Entries in Friends of Classic Las Vegas (17)
Details on our upcoming Mid-Century Modern Las Vegas weekend.
TICKETS ARE NOW ON SALE!!!!!!!!
Thank you for being so patient! We've got the preliminary details (with more to follow) but we figured it was best to get rolling on this so that our readers could start making plans!
The Friends of Classic Las Vegas and the Architectural and Decorative Arts Society present:
Mid-Mod Marvels: A Celebration of Mid-Century Modern Architecture and Design
The Events:
Living the Mid-Mod Lifestyle Party:
The fun begins on Friday evening, Oct. 22nd with a reception at the famed Morelli House. The Junior League of Las Vegas has graciously agreed to open their doors for a cocktail party to kick off our weekend of Mid-Century Modern madness.
Alan Hess will be there to say a few words about not only the era of Mid-Century Modern but also provide a bit of history about the Morelli House.
The reception starts at 5:30 pm and goes until 7:30 pm. Tickets are $25.
Mid-Century Modern History and Las Vegas
We kick-off Saturday afternoon, Oct. 23rd at the National Golf Course's (originally the Stardust Golf Course) Clubhouse with two panels on the era and Las Vegas.
The first one: Mid-Century Modern Architecture, Design and Las Vegas begins at 1:00 pm:
Panelists include Alan Hess, architect William Krisel, Chris Nichols and Dr. Robert Tracy talking about the influence of architects such as Welton Beckett, Wayne McAllister and Paul Revere Williams on local architects such as Walter Zick, Harris Sharp, Hugh Taylor and the influence of Mid-Century design on Las Vegas.
The second one: A Look Back at the Las Vegas News Bureau begins at 3:00 pm:
The Las Vegas News Bureau helped put Las Vegas on the map in the Mid-Century Modern era. The photographers captured not only the stars of the era but also the buildings and hotels of the era, most of which are gone or altered way beyond their original design. Panelists will include: former News Bureau manager, Don Payne.
In the evening of Oct. 23rd, we will present the Las Vegas premiere of the documentary, "William Krisel, Architect" at 6:30 pm.
The documentary, produced by Design OnScreen and directed by Jake Gorst, looks at the life and the influence of William Krisel. Known mainly for his Mid-Century Modern architecture in California, Mr. Krisel's influence on the residential architecture of Las Vegas can be seen in the Paradise Palms neighborhood. Working with developer Irwin Molasky, Mr. Krisel designed the homes in that subdivison.
Following the screening, the will be a Q&A session with Alan Hess and William Krisel.
Tickets for Saturday's events are $20.00
Mid-Century Modern Las Vegas Bus Tour:
On Sunday afternoon, Oct. 24th, we will offer a double-decker bus tour highlighting the Mid-Century Modern neighborhoods of Las Vegas. This will be a different tour route than the one we did last year with new open houses at two Mid-Century modern homes. Neighborhoods we will glide through include Marycrest, Paradise Palms and the Scotch Eighties.
The tour leaves from the Reed Whipple Cultural Center at noon, include a stop at the Morelli House and will last three hours. The bus will return to Reed Whipple at the end of the tour.
Please be aware, like last year, seating for the tour is limited.
Tickets are $20.
Now, if you want to save a few dollars, you can buy a three-day pass for $50. Passes and individual tickets will be available on the ADAS website. As soon as they have the page up, we will post a link here.
So, start planning your wardrobe and your itinerary, because this is going to be one great weekend you won't want to miss!
Support for this great weekend provided by:
City of Las Vegas Historic Preservation Commission
Sponsors for this great weekend are:
The Junior League of Las Vegas
Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas
Terry Wilsey
![Registered Commenter Registered Commenter](/layout/iconSets/light/user-registered.png)
![Comments Comments](/layout/iconSets/light/comment.png)
It's Coming!!! Our second annual Mid Century Modern Las Vegas Weekend!
Our emails hint that many of you very much wanted us to have another Mid-Century Modern Las Vegas weekend filled with panels, architecture, tours and more.
Well, we heard you. Check back this weekend to find out all the details for our "Mid-Mod Marvels: A Celebration of Mid-Centuiry Modern Architecture and Design".
A reception at the Morelli House on Friday evening Oct 22nd.
On Saturday, October 23rd, a panel on Mid-Century Modern Architecture and Art, a panel on the history of the Las Vegas News Bureau and the Las Vegas premiere of the documentary on William Krisel, the architect behind Paradise Palms. William Krisel will be with us in person and will attend the screening.
And best of all, Alan Hess, the authority on all that is MCM, will be back with us guiding us through all that is Mid-Century Modern and the architects who changed forever the landscape of Las Vegas as well as handle the Q&A at the Krisel film premiere.
And yes, there will be a double-decker bus tour on Sunday afternoon with a new route, new open houses and lots of history.
Sound like fun?
It's all coming the weekend of October 22nd and you don't want to miss this as tickets are limited!
So check back here this weekend for the deets!
![Registered Commenter Registered Commenter](/layout/iconSets/light/user-registered.png)
![Comments Comments](/layout/iconSets/light/comment.png)
Honoring the Segerbloms
Friend of Classic Las Vegas member, Curator of History at the Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas and my good friend, Dennis McBride contributed this piece about a recent exhibit of Cliff Segerblom's work at the Las Vegas Springs Preserve.
On Monday, March 15, 2010 the Las Vegas Springs Preserve opened an exhibit of noted Nevada artist Cliff Segerblom’s photography in its Big Springs Gallery, an event which also served as a celebration of the 92nd birthday of Cliff’s wife, former Nevada State Assemblywoman Gene Segerblom. More than a hundred guests toured Cliff’s photos in gallery and honored Gene for her service to the state.
