Need an introduction to where to find the best Street Art in Las Vegas? Look no further than here with our second of three installments in Street Art News’s Guide To Unveiling The Street Art of Las Vegas.
If you missed the memo about Las Vegas being the hottest city in the United States right now for Street Art then you’ve probably been hiding under a rock for the past two years.
We’ve spent ten days of good times and adventure at the excellent Las Vegas Marriott Hotel on which was the perfect base for us to explore the city in order to find the best street pieces.
Downtown Vegas is screaming for attention, so when you’re walking the streets in the sunshine with the hot air caressing your cheeks, walk a bit slower and look around – there is literally something on almost every corner.
The streets of Downtown Vegas have been a blank canvas for artists like Doze Green, Ben Eine, Interesni Kazki, D*Face, Alexis Diaz for more than two years.
After the large involvement of Tony Hsieh to transform Downtown Las Vegas into the most community-focused large city in the world, the visual transformation began early 2013 with the first edition of the Life Is Beautiful Music Festival with its Art pillar curated by JustKids.
The best way to get to Downtown Vegas is by cab, which will be a quick 15 minutes ride from the Marriott Hotel. Once you arrive from the Motorway on Ogden Ave, you will be greeted by a massive fluorescent artwork from the Los-Angeles-based duo Cyrcle which sits right in front of the Downtown Grand Valet Parking. From this point on, you will be stumbling upon several large-scale murals for the next 15 blocks around.
Walk down toward Steward Ave and N 6th St, where a massive artwork by the legendary ROA was recently painted. The Belgian artist created an impressive “Horned Toad”. These local lizards are able to squirt an aimed stream of blood from the corners of the eyes for a distance of up to five feet.
Just around the corner from ROA is a brilliant installation coming from the Irish street artist Maser which over the course of two weeks completely transformed an abandon motel into an unusual canvas with his vibrant colors and patterns. The MaserMotel is for sure a great Instagram opportunity!
Next to this psychedelic motel and within a very small perimeter between N 6th St and N 7th St, you will be able to see several murals from major street artists like Vhils, Alexis Diaz, Zio Ziegler, Lakwena and Misaki Kawai. Most of these artworks were painted in 2013 for the first edition of Life Is Beautiful.
Once you reach N 7th St, another batch of artworks will be showing up with some large-scale murals from Doze Green, D*Face or Saner.
Mixing all type of imagery such as portraiture, animals or abstractions, these 8 murals are all located within 100 meters one from another!
During the Life Is Beautiful Festival, Marriott presented a brilliant pop-up space featuring several activities from it’s lifestyle portfolio (Moxy Hotels, Renaissance Hotels, AC Hotels & Autograph Collection). From DJs, to flash tattoos, festival perks or comfy designer furniture allowing you to catch a few minutes relaxation, the space definitely served us a home base and as a fun experience for the festival attendees.
With so many simultaneous experiences during Life Is Beautiful: from catching Arctic Monkeys’ set to listening to a bunch of lectures, Moxy made it possible for attendees to share their experiences online via a swipe from their festival wristband. And with so much to see around Downtown Vegas, there was little time to spend online.
Walking down toward N 7th St and Ogden are two fresh pieces from Borondo and Fintan Magee. We highly recommend stopping by the anamorphic piece by Borondo at around 5PM when the sun starts to go down in order to experience the perfect illusion. In front of him is a beautiful piece by the Australian superstar Fintan Magee which brought his magic to the streets of Downtown Vegas with a super playful artwork filled with ultra-cute rabbits.
On the crossing of Fremont St and N 7th St are two stunning murals by D*Face and the Brazilian kids from Bicicleta Sem Freio. D*Face brought some of his signature imagery as a continuation of the story that he started in 2013 with the first piece you saw a few hundreds meters before. Love Forever!
After painting their first ever mural in 2013, Bicicleta Sem Freio returned to Vegas for the second consecutive year where they once again brought some of their tropical imagery to beautify the streets of Downtown Vegas with ultra-vibrant colors. A delight to the eyes!
Two streets down the road is a massive lotus Mandala piece by Cryptk which painted just a few weeks ago in his signature style of calligraffiti. This path will lead you to the Western Hotel which hosts the last piece from our Downtown Tour with a third artwork from the British artist D*Face. “Viva Lost Vegas” is a mix of stencil and typography which playfully works around the Las Vegas theme.
An other area worth checking out is Las Vegas’ Art District which is home of the First Friday project. Color spills from every surface among one of the city’s favorite neighborhood canvases, Las Vegas’ Arts District. Insatiable creative energy and unstoppable trendiness emanate from the walls of its swiftly repurposing warehouse spaces and industrial-inspired artists’ lofts. Galleries, studios, and connoisseurs of coffee, cocktails, and challenging concepts crowd into this unmistakably-painted bastion for local artists.
Lastly is Las Vegas’ strip, unfortunately due to the architecture, not much street art is available for you to see, however we digged up a secret spot which not many have been able to see.
Back in 2012, RETNA visited the city and was allowed to paint inside the parking of the Cosmopolitan. Mimicking MSK’s crew signatures with his own style (Revok, Risk, Brimstone etc…), these are pretty amazing.
Shepard Fairey and Kenny Scharf also stopped by the strip where they painted some of their signature imagery at Cosmopolitan.
On view on levels B2 through B5. The commissioned murals are by four major figures in urban art: Shepard Fairey, RETNA, Kenny Scharf and Shinique Smith. Shepard Fairey is known for his Barack Obama “Hope” poster during the 2008 campaign for president but his art far more than a simple political poster. His art has caught on worldwide and his view on pop culture bleeds through this pieces.
The best way to enjoy your stay in Vegas and mix street art, gambling and shows, we’d recommend to stay at the Marriott Hotel on Convention Center Dr on the strip which is part of the Marriott Rewards hotel loyalty program. Whatever your travel style or inspiration is, Marriott Rewards has a brand that meets your needs while providing you earning power toward your dream holiday with world’s most recognized hotel loyalty program. Marriott Rewards Includes over 3,800 properties to earn Marriott Rewards points for stays and redeem those points for free nights and members can also redeem points for frequent flyer miles with over 35 airlines, cruises, car rentals, merchandise, digital downloads and more.
We enjoyed our stay at the newly renovated all-suite guestroom accommodations which were designed with innovation, and style. Enjoy the Las Vegas Marriott’s focus on service and exceeding expectations, and travel brilliantly to enjoy the best of Vegas’ Street Art.
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