The Smith Center Brings Class and Culture to Las Vegas

If you compiled a list of the most cultured cities in the world, Paris, London, and New York would undoubtedly rank exceedingly high, while Las Vegas, at least historically, probably would have fallen somewhere between Riverside and the woods where the Unabomber's cabin was located. But while it will take the world some time to change their perceptions of the glitzy gambling capital, the reality is that culture has indeed come to Sin City in the form of the breathtakingly beautiful Smith Center for the Performing Arts in Downtown.


The Arts Center boasts a classic art deco design inspired by The Hoover Dam, with a 17 story working bell tower, a 2,050 seat theater with a massive stage and orchestra pit, an intimate 250 seat Cabaret and Jazz venue, and a small theater built for community based performances and events. Original paintings hang on the walls throughout the buildings, and handcrafted sculptures are placed indoors and outdoors throughout the 5 acre campus.

The Center is surrounded by the peaceful and meticulously manicured Symphony Park, featuring more original artwork. Names of prominent backers (including, surprising to exactly no one, Downtown savior Tony Hsieh) are carved into marble in the stunning Grand Lobby that leads into the complex's centerpiece, the jaw-dropping (yes, I'm using many synonyms for the adjective "pretty," but The Smith Center is exceedingly pretty), multi-tiered 2,050 seat Reynolds Theater, where most of the Center's major events are staged.

The programming is diverse and designed to draw in the entire local community, as high culture performances are mixed in with more widely appealing commercial fare. March's extravagant opening night gala was hosted by Neil Patrick Harris (who must have a closet full of tuxedos after as it seems like he's emceeing or hosting a different classy event every weekend) and featured performances by Carole King, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Emmylou Harris, Mavis Staples, Jennifer Hudson, Joshua Bell, and John Fogerty. The Center is the home for the Las Vegas Philharmonic and Nevada Ballet Theater, as well as The Broadway Las Vegas series (which is bringing an ambitious slate of productions including Wicked, Mary Poppins, Memphis, The Million Dollar Quartet, Catch Me If You Can, La Cage, West Side Story, Billy Elliot, American Idiot, Beauty & The Beast, The Addams Family, Shrek, and Anything Goes to the city in its inaugural season), and is hosting performances from music and showbiz icons like Diana Krall, Pia Zadora, K.D. Lang, Chris Botti, and Steve Martin in the upcoming months.

The Smith Center has filled a void in Las Vegas that once seemed un-fillable, bringing actual honest-to-gosh culture to Sin City, with a diverse programming schedule designed to invite the entire community to celebrate the arts. Beautifully designed and smartly curated, The Smith Center for the Performing Arts is a shining triumph in Downtown's metamorphosis from a post-apocalyptic wasteland filled with empty lots, drug dealers, and low-rent hookers into a vibrant, creative, and thriving community.

No offense to low-rent hookers; they deserve to experience the arts as much as anyone.

Escape from Douchebaggery, Part 20: Artifice Bar

Oh, how far we've come. 20 recommendations for non-douchey, bro-free activities in Las Vegas. And some of you probably started reading this blog thinking it was a gimmick, that Las Vegas had nothing to offer those who identify as hipsters (or those who deny that they're hipsters even though they totally are). Yet I've only gotten started.

As you've no doubt noticed (and I haven't failed to point out in an insecure hedge where I criticize myself before you can), most of the places I've recommended have been located off The Strip and in Downtown. A few years ago, the thought of recommending great places in Downtown (unless you were looking to score a hooker or some meth) was nearly unimaginable. Just a few years ago, Las Vegas was less than friendly to the artsty, alt., and indie types. But the city, which has a history of changing directions every few years, is shaking off it's old skin and regenerating into something new, Doctor Who, style.

And Downtown in particular continues to evolve into its own unique brand of awesome. While the neighborhood did decently attracting people to The Fremont Street Experience as a kind of low-rent alternative to The Strip, the current movers and shakers in the area are thinking of the neighborhood as its own entity. Downtown is becoming a unique neighborhood that is equally friendly to locals as it is to tourists, as new and unique businesses are opening in the area all the time. The Artifice Bar, located in the middle of the area's growing art's district, is a perfect example of the neighborhood's exciting and creative expansion.

The Artifice opened just over a year ago, but the place became hub for the hipsteratti almost immediately. It's easy to see why local hipsters adopted the artsy place as their own, because the bar gives off a unique vibe even when viewed from the outside, with an old-school neon sign announcing that you've arrived and cheeky comic-strip style art inviting you inside.

Located next to Bar + Bistro in a brick building that was started as an electrical warehouse and was once used as a laundry facility for the Lady Luck Hotel, the interior is massive, with two wood-floored lounge-style rooms and a performance space. The lounge rooms feature long leather couches that are perfect for cuddling up for some dimly lit private time with that special someone. Paintings and photographs from local artists hang on the black stenciled and exposed cinder block walls. Because all the works on display are for sale, interesting new artwork constantly rotates in to replace pieces that have been sold, so there's always something new to see.


The performance space is decently sized, with a large stage where some of the best local bands and comedians in town perform in a room with chalkboard walls where artists can draw ephemeral works, lending a cool interactive vibe to the space. The venue is always one of the best places to check out great music during the monthly First Fridays Art Walk.

The quirky touches continue even in the bathrooms, where vintage televisions hang above the urinals. Local artists contributed to the design of the entire place, which explains the unique and forward thinking details embedded throughout.

The bartenders serve an amazing selection of cocktails on a black marble bar top (as Artifice is yet another place I easily could have covered in my review of Las Vegas cocktail culture). The talented mixologists serve artfully named Cocktails like The Warhol, Alice in Wonderland, Nicky Free, Taming of the Shrew (made with Absinthe, Gin, Lime, Soda, Lime, and Sour), and The Charleston (a delicious Old-Fashioned-like concoction made with Maker's, Bitters, Sugar, and a sprtiz of Seltzer and garnished with Cherries and Orange Slices). Artifice also carries an excellently curated boutique Wine list and a small yet decent selection of beer (including a few good Crafts).


The most impressive trick that Artifice pulls off is balancing all of the artsy elements, such as their quirky design, artwork on display, and outside the box Cocktail selection, while simultaneously remaining totally unpretentious and fun. Sure the place attracts a hipster crowd, but everyone I encountered was chilled out instead of "too cool for school." This is a hipster bar for people who hate hipsters (or at least claim to hate hipsters).

First Friday Festival Celebrates The Vegas Art Scene (No Seriously, It Exists)

The Bellagio art gallery notwithstanding, Vegas is not really known as a great town for art; or at least it wasn't in the past.

For nearly a decade, the First Friday Art Festival has brought together the arts community in a city better known for neon lights and topless revues. A group of streets in Downtown are shut down to traffic and turned into an art crawl that draws children, hipsters, retirees and the rest of the local community for a monthly event that's turned into a tradition.

Galleries along the crawl open their doors and feature new works from interesting local and visiting artists. Bands from around town play in the bars and on the street. Fire breathers, ice sculptors and fortune tellers provide atmosphere along the crawl. Kids (and adults who are kids at heart) are encouraged to make their own art on the street with chalk. Food vendors and local restaurants offer up their latest tasty concoctions. Best of all, it all takes place with the more touristy sites of The Strip pushed into the background.

The whole thing is pretty Utopian; a fun and exciting celebration of art and creativity embraced by a community that continues to evolve. In a city defined by spectacle, bombast, hype and elaborate fakery, First Fridays is further proof that there's more to Las Vegas than meets the eye.