Cliff Segerblom [1915-1990] has been more recognized for his watercolor and acrylic paintings which chronicled the American Southwest, particularly Nevada's vanished frontier, its mining and farm towns, its rivers, canyons, deserts, and mountains. But his photography, the medium with which he began his career in 1939 when the Bureau of Reclamation hired him to photograph the Boulder Canyon Project, hasn’t gained the attention and following it deserves.
When Cliff died in 1990, his wife, Gene, donated his photographs and negatives to the Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas, from which the Springs Preserve’s exhibit was drawn. While many of his photographs served as models for Cliff’s paintings, the photos themselves are true works of art, few of which have ever been seen in public until now.
The March 15th opening of Cliff Segerblom’s photography exhibit was also a celebration of Gene Segerblom’s 92nd birthday. Teacher, writer, and politician, Gene Segerblom has long been one of the most influential people in Nevada.
In the early years of their marriage, Gene, Cliff, and their two children, Richard “Tick” and Robin, traveled the West, where Gene wrote feature stories for such publications as Desert Magazine, Arizona Highways, Nevada Highways and Parks, Nevada Magazine, and dozens of others. She was an inspiring teacher in the Boulder City schools, and served as a Boulder City councilwoman and in the Nevada State Assembly for four terms.
Gene, in fact, was a third-generation Nevada politician: her mother, Hazel Bell Wines, and grandfather, William J. Bell, both served in the Nevada legislature. Gene’s son, Richard Segerblom, elected to the state Assembly in 2006, is the fourth generation of Gene’s family to serve in the legislature.
Just a week later, on March 27, the Southern Nevada Women’s History Project honored Gene at the 2nd Annual Nevada Women’s History Celebration at the West Charleston Library in Las Vegas. As part of a This Is Your Life spoof, when Gene rose to speak to the audience, out from behind the stage curtain to share their “Gene Stories” came Nevada Congresswoman Shelley Berkeley; Nevada Senator Dina Titus; Nevada State Senator David Parks; Clark County Commissioner and former legislator Chris Giunchigliani; Nevada State Assemblyman Lynn Stewart; and a representative from Nevada Senator Harry Reid, who presented Gene with a congratulatory letter from the Senate Majority Leader.
![Registered Commenter Registered Commenter](/layout/iconSets/light/user-registered.png)
![Comments Comments](/layout/iconSets/light/comment.png)
Las Vegas Photos: 1960s
Thanks to Friends of Classic Las Vegas members Wayne and Judy Bundorf over the weekend I will posting some photos of freeway construction from the mid and late 1960s.
Hope you enjoy!
The International Hotel home to Elvis, Ike and Tina Turner and owned back then by Kirk Kerkorian
A view of Downtown Las Vegas with the Mint (now Binion's closed tower) in the background
The Spaghetti Bowl being laid out
![Registered Commenter Registered Commenter](/layout/iconSets/light/user-registered.png)
![Comments Comments](/layout/iconSets/light/comment.png)
Untold Stories and the Future
Thursday evening was the final "Untold Stories" at the Springs Preserve. We had a great panel of Las Vegas High School alumni that enjoyed talking to about their high school days. The audience was terrific, with many alum attending as well.
Due to budget cutbacks at the Springs, they are refocusing their educational programming and one of the programs impacted was "Untold Stories".
I am forever grateful for the 2.5 years that they supported the program. It was the only monthly series that allowed long-time residents to share their stories and memories of a younger and smaller Las Vegas with residents.
We covered a number of historic topics from "The History of Fremont Street", "The History of the Strip", "A Look Back at the MGM Grand Fire", "St. Thomas" and more.
I want to thank all the people who participated on the panels over the last 30 months. We covered a lot of different historic topics and I am grateful to all who came out to share their history. I also want to thank the class members as well. Each month it was a joy to look out from the podium to see familiar faces and know that there are people who really are interested in learning more about this place we call home. Finally, I want to thank Dr. Michael Green for always being available, often on short notice, to be the historian for the evening.
As they say, when one door closes another opens and that is what happened here. Within days of learning that "Untold Stories" was ending this month, I was offered the job opportunity of a life time. Unfortunately, it will take me away from Las Vegas.
However, we will continue to archive the 130 video oral histories that we have collected over the years and hope to have that monumental task completed by this time next year. Late last year, with the help of a grant from the Historic Preservation Commission, we delivered the first 25 archived interviews on DVD to the Nevada State Museum and to Special Collections. We are currently working on the next set. So our work does continue though I won't be a monthly presence the way I have been for the last five years.
The Friends of Classic Las Vegas will have a meeting next month (details to TBA, so stay tuned) and will continue to be a vital voice in historic preservation. I won't be able to do as much of the organizing as I once did but I will still be involved and look forward to advising the group.
This blog and site will continue on as well. I will still be writing here and a few people have offered to contribute historic and cultural pieces as well. So, if you are a regular reader, fear not, Classic Las Vegas is not going anywhere. We will still be here and the power of the internet will make it possible to stay connected to you.
As for me, I begin a new adventure later this month as the Digital Archivist for the Walt Disney Family Museum in the Presidio in San Francisco. It is a world class museum and I am excited about this opportunity.
In the meantime, historic preservation in Las Vegas still needs all the support it can get so I do hope you will stay with us and continue to learn more about the 20th Century history of Las Vegas right here.
![Registered Commenter Registered Commenter](/layout/iconSets/light/user-registered.png)
![Comments Comments](/layout/iconSets/light/comment.png)