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Centered
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'Centered' Poster Design by Kenny Be
CENTERED:
Clark County's public art project "Centered" engages empty road islands throughout Clark County and beautifies them with art. This was an experiment to see how Public Art could enhance our roadways using local artist to create and install unique sculptures in various areas of the Las Vegas Valley. The Clark County Art Committee envisioned site-specific works that were grander and diverse in style and scope than the premanufactured artwork that has been popping up along our roadways. “While other pieces don’t come equipped with a storyline, Centered’s artworks respond to their respective environments in diverse ways while catering to the idea of community, place, neighborhoods and broad appeal,” wrote Kristen Peterson for Vegas Seven. The artists for the project were selected by a panel of local artists, arts educators, and a representative of the Clark County Public Works Department. The panel selected 10 local artists from more than 46 other artists who applied to create public art in 10 Clark County street medians. Clark County invites you to explore the photographs below and hopes that while you are driving around town that you will take the time to drive past these unique works of art. octosteam-gonzales.jpg Photo Clark County Visual Art
The Clark County Art Committee envisioned site-specific works that were grander and diverse in style and scope than the premanufactured artwork that has been popping up along our roadways. “While other pieces don’t come equipped with a storyline, Centered’s artworks respond to their respective environments in diverse ways while catering to the idea of community, place, neighborhoods and broad appeal,” wrote Kristen Peterson for Vegas Seven.
The artists for the project were selected by a panel of local artists, arts educators, and a representative of the Clark County Public Works Department. The panel selected 10 local artists from more than 46 other artists who applied to create public art in 10 Clark County street medians.
Clark County invites you to explore the photographs below and hopes that while you are driving around town that you will take the time to drive past these unique works of art.
https://main--clarkcountynv--aemsites.aem.page/assets/images/government/departments/parks___recreation/services/public_art/projects/octosteam-gonzales.jpg
Photo Clark County Visual Art
Adolfo Gonzalez "Octosteam"
Pecos-McLeod Interconnect On Pecos-McLeod, just South of Desert Inn Las Vegas, NV 89121
Adolfo R. Gonzalez was born in 1964, of Puerto Rican immigrants along with two sisters and three brothers.
Adolfo has always been motivated by the arts. Most of his life, it was and still is a high priority. At the young age of twelve years old, he won his first art competition at the Buckingham Art Show. After graduating from Orr High School in Chicago, Adolfo’s education continued at the Chicago Academy of Arts.
Adolfo has been blessed with many art achievements and commissions. Some of his
accomplishments include an athletic sculpture which hangs from the ceiling at the Pepsi Center for the Denver Nuggets located in Denver, CO. In 2008, an 8’ tall by 153’ long oil painting for McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, NV. This piece depicts the gradual history of Las Vegas as it relates to the strip. One of his paintings was purchased by Dixie College in Southern Utah as part of their personal collection. Adolfo partnered with three local Las Vegas artist and created the Doolittle Senior Center Ancestral Gateway sculpture. However, Adolfo’s most treasured and honored art piece is the Southern Nevada Law Enforcement Police sculpture commissioned by the City of Las Vegas, NV. The sculpture is a 26’ tall by 12’ wide and is a dedication piece to the fallen members of law enforcement for LVPD. Adolfo is very proud of this piece and has only continued to create wonderful works of art for the community of Las Vegas, NV.
Adolfo’s passion for art is never fulfilled. Once he completes a project, he eagerly seeks out his next masterpiece. His goal is to accept as many challenges, expectations, and explorations of every possible avenue.
https://www.diversifiedexpressionsinsanedesignz.com/
Photo Clark County Visual Art
Chris O'Rourke "Native Dance"
East Reno Ave at Kovall Las Vegas, NV 89119
Chris O’Rourke is a sculpture artist working out of Las Vegas, NV. He specializes in the design and production of commissioned pieces for private purchase, the architectural and interior design industry, and public sculpture projects.
Photo Clark County Visual Art
Miguel Rodriguez "Jaguar"
Winchester Cultural Center
3130 McLeod Drive Las Vegas, NV 89121
Miguel Rodriguez is a multi-media artist working out of Las Vegas, NV. Specializing in sculptures, murals, casting, and fabrication, Rodriguez currently holds the position of Faculty-in-Residence at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
https://miguelartrodriguez.com/home.html
Photo Clark County Visual Art
Jesse Smigel "I told you to not paint it Hot Orange"
Clark County Shooting Complex
11357 North Decatur Boulevard Las Vegas, Nevada 89131
Jesse Smigel is a sculpture artist working in Las Vegas, NV. He specializes in three dimensional public art and props and is the founder of Eccentric Sculpture and Props.
Photo Clark County Visual Art
Luis Varela-Rico "Norte y Sur"
On Eastern Ave. just North of Serene Las Vegas, NV 89123
Luis Varela-Rico is the sum of his parts. As a person, he is a diverse product of many influences. While his Mexican heritage deeply grounds his cultural and familial heritage, his professional education and career experience are uniquely positioned in the technological scape of Las Vegas, NV, USA.
As an artist, his diverse knowledge of machinery and their applications have formulated an artistic approach which integrates CNC, welding and CAD design formats to create a number of recognized public art projects and private commission pieces of sculpture.
Like many artists, Luis uses his aesthetic inspirations to influence and direct his viewpoint and design vocabulary. The sensibilities found in Japanese, Meso-America and Native American culture are but some of the visual cues observed in his work. Luis tirelessly continues to pursue new projects which shape who he is as an artist and person. Varela-Rico states, “As bodies of work come and go, they represent time capsules of who you were at a specific time. These time capsules allow for reflection and hopefully a sense of growth which can be fulfilling.”
