Mid-Century Modern Las Vegas at the Nevada State Museum: How the Exhibit Works

Dateline:  Las Vegas

Guest Blogger:  Dennis McBride, Curator of History, Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas

 

When Lynn asked me to guest blog about the Nevada State Museum’s upcoming Mid-Century Modern Las Vegas exhibit, she wanted me to share how I chose the images that will be exhibited, and how I decided what examples of Mid-Century domestic and decorative arts to use in the cases.

Museum patrons who see finished exhibits don’t know what goes into building displays--they either like what they see or they don’t, and that depends upon how well or how badly the curator has put everything together. I work with a great deal of intuition, but once in awhile--accidentally, it seems--I work deliberately. Lemme see what I can tell you about our new exhibit.

To be frank, I didn’t know very much about Mid-Century Modern architecture and style until the Lynn and the museum sponsored the Mid-Century event last October 3. I got hooked, and wanted to do something with material that no one had seen before, or had not seen in more than a generation. The museum has in its archives the photograph collection of J. Florian Mitchell, who was renowned as a photographer in New York in the 1920s, ‘30s, and ‘40s, before coming to Las Vegas in the early 1950s.

When I came to work here in 2007, part of my self-appointed task was to reorganize the photo collection and make it more accessible. When I dug through Mitchell’s thousands of prints and negatives in the museum’s vault, I was astounded at the breadth of his Las Vegas subjects, which included images photographers ordinarily wouldn’t care much about recording. In addition to hotels, casinos, and Las Vegas celebrities, I found images of long vanished shopping centers, banks, motels, restaurants, schools, and government buildings. Nearly all of these were taken in the 1950s and ‘60s, during the height of the Mid-Century Modern movement. I saw images that gave me an entirely different idea of what Las Vegas once looked like, and how perfectly it fit into the Mid-Mod style for a relatively brief period of time. How could I publicize these photos in a way that would inspire Las Vegans to look at their city’s past in a different way? Motivated by Lynn’s enthusiasm, I started planning a Mid-Century Modern exhibit of Las Vegas’s past.

With so many images to choose from, how would I pick what best represented Las Vegas architecture in the 1950s and ‘60s? Lynn made an initial search through the collection, and I made a second and third, mining the negatives for what I thought people might like to see. Rather than choose images of familiar landmarks, I largely chose photos of buildings that are either vanished or so changed that their present appearance bears no resemblance to the original. For example, the original McCarran International Airport today seems mysterious, alien, and beautiful in its Mid-Modern simplicity. The original rotunda of the Las Vegas Convention Center seems far more substantial than the present stack of boring blocks. Maude Frazier Hall at UNLV sits behind its lawn looking cool, elegant, and more inviting than the gravel lot that replaced it last year. With these and other images, I’ve tried to show that Las Vegas then was far more architecturally daring and beautiful than it is today.

So far, so good for the images--but I also wanted the exhibit to ground patrons in that period in a way that two-dimensional images cannot. I needed artifacts that people could relate to personally. I decided to include an exhibit of Mid-Century “domestic and decorative arts.” Think dishes, pots and pans, utensils, ashtrays, vases, cook books and recipe boxes. How would such objects convey a sense of Mid-Century modernity? Through their shape, their material, and their use. When people think of the 1950s and ‘60s from this perspective, they think of Pyrex, Tupperware, and Melmac; they think biomorphic, boomerangs, parabolas, rounded squares, domes; they think pink, turquoise, and chartreuse. We took those shapes and colors as the frame for the exhibit hall, and then I went on a six-month search through Goodwill, Salvation Army, Savers, and whatever yard sales I drove by for exhibit items. I built a case of colorful melamine dishware; fanciful Pyrex casseroles, carafes, butter dishes and nested bowls; bright orange Tupperware measuring spoons; a set of Russel Wright’s American Modern dishes in chartreuse, with their strange biomorphic shapes; a vintage Teflon-coated sauce pan with a sweeping lid; a garish green-and-gold leaf dish from a California pottery; and a black, understated Hyalyn pottery bowl.

