Art
Future Relics: Artifacts for a New WorldThrough August 2021 | In-personLike many in the museum world, UNLV’s Barrick Museum of Art (above) is reevaluating its Latin American collection. In the process, “we look to artists to show us possible avenues of transfiguration. Who will interpret these objects in the future? What will survive to tell our stories?” Involving a group of local artists known as the Gulch Collective, Future Relics will respond — through the eyes of marginalized communities — to selected items from the Barrick’s pre-Columbian holdings. There will be three phases of the exhibit during its long display period. (SD) unlv.edu/barrickmuseum
Theater
If Only in My Dreams
Through December | In-personWhat’s up with your new neighbors, the Stephensons? Why are they here, on your porch this Christmas season ... caroling? Welcome to theater — in your front yard. The inventive crew at Majestic Repertory has adapted to distancing with a theater-delivery service. Weekends through December, you can have this pandemic-safe holiday production brought to you. And knowing those Majestic folks, whatever Stephenson family dynamics are about to unspool in your yard as you sing along, they will be entertaining.
(Scott Dickensheets) majesticrepertory.com
Dance
More Dance
December 4 | VirtualNow is a time for change, and the change we desire in this world is not an ordinary change, it is a sea change. So goes the 2020 social justice vision statement of UNLV’s dance department. Of course, there’s a second change of oceanic magnitude that the students have to deal with, the one that requires their end-of-season dance concert to premiere on YouTube instead of a concert hall. But perhaps this will entice viewers who might not otherwise make the trek to campus. And here’s why we should watch: Much of the work will “reflect the times we live in.” Human bodies moving in reaction to the world around them — what could be more elemental than that? (SD) 7:30p, unlv.edu/dance
Conversation
Claudia
RankineNovember 16 | Online
In her latest collection, Just Us, poet Claudia Rankine presents samples of conversations she’s had with random white male strangers, 911 call transcripts, and startling statistics to frame racism in its less visible — but no less vicious — manifestations. With The Believer poetry editor Jericho Brown, she’ll discuss race in America and the role of literature in moving this crucial conversation forward. (Andrew Kiraly) 5p, blackmountaininstitute.org
Art
Reclamation
November 18-January 9 | In-personTwo very different Las Vegas-based multidisciplinary artists, Jung Min (above) and Clarice Tara Cuda, are revealed in this exhibit to share some core attributes: strong female voices that have “a healthy relationship with risk-taking and a belief that they are far more than a sum of their gendered parts,” according to Core Contemporary, the gallery bringing them together. “Reclamation is about taking back what is rightfully theirs as women, whether it be their bodies, equity in their careers, freedom from gender (and even cultural) divides, etc.” Virtual/in-person opening reception 3p, November 21. (SD) 900 E. Karen Ave. #D222, corecontemporary.com
Art
23 Views
Through December 20 | In-personThe census seems like a good idea on paper: counting our people to inform the decisions we make about policies and resources. But when artist Tiffany Lin puts it on paper, the census becomes fraught with complexity: What does it mean to be counted, categorized, catalogued? Her exhibit questions the purported objectivity of the census as it relates to history, race, and immigration, in cryptic drawings that are as much a form of social practice as they are social commentary. (AK) Spring Valley Library, 702-507-3820, tlinart.com
Music
Spotlight on a Brassy Holiday Celebration
December 17 | Virtual Who knows what the state of the union will be as we lurch into the holiday season? Up or down, we’re looking forward to this horn sesh by the breakaway brass players of the Las Vegas Philharmonic. If the nation’s Dumpster fire continues unabated, these bright horn renditions of holiday faves — from classic carols to Bach’s Choral No. 64 from Christmas Oratorio — will serve as mournful comfort. If things are looking up, well, hearing “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” performed by trumpets, trombones, and tubas just may be an unabashed, unironic joy. Either way, we’ll take it. (SD) 6p, $30, l vphil.org
Conversation
Launch Your Laptop Into the Sun
December 2 | VirtualThe parts of the country that aren’t on fire, or being bluntly hurricaned, or bracing as COVID comes back for round 2, are deeply roiled by social and political turmoil. And you’re gonna write a story? Paint a picture? In what’s sure to be a crackling back-and-forth, powerhouse writers Samantha Irby (Wow, No Thank You) and Megan Stielstra (The Wrong Way to Save Your Life) will help us figure out why creative work is still worth doing. This would be useful information! Presented by Black Mountain Institute. (SD) 5p, RSVP required, blackmountaininstitute.org