" was the response of Diane Bush, president of the Contemporary Arts Collective at Downtown's Arts Factory, who said arts-district denizens had been hoping to attract more galleries.
"That'll push the quality of artwork that's Downtown to another level."
Jerry Misko, co-owner of Dust Gallery, echoed Bush's enthusiasm, and said he hoped Godt-Cleary's move indicated the arts district was maturing. "I've watched it grow from a little seed," said Misko. "I wish them the best. It'll be great to have them as neighbors."
Godt-Cleary Projects also might help project the nascent arts district into a month-long enterprise for local culture supporters, as opposed to a destination one Friday a month. "We've really been brainstorming about different projects outside of First Fridays," said Quinn, who suggested a one-night film festival as an example of an event that might attract people on another evening. She said she has been discussing the idea with other galleries in the district.
Quinn, who will direct both spaces, also said she's been talking with a gallery in Los Angeles about cooperative ventures, including joint exhibitions.
The Hopper exhibition will occupy both Godt-Cleary spaces, with larger pieces at Mandalay Place. It will include some of the actor's photographs of people involved in the 1960s art scene, when Hopper started collecting art. The following exhibition will feature the work of proto-Pop artist Robert Rauschenberg.
Far from closing or moving as Mandalay Bay merges with MGM Mirage, as some in the local arts scene had feared, Godt-Cleary is here to stay and is looking to increase its integration into the community, said Quinn.
"It's Glenn's forward thinking that's making this possible."