These are artifacts to which people can relate: Grandma cooked green-bean casseroles in a Pyrex bowl just like that Moon Deco piece with the big red dot; Mom kept a pair of Scandinavian Modern candlesticks just like those on the sideboard in her dining room; my uncle, who smoked Chesterfields, kept an ashtray like that on his nightstand; we thought nothing of eating chicken rolled in bleached white flour and fried in Crisco.

That’s how we did it, and we hope you like it. Mid-Century Modern Las Vegas will be the last major exhibit the Nevada State Museum presents before its move in 2011 to new digs at the Las Vegas Springs Preserve.

Mid-Century Modern Exhibit at the Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas

 

This is going to be a wonderful event.  Dennis McBride, Tom Dyer, Wes, Paul and the crew at the State Museum have been working on this exhibit for months.  Some of the decorative arts on display are from Dennis' own fabulous Mid-Century Modern collection.

The photos, of course, are from the wonderful J. Florian Mitchell collection that we have talked about here and that were part of the inspiration for our wonderful Mid-Century Modern day last fall.

I am hoping that Dennis can do a blog piece about choosing the photos and items for the exhibit so stay tuned.

In the meantime, be sure to RSVP to Stacy Irvin as you don't want to miss this wonderful homage to Mid-Century Modern Las Vegas!

Honoring the Segerbloms

 

 

 

Friend of Classic Las Vegas member, Curator of History at the Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas and my good friend, Dennis McBride contributed this piece about a recent exhibit of Cliff Segerblom's work at the Las Vegas Springs Preserve.

On Monday, March 15, 2010 the Las Vegas Springs Preserve opened an exhibit of noted Nevada artist Cliff Segerblom’s photography in its Big Springs Gallery, an event which also served as a celebration of the 92nd birthday of Cliff’s wife, former Nevada State Assemblywoman Gene Segerblom. More than a hundred guests toured Cliff’s photos in gallery and honored Gene for her service to the state.

Cliff Segerblom [1915-1990] has been more recognized for his watercolor and acrylic paintings which chronicled the American Southwest, particularly Nevada's vanished frontier, its mining and farm towns, its rivers, canyons, deserts, and mountains. But his photography, the medium with which he began his career in 1939 when the Bureau of Reclamation hired him to photograph the Boulder Canyon Project, hasn’t gained the attention and following it deserves.

When Cliff died in 1990, his wife, Gene, donated his photographs and negatives to the Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas, from which the Springs Preserve’s exhibit was drawn. While many of his photographs served as models for Cliff’s paintings, the photos themselves are true works of art, few of which have ever been seen in public until now.

The March 15th opening of Cliff Segerblom’s photography exhibit was also a celebration of Gene Segerblom’s 92nd birthday. Teacher, writer, and politician, Gene Segerblom has long been one of the most influential people in Nevada.

In the early years of their marriage, Gene, Cliff, and their two children, Richard “Tick” and Robin, traveled the West, where Gene wrote feature stories for such publications as Desert Magazine, Arizona Highways, Nevada Highways and Parks, Nevada Magazine, and dozens of others. She was an inspiring teacher in the Boulder City schools, and served as a Boulder City councilwoman and in the Nevada State Assembly for four terms.

Gene, in fact, was a third-generation Nevada politician: her mother, Hazel Bell Wines, and grandfather, William J. Bell, both served in the Nevada legislature. Gene’s son, Richard Segerblom, elected to the state Assembly in 2006, is the fourth generation of Gene’s family to serve in the legislature.

 Just a week later, on March 27, the Southern Nevada Women’s History Project honored Gene at the 2nd Annual Nevada Women’s History Celebration at the West Charleston Library in Las Vegas. As part of a This Is Your Life spoof, when Gene rose to speak to the audience, out from behind the stage curtain to share their “Gene Stories” came Nevada Congresswoman Shelley Berkeley; Nevada Senator Dina Titus; Nevada State Senator David Parks; Clark County Commissioner and former legislator Chris Giunchigliani; Nevada State Assemblyman Lynn Stewart; and a representative from Nevada Senator Harry Reid, who presented Gene with a congratulatory letter from the Senate Majority Leader.

