In most cities, the May-through-July quarter would mark the transition from spring to summer. In Southern Nevada, the only noticeable change is your air conditioner moving from “high” to “arctic” setting. The local arts calendar also cools off a bit, peaking with season finales in May and then tapering off considerably while everyone takes refuge inside their refrigerated domiciles. Which is to say: Anyone parched for culture in July should head to a temperature-controlled gallery or museum, where visual art is equinoxally agnostic.
And on that note: Artist, curator, and Desert Companion contributor Brent Holmes’ exhibition People of Color opened during Black History Month, but it’s showing through August 7 at Las Vegas City Hall’s Chamber Gallery. Its multidiscipline works reflect American life through the lens of Nevada’s African diasporic artists, including Ashanti McGee, Joseph Watson, and Vogue Robinson, among others. People of Color also serves as a good reminder that the valley’s most overlooked creative spaces include government buildings and libraries, which frequently show vital, relevant, and even unflinching art, typically made by locals and shown in widely accessible spots. Cue Maya Angelou: “Great art belongs to all people, all the time — indeed it is made for the people by the people."
UNLV’s Black Mountain Institute debuted its first salon-type event in May 2024, and it went so well that another salon blesses this May’s calendar. Elevations is the name and the theme of this multidisciplinary congress. Its participating artists — covering every base of the creative baseball diamond — explore the ups and downs of living in the greater Las Vegas area. Film and play shorts, the Las Vegas High School mariachi band, a comedic ballerina, slam poets, student fashion — seemingly no one has been left out of this varied exploration of desert gradation, which goes down at the Clark County Library Theater.
Theater and stage keep busy throughout May and June, and what has grabba-grabba-hey! my attention first is the return of Four Chords and a Gun at Vegas Theatre Company. It’s a black (leather jacket) comedy based on that one time when The Ramones recorded an album with “Wall of Sound” producer Phil Spector, who never hesitated to pull a gun on anyone, and, in the case of the New York City punk band, hold them hostage for six hours. With what we now know about Spector, who died in prison, this production should provide a master class in comedic tension.
Speaking of tension: Drama-heads will have to choose from not one, but two Fringe Festivals now happening concurrently. First, an explainer for the unaware: Fringe Festivals showcase more casual, do-it-yourself shows than conventional theatrical productions. They also tend to be shorter, and often more experimental or offbeat. Vegas Fringe Festival over at LVLT is in its 14th edition, and it prides itself on featuring both new and established works that never cross the 60-minute mark.
Then there’s the newcomer, the downtown-based Fallout Fringe, which organizers say will “cater to challenging and bleeding edge work” with some 115-plus performances, artist conversations, parties, and workshops. The real challenge, theatrophiles, will be negotiating two packed schedules and the four-to-five miles between the two fests’ venues.
On the music front, another Vegas cultural tradition resurfaces: DjangoVegas! at the Historic Fifth Street School. Jazz guitar icon Django Reinhardt gets his annual homage — as will violinist Stephane Grappelli, with whom Django established the Quintette du Hot Club de France — at this concert, headlined by hot club-style guitarists Joscho Stephan and Paulus Schäfer.
A day later over at UNLV’s Artemus Ham Hall, the Las Vegas Men’s Chorus will finish its 32nd season with its Broadway Our Way program, and yes, Wicked will be on the program. That’s some 100 men on stage, belting out showstoppers, with dancers complementing some of the numbers — Pride Month, what else ya got?
