Clark County is hosting the “Remembering 1 October” exhibit from Monday, Sept. 29 through Thursday, Oct. 9 in the Rotunda Gallery, located on the first floor of the Clark County Government Center in downtown Las Vegas at 500 S. Grand Central Parkway. Building hours are 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday.
The exhibit features a selection of items from the Clark County Museum’s 22,000-piece 1 October collection including banners, letters, cowboy hats, stuffed animals and mementos left at the Welcome to Las Vegas sign and other locations as offerings of grief and support following the attack at the Route 91 Harvest Festival on Oct. 1, 2017.
“The anniversary of 1 October is an important time to honor the lives that were lost in a horrendous act of violence and also to remember the strength that our community demonstrated in our darkest hour,” said Clark County Commission Chairman Tick Segerblom. “Those who suffer are not alone or forgotten. The anniversary is an opportunity to show our ongoing support for one another, express gratitude for our first responders and everyday heroes who sprang into action to help those in need, and to celebrate our resiliency as a community.”
Renderings of the Forever One Memorial will be showcased as part of the exhibit. The concept, created by JCJ Architecture, was selected in 2023 to serve as the community’s permanent memorial by Clark County’s 1 October Memorial Committee and approved by the County Commission following an extensive effort to gather ideas and input from the public. The Vegas Strong Fund, a local nonprofit group that has been involved with many 1 October-related charitable endeavors, was chosen by the Clark County Commission to oversee construction and fundraising efforts to build the memorial. A public three-year fundraising campaign was launched in 2024 with the goal of having the memorial in place by the 10th Remembrance in 2027. Details about the effort are available at foreveronememorial.org/support. Following the eighth annual Sunrise Remembrance Ceremony at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 1, representatives from the Vegas Strong Fund will be present in the Rotunda to connect with the community, answer questions, and share updates on the memorial. Staff from the Resiliency and Justice Center also will be present to offer support to anyone in need.
“Clark County continues to be committed to remembering the lives that have been changed forever as a result of 1 October and to creating a memorial that will stand as a tribute to the unity forged within our community in the face of unspeakable tragedy,” said Clark County Commissioner Jim Gibson, whose Commission district includes the festival site where the incident occurred. “Our annual exhibit and remembrance ceremony are important ways to embrace those who suffer and to remember the tremendous strength and resiliency we continue to demonstrate as a community.”
The “Remembering 1 October” exhibit also will include The Art of Healing mural and Angels of Love displays created in remembrance of the first anniversary of 1 October, and a sculpture featuring two glass butterflies with purple and orange wings entitled El Camino Illuminado, “The Lighted Path,” to represent those who have succumbed to their injuries in the years after 2017. The Art of Healing Mural was created by local artists and students at Las Vegas Academy of the Arts high school. It contains nine large panels with teddy bear images representing the 58 lives lost the night of the tragedy on Oct. 1, 2017, and condolence messages the public was invited to write the first year it was on display. The Angels of Love exhibit was created by a California-based nonprofit as a gift to Clark County and the community. It contains stained-glass angels in remembrance of those who perished and the hundreds who were injured, as well as memorabilia dedicated to first responders who assisted victims.
“The tragedy at the Route 91 festival touched everyone who lives here and is part of our history,” said Clark County Commissioner Marilyn Kirkpatrick, who has worked closely with the survivor community. “It was a time of tremendous sadness and tremendous unity. It’s important to continue to support all those who were affected and also to take pride in our community’s response to the tragedy. Countless caring citizens sprang into action to offer love and support. It showed the world a side to Las Vegas that many people didn’t know existed.”
The Clark County Museum launched a significant effort to collect, catalogue and preserve the thousands of items left at the Welcome sign and other locations to help tell the story of how our community reacted to the mass shooting. More than 60 volunteers spent 18 months cataloging artifacts. Photographs of the items in the museum’s Remembering 1 October Collection are on its website at ClarkCountyNV.gov. Appointments can be made to view items that are in storage. The museum also is collecting stories about items left at memorial sites. An online form to share information is on its website.
A list of community-related 1 October remembrance events scheduled during September and October is available on the Resiliency & Justice Center’s website at www.resilencyandjustic.org.The organization, formerly called the Vegas Strong Resiliency Center, was established by Clark County, the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada and other community partners in the days following the 1 October tragedy.
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Clark County is a dynamic and innovative organization dedicated to providing top-quality service with integrity, respect and accountability. With jurisdiction over the world-famous Las Vegas Strip and covering an area the size of New Jersey, Clark is the nation’s 11th-largest county and provides extensive regional services to 2.4 million citizens and 45.6 million visitors a year (2023). Included are the nation’s 5th-busiest airport, air quality compliance, social services and the state’s largest public hospital, University Medical Center. The County also provides municipal services that are traditionally provided by cities to 1 million residents in the unincorporated area. Those include fire protection, roads and other public works, parks and recreation, and planning and development.