Best Neighborhood Art Gallery: Sahara West Library
Peccole Ranch’s cultural epicenter is the no-brainer selection here. It housed the Las Vegas Art Museum until 2009; the library district art department subsequently made good use of those three airy rooms that invite many of the branch’s patrons, many who probably don’t regularly visit contemporary art facilities. It’s a space where sculptures just might come alive, where paintings stand out, and where local artists are afforded a large and stately exhibit. – MP
lvccld.org/gallery-exhibits
Best Artist You Probably Don’t Know But Should: Bobbie Ann Howell
Cutting shapes in paper sounds like a kids craft project — unless Howell is holding the X-Acto. In a town slavishly devoted to spectacle, her precise, intricate, cut-paper works, which evoke nature, the elements, and landscape (“things vital for life,” Howell says), have a beguiling sotto voce presence. The obvious patience required to make them speaks to an aesthetic of slowness, close attention, care, and beauty — more things vital for life. See for yourself: She’ll exhibit new pieces in the Desert National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center in December. – SD
Best Public Art to Prompt Your Imagination: Dream Machine by Wayne Littlejohn
Too bad this piece languishes in a park by the airport. We’d wager that most passing drivers barely register its enigmatic beauty. But get close, really engage. Depending on your frame of mind, its spiraling mushroom shape might allude to the dark technologies unleashed by nearby atomic testing — or to a prehistoric jellyfish from the sea that once covered this land. Or, with its War of the Worlds aspect, perhaps it’s a signal from that part of our psyche that conjures alien worlds. Choose your own adventure. – SD
clarkcountynv.gov
Best Show to Get Cooking in the Kitchen, but Not With Food: Melody Sweets’ Sweet Spot
Most cooking shows are just time-clocked competition punctuated by personal adversity soundbites. For something a bit more savory, the web series Melody Sweets’ Sweet Spot blends cooking, comedy, costumes, and cheesecake — the pinup kind — into appetizing bites. Sweets, the original Green Fairy in Absinthe, mixes up treats like ruby chocolate pistachio cannoli or peanut butter banana bourbon cake while juggling guests from mafiosi to zombies, Elvis impersonators to the Virgin Mary herself. – LTR
sweetsspottv.com
Best Impresario: Miss Behave
The cliché of Vegas showrooms and cruise ships is that they’re for the safest, dullest of entertainment, but the career of Miss Behave, aka Amy Saunders, proves the opposite. Saunders broke into Vegas with her Miss Behave Game Show at the former Bally’s, then moved Downtown to create Mavericks, a sexy, silly, subversive variety show. Versions of her game show now ride the high seas on Virgin Voyages, and this fall she’ll open a bigger, better version of Miss Behave’s Mavericks at the Plaza, with an ever-changing roster of circus and comedy, burlesque and the bizarre. – LTR
mavericksdtlv.com
Best Safe Space for Violence: PrideStyle ProWrestling
You’re probably familiar with WWE, AEW, but don’t overlook the local PrideStyle, inclusive pro wrestling with two rules: no bigots and all bangers. The local talent is explosive, the storylines are exciting, and the action is up close and personal. Begun in 2021, the monthly event takes place in various downtown locations. – KDS
instagram.com/pridestylepro
Best Nevadan in Need of a Biopic: Hank Greenspun
In the 1960s, Greenspun, publisher of the Las Vegas Sun, released a book about his life, Where I Stand. If you read it, you might think it’s fiction. Moving to Las Vegas after stellar service in World War II, Greenspun worked as Bugsy Siegel’s PR man, ran guns to the recently founded State of Israel, and started the valley’s first TV station. The Watergate burglars admitted they planned to raid his office safe for a political document. He was one of the first to deride the red-baiting Sen. Joseph McCarthy — as well as his supporter, Nevada Sen. Pat McCarran. Greenspun played a role in ending segregation on the Strip. In 1979, he traveled to the Middle East with President Jimmy Carter to help broker peace between Egypt and Israel. Somewhere in there, he published a newspaper, wired the valley for cable, and founded a local real estate empire. A 2008 documentary didn’t do the man justice. A big life demands a big movie. – JS
Best Grassroots Spoken-Word Organization: Poetry Promise
Kept alive by former Clark County poet laureates, namely Bruce Isaacson and Vogue Robinson, Poetry Promise began as an award supporting student work and, in the past decade, has grown into an active, full-fledged arts nonprofit. Responsible for bringing several poet laureates from around the country to Las Vegas for readings — including two U.S. ones, Ada Limón and Joy Harjo, that I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing while they’re here — the organization also runs multiple school and community programs, from live slams to the Alzheimer’s Poetry Project. My word! Literally. – HK
facebook.com/poetrypromiseinc
Best Place to Hear Words: Segue Terrace at The Beverly Theater
Sure, a few factors have to align in order for this venue, where The Writer’s Block presents many of its readings, to max out its charm: the weather, Sixth Street traffic, the treeful of yakkity birds across the way. But when it all works, the outdoor setting and The Beverly’s architectural rizz combine for a relaxed, cosmopolitan vibe ideal for a literary experience. Yet the city remains distantly present, reminding us that literature functions in our world, not apart from it. – SD
thebeverlytheater.com/lit
Best Big Fish in a Small Literary: Nicholas Russell
Desert Companion readers already know this guy’s byline, and a growing number of readers beyond this city are becoming familiar with it, too. He’s written sharp, admirably clear-eyed, sometimes brutally candid journalism, criticism, pop cultural analysis, and dispatches from Vegas for publications across the intellectual spectrum — from the brainy (The Baffler, for whom he dismantled the myth of Tony Hsieh) to the saucy (Defector, Vice) to the straight-up literary (The Believer, McSweeney’s) and many, many more. – SD
nicholasrussell.me
Best Excuse to Jump Back in a Mosh Pit: Twist Off!
