In addition to nightlife, Las Vegas leads in art and culture
by Zachary Hayworth
Millions of people flock to Las Vegas each year to enjoy nightlife, poolside cocktails, and even local bars downtown. Red Carpet can, of course, always help with planning the best daylife and nightlife on the Las Vegas strip. However, during one’s down time, Las Vegas has some amazing art and culture to take advantage of throughout the city. There is something for everyone both on the strip and off of it, even for those people who are not necessarily serious about art and culture. For the more serious art people, the world-famous Bellagio has the Gallery of Fine Art, which includes works from some of the most famous artists in history such as Rembrandt and Warhol. For a more family-oriented museum, the Titanic exhibition at the Luxor is extremely popular. It contains over 300 artifacts from the ship and some very little known, but amazing facts about the ship and its voyage.
For any Elvis fans out there, the Westgate has, yes you guessed it, the Elvis museum. Twenty-eight thousand square feet is dedicated to Elvis on the property. This is the only permanent Elvis exhibit in the world other than Graceland. If you’re not an Elvis fan, you can venture off of the strip to the Nevada State museum to learn about the history of the state including deserts, plants, and fossils. The railroad museum is in nearby Boulder City. Nevada has a deep history of railroads.
Whether or not you stop at the Westgate to visit the Elvis museum, you can venture past it and eventually hit downtown to where the heart of Las Vegas art and culture lies. Visitors flock to the Las Vegas arts district, which is home to the city’s art galleries, studios, and shops, year round. Perhaps the biggest downtown attraction is the First Friday festival, which takes place on the