 


 

Brian Paco Alvarez talks Culture in Las Vegas

Brian Paco Alvarez is the Curator of the Las Vegas News Bureau Archive and an Urban Historian.  He is also a native Las Vegan long involved in the cultural arts of our favorite neon city.

He took a few minutes to talk about culture, art and urban history with us:

1) As a native Las Vegan, how has the city changed since you were a kid and what do you think of the changes?

 

Oh my goodness has Las Vegas changed. It is not the small city that I grew up in but looking at the Strip I am excited to see it finally fill in and have tall structures that are part of any city. As a child I was fortunate to spend several years living in New York and New Jersey with family and I was always fascinated with tall buildings. So when Las Vegas resorts began reaching for the sky it reminded of what New York was like. Of course buildings do not make a city but large concentrations of people do. Unfortunately Las Vegas decided to spread its population out rather than try to encourage the population to live in the core; this has been a trend that was set many years ago.

 

Las Vegas is definitely a tale of two cities; the greater Las Vegas Metro area and the Strip. For better or for worse the communities out of control growth caused us great headaches over the last 25 years. Our community’s leaders have done a poor job of proper planning and this lack of leadership is self evident by the urban sprawl that has gripped the city in all directions.

 

The greater Las Vegas metropolitan area definitely did not learn any lessons from Los Angeles and allowed increasing tax revenues to blind them when it came to planning. Luckily with the economic downturn over the last two years the city is learning major lessons in urban planning. Many suburban areas have become ghost towns and people are slowly moving back to the city core where the redevelopment of Downtown will be the economic driving engine of the city for the foreseeable future. We are very fortunate that Mayor Oscar B. Goodman understands the importance of a vibrant city core and his perseverance in the redevelopment of Downtown sets the stage for Las Vegas to develop a new and creative economy outside of the gaming sector. It is a good time to be living in Las Vegas for the renaissance has begun.  

 

 

2) There is a popular myth that people believe: "There is no culture in Las Vegas", as one of the leading advocates for the Arts in Las Vegas, how do you respond to that myth?

 

The myth is propagated by the fact that recent transplants always compare Las Vegas to the communities they came from. I am willing to guarantee that most of the people who complain more than likely did not participate in their former community’s cultural assets. It is self evident when I attend the opera, the symphony or most cultural activities by the audiences that attend these events. In many instances I am one of the youngest people in the audience. Usually those who do attend those events are seniors who retired to Las Vegas and immediately enculturated themselves to the culture of their new home. Whereas recent transplants of my age are the ones who always claim there is no culture in Las Vegas yet you rarely see them at the opera.

 

Yes there is culture the problem is simple, “newbees” are not willing to seek it out nor are they willing to participate in helping further the arts in their new home.

 

3) What partnerships would you like to see the City of Las Vegas and Clark County pursue regarding arts and culture?

 

I have always been an advocate of consolidation. It is in my strongest belief that the City of Las Vegas should annex North Las Vegas and the townships of Paradise, Winchester, Sunrise Manor, Spring Valley, Enterprise and Whitney.

 

With that said Clark County should work closely with the city in the preservation of its historic neighborhoods and in the development of a separate cultural affairs division outside of parks and recreation. Why reinvent the wheel when the City of Las Vegas has the expertise in this area.

 

A series of special districts should be created around the community that foster redevelopment especially in the area of cultural arts infrastructure. These districts would encourage creative businesses to relocate there and create synergistic centers. These districts could be located around the University, Commercial Center, China Town, around the campus of College of Southern Nevada on West Charleston and Cheyenne. The county has begun this in earnest but more focus needs to be given to it especially in lieu of the current economic realities.

 

4) Aside from a core group of supporters, Historic Preservation still feels like it is under-rated and under supported not only by the City and the County but by the residents of Las Vegas as well.  What suggestions do you have for making historical preservation more important to the local municipalities and the community at large?