Formerly known as White Noise, pop punk trio Twist Off is good enough to risk a fractured bone or two. They are coming off a new album in 2023 and a performance at this year’s Punk Rock Bowling, and their fast-paced anthems against authority demand explosive two-stepping. If you enjoy bands such as Green Day or Turnstile, check them out. – EDV
instagram.com/twistofflv
Best Strip Music Bookings: Brooklyn Bowl
As venues on the Boulevard bend toward exclusive engagements and residencies, Brooklyn Bowl remains dedicated to touring acts — especially those beyond the mainstream. That’s been the programming ethos of the concert-hall-with-bowling-facility since its 2014 opening. From the punk and metal that’s always thrived here, to the live electronic acts countering the megaclub DJs, to the ascendant hip-hop acts rarely present elsewhere, to the improvisational outfits often booked during the weekend stands of bigger
jam bands, Brooklyn Bowl remains the Strip’s go-to for musical alternatives. – MP
brooklynbowl.com/las-vegas
Best LGBTQ+ Spot: The Phoenix
Whatever your go-to LGBTQ+ spot is missing, the Phoenix has it. A patio? Dance floor? Golden Knights watch parties? A patronage that truly spans the queer spectrum, with a fair helping of straight allies to boot? The only LGBTQ+ bar west of I-15 has all of that and more. The Phoenix occupies a unique space between the community’s nightclubs and bars, where parties truly feel like parties — especially when they’re themed — but the off-peak hours are relaxed and comfortable. Consider this your queer third place. – MP
thephoenixlv.com
Best Off-Strip Music Booker: Jonathan Parker, AREA 15
When AREA 15 first opened, many were confused by its unique mix of activities. Turns out, that variety may be its secret sauce. Parker, AREA 15’s entertainment marketing director, books some of the hottest tickets in off-Strip entertainment from across the musical spectrum. From well-known to underground artists, raves, and dance nights, AREA 15 is a safe bet for nightlife seekers staying off the Boulevard. – MU
instagram.com/106andpark_r
Best New Strip Splurge: Sphere
Joël Robuchon. Louis Vuitton. Nightclub bottle service. Those are the #goals of so many locals with major FOMO (and major wallets). The Sphere can now be added to that list. U2 was required attendance among rock fans when it played the 20,000-capacity venue, despite $300-and-up secondhand tickets. And families across the valley have made an outing of Darren Aronofsky’s Postcard From Earth, forking over $94-$279 a head. Is it worth it? Ask the hundreds of thousands still dropping Benjamins — and their jaws. – MP
thesphere.com
Best Venue in Need of a Steady Promoter: The AMP at Craig Ranch Regional Park
Heat has long been the scapegoat for our dearth of outdoor theaters, yet, somehow, even-hotter Phoenix fills two successful amphitheaters. The 10,000-capacity AMP may not threaten the Hollywood Bowl for best-in-the-West status, but it’s a solid, expansive, well-designed space that could absorb any number of tours that solely play amphitheaters — and usually skip Las Vegas. It’s high time a well-resourced promoter revived the AMP’s calendar. – MP
cityofnorthlasvegas.com
Best Theatrical Provocateur: Vegas Theatre Company
It’s been a good era for theater fans in Las Vegas lately, with a handful of local companies producing consistently noteworthy work. Vegas Theater Company in particular has been on its A-game, both with its own productions and its many collaborations. It’s wowed lately with rousing, socially trenchant works, from a staging of the cerebral Tony winner Topdog Underdog to the winking farce of POTUS. And then there was Abandon, its gasp-filled take on the Marquis de Sade that enjoyed two runs. – MP
theatre.vegas
Best Way to See Great Stage Drama on a Budget: A Public Fit readings
Many theater companies are raising their prices. Understandable, in the current environment of high rents and low arts subsidies. If you’re cash-strapped and drama-hungry, then check out A Public Fit’s staged reading schedule. For zero dollars, you can see a talented ensemble perform a high-level work — the latest example, “The Pavilion,” was penned by Craig Wright, whose writing credits include “Six Feet Under” — with everything but the costumes and scenery. (And sometimes, they wear costumes.) Maybe you can save enough to buy a ticket for another APF production! – HK
apublicfit.org
Best Nonprofit Dance Studio: Culture Shock Las Vegas
For over 20 years, this dance org has not only trained future dancers but also created a community through art and diversity. It offers affordable classes (no small consideration, as a trip to any dance supply store will remind you) ranging from beginner to advanced for all age groups and with esteemed choreographers as instructors. – MU
cultureshocklasvegas.org
NOT the Best: An arts district that artists can't afford
The closure in July of Priscilla Fowler Fine Arts on Main Street — the kind of gallery you’d expect to see in something called the Arts District — is a grim reminder of gentrification’s logic: You only need to call it an Arts District to give it a cachet worthy of the steep rent hikes that helped doom Fowler. Actual artists are strictly optional, and on their own. Okay, sure, it seems like city officials are trying to make progress on this — the city website says it’s studying “the feasibility of creating affordable artist live/work housing” in the area — but check the date on that document: January 9, 2024. Decades late and millions of dollars short. I mean, people were advocating this ages ago, to no avail. Where was the official buy-in then, when it could’ve made a difference? — SD
Editor’s note: The Jon Parker listing as Best Off-Strip Music Marketer was updated to accurately reflect Parker’s role at Area 15. The company had previously provided information indicating he was in charge of booking acts.