Photo Clark County Visual Art
ZDC: Zak Ostrowski, Drew Gregory, & Clemente Cicoria "Arc Spine"'
Mountain Crest Park
4701 North Durango Drive Las Vegas, NV 89129
Zak Ostrowski is an artist, builder, and designer experienced with a variety of public art and architectural projects (locally and nationally). Time, place, and historical context are important themes in his work. He explores the natural and man-made world; combining elements of Mythology, Physics, Botany, and Cosmology. Mr. Ostrowski owns Zodiabula; a multi-faceted design-build studio. Zak brings over (12) years of professional experience in public art, architecture, fabrication, and construction. Zak graduated from UNLV with a Masters of Architecture in 2007 and then left for Miami to work on the design and historic restoration of the iconic Tudor and Palmer Hotels in Miami Beach’s famed Art Deco District. He currently resides in Downtown Las Vegas, NV.
Drew Gregory is a licensed architect, artist, and designer. His ultimate passion is seeing his art and design work become a reality; to create spaces that might change someone’s life. Art and Design are powerful tools that can help people and he feels blessed to be in this profession. His belief is that through good design work, we can help educate our communities and create a better built environment for younger generations. Under the mentoring of Eric Strain; he has been able to witness that no matter how small your firm is, one can make a huge impact in the community with hard work and passion. While working with assemblageSTUDIO, he has had the honor to be a part of several amazing award-winning projects and work with many incredible individuals.
Clemente Cicoria is a designer, artist, and skilled craftsman. With (15) years of architectural experience design has always been Clemente ‘s passion. As a first generation Italian American, Clemente spent all of his adolescent summers in Italy with his family. In Italy he learned to appreciate nature by working in “La Niviera” (the farm); the same land that his family has owned and worked for over eight generations. This great appreciation for the land propelled Clemente into a life long journey of becoming a designer.
Clemente studied at the Universita Degli Studi Architecture di Torino Italy before graduating magna cum laude with a Masters of Architecture from the University of Nevada Las Vegas. His 5th year project “urbanBLOCK” and his thesis project “Ngage” both received numerous AIA design excellence awards and publications. Additionally, he was recently published in an article titled “Deconstructing Vegas, Four Rising Architectural Talents Point the Way to Sin City’s Urban Future.”
Clemente has held several design positions in many notable design firms in Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Currently at YWS, Clemente is heavily involved in developing new creative design concepts and solutions for all types of projects.
Photos Clark County Visual Art
Robin Stark with Eric Pawloski. "Thumbs Up."
“Thumbs Up” piece was moved to Walnut Community Center. You can find these figures now welcoming the neighborhood to the Community Center.
Formerly at Pecos and Las Vegas Boulevard. Reinstalled at Walnut Recreation Center
3075 North Walnut Road
Las Vegas, NV 89115
Born in San Diego Robin Stark received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of California at Davis and her Master of Fine Arts from the Pennsylvania State University in tate College, Pennsylvania. Freelancing as a ceramic artist by marketing a body of work
at wholesale markets was appealing after graduation but a move to Nevada in the 90's restored her interest in making one-of-a-kind pieces, while working fulltime at an architectural firm coordinating public artwork and producing graphic design. Years passed and her original passion for art education brought her to the College of Southern Nevada Las Vegas where she leads the ceramic program as a full-time faculty member in the Fine Arts Department.
Grants and awards include recognition from City of Las Vegas, the City of Henderson and the Nevada Arts Council. Robin's ceramic work has also been awarded an Artist Fellowship, a Professional Development Travel Grant, an Artist Fellowship Honorable mention, a Project Grant and three Jackpot Grants from the Nevada Arts Council.
Professional service includes functioning as juror (most recent commitments to the City of Las Vegas 2025 Celebrating Life Exhibit), serving as a curator for various local exhibits, providing artist talks and demonstrations, and participating as a member to the Gallery Committee at the College of Southern Nevada. She has also been involved or lead several commissioned collaborative public art projects with the local community and CSN students. Most recently she was the Project Creative Director for the Student Ceramic Totem Sculpture installed at the Sculpture Garden at the CSN Fine Arts Gallery. In 2023, she was a part of the Design Team for the inaugural Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix Winner Trophies.
https://www.robinstarkstudio.net/
Eric Pawloski is an artist based in Las Vegas, NV. He currently serves as Art Preparator for the College of Southern Nevada.
Due to unforeseen events, three of the Centered pieces no longer exist. They are still very much a part of the history of the Centered project and will live on in the images below.
Photo Clark County Visual Art
K.D. Matheson "Anthropos"
Formerly Decatur just North of the 215
Photo Clark County Visual Art
Chris Bauder "Night Eyes"
Formerly Decatur and Flamingo
Photo Clark County Visual Art
Holly Ray Vaughn "Gem"
Formerly Windmill Just West of Rainbow
Media
- ‘‘Centered’: The Clark County public art project turning Las Vegas valley medians into art’ 8 News Now
- 'Cool heads prevail on Eastern Avenue median project' Las Vegas Sun
- 'Heads Up: Clark County's 'Centered' Public Art Program is Complete' Las Vegas Weekly
- Artist adds aliens to UFO as part of Clark County art program Las Vegas Review Journal
- Mind the Medians Vegas Seven