 

The solution is very simple, “education.” The preservation groups must be willing to step forward and work closely with our community leaders to educate them about the treasures in which we as a society have been entrusted to care for. Las Vegas is a new city therefore we must find novel ways of explaining to the public that the buildings that were built 40 and 50 years ago are relevant to history because of the context in which they were built.

 

This community has a spectacular ephemeral past and we must use those collections whether they are from UNLV Special Collection, the Nevada State Museum or the Las Vegas News Bureau to educate the public about preserving our past. Unfortunately we do not have many large commercial buildings left to preserve but we have thousands of historic homes in dozens of historic neighborhoods that we should be preserved. Demonstrating to the public the importance of preserving these neighborhoods is key, not to mention it helps sustain property values. We must demonstrate to the public the economic value of historic preservation. Economics always resonates with the American public no matter what community you may live in.

 

5) You are currently the curator of the Las Vegas News Bureau collection but you have also worked at the Liberace Museum and the Neon Museum.  What do you think of the Liberace museum's plans to move to the Strip?  And what do you think of the Neon Museum's partnerships to restore classic signs and repurpose them?

 

Well if history has taught us anything museums on the Strip do not work. Let us look at the Guggenheim as a prime example of this. If the leadership of the Liberace Museum feel they have a better formula then I wish them G-dspeed. But in my honest professional opinion a move to the Strip means they cease being a museum and from what I have gathered so far that is their goal. In the end they become another attraction like Titanic: the Exhibition and Bodies. 

 

As far as the Neon Museum; I have had the honor to be their interim Curator and benchmark to my time at the museum I was tasked to write a Curatorial Plan based upon their collections management policies that they had in place when I took over the collection. I believe that the museums rehabilitation and exhibition of their classic signs is a very prudent move.

 

During my tenure with the museum the board discussed at length this very subject and with the curatorial plan, they have a primer to base their decisions on. So far from what I have observed the plan is working beautifully. The museum is using its collection as a way to educate the public about this important architectural vernacular by exhibiting these artifacts in a public forum yet at the same time maintaining the Boneyard for the public to enjoy.

 

6) As a key supporter of the Arts District, where do you see it going in the next few years?

 

The seeds of the arts district were planted many years by a small group of visionaries who saw the areas potential and it is recently that those seeds have begun to blossom.

With the renaming of the neighborhood to 18b, representing the original 18 blocks of the arts district, the recent opening of the Modernist Brett Wesley Gallery and the soon to be completed ACE Rapid Transit System on the Casino Center corridor the stage is set for what will become an interesting set of growth patterns over the next few years. As I mentioned previously the city has made great strides in the redevelopment of Downtown and they have taken a leadership role in encouraging businesses and people to relocate into the city core. Everything that the city has done thus far has been trending positive and we hope that this trend will continue.

 

7) The new City Center on the Strip, what are your thoughts?  Is it the direction the Strip is going to go in when the economy recovers?

 

Projects like City Center come around once in a generation and it is doubtful that we will see anything of that scale and magnitude built in Las Vegas in the foreseeable future. I do not want to conjecture too much about the project since I am still carefully studying it. City Center deserves a very well thought of and critical approach and one that looks at all facets of its development. Because of its sheer size and scope one must look at it three dimensionally rather than opine as most people do. I would rather study the project as more than just another resort on the Strip; it is far too important socially and economically than looking at it ephemerally.  I will say this that City Center is a project that has left me thinking in ways that other Las Vegas projects have not. I love the challenge and I am up for it wholeheartedly.

What we will be seeing on the Strip as the economy recovers is the reinvestment and updating of older properties along the Strip. A prime example of this is the literal re-invention of Caesars Palace over the last fifteen years. Rather than tear down and rebuilt they have very successfully remodeled the older elements of the property and brought them together with new elements into an architecturally consistent project that in many ways resembles the mixture of buildings in ancient Rome. Caesars has and will always be my favorite Las Vegas resort.