The Flashlight turns 30!!! Celebration TONIGHT!!!

The Flashlight as seen from
the lobby of Artemis Ham Concert Hall
(photo by Brian Paco Alvarez)

The "Flashlight" designed by Claes Oldenberg and Coosje Van Bruggen installed in 1981 at UNLV, has been welcoming students, visitors, children and all types of people to the steps of the Artemis Ham Concert Hall and Judy Bailey Theater for 30 years. Hearkening back to the days when ushers used flashlights to guide theater goers to their seats, this sculpture is by far the single most important piece of public art ever installed in Las Vegas and it marks a milestone in the development of the Cultural Arts in Southern Nevada. Its scale is breathtaking and one that brings back many wonderful memories for me growing up in the neighborhood around UNLV, not to mention my time as a student at the university.

The 38 foot sculpture was commissioned in 1978 by UNLV and installed on March 11, 1981. It is made of steel and painted black with a polyurethane enamel.

This evening there will be a lecture and cocktail reception celebrating the sculpture at the Artemis Ham Concert Hall. There will be a keynote presentation by Michael Lobel
Associate Professor, Purchase College, SUNY
“Sculpture Between Art and Spectacle:
Oldenburg and Van Bruggen’s Flashlight, 30 Years Later”

The lecture will be preceded by a screening of Coosje van Bruggen’s film about the production of Flashlight, Schoolbus Yellow Adirondack Green (1981) and followed by a panel discussion with UNLV faculty. 

• David Baird, Director of Architecture UNLV
• Mark Burns, Chair of the Art Department UNLV
• Emily Kennerk, Assistant Professor, Sculpture UNLV
• Kristen Swenson, Assistant Professor, Art History UNLV

There will also be a reception at the Donna Beam Gallery following the panel discussion.  

Artemis Ham Concert Hall

4505 Maryland Parkway

Las Vegas, Nevada 89154

The event tonight is free and open to the public

For more information about the lecture, screening and art show...

http://art.unlv.edu/2011/02/17/the-flashlight-turns-30/

For more information about the Flashlight...

http://www.oldenburgvanbruggen.com/largescaleprojects/flashlight.htm

For more information about the UNLV Art Department...

http://art.unlv.edu/

For more information about UNLV Special Collections...

http://library.nevada.edu/speccol/index.html

"Flashlight" exhibit at the UNLV Lied Library
Curated by Dr. Peter Michel, Director
UNLV Special Collections

Nevada Public Radio

For more information on the Cultural Arts in Las Vegas please visit Nevada Public Radio. NPR has detailed listings of many cultural and civic events hosted by area non-profits click on this link http://www.knpr.org/common/psa/listNEW.cfm and if you are planning an event in the next few months, be sure to get your free listing in Nevada Public Radio's Desert Companion magazine by submitting the information here at http://www.knpr.org/culture/eventaddnew.cfm

Have You donated to KNPR? Pledge Now at http://www.knpr.org/index.cfm

Brian Paco Alvarez enculturating Las Vegas into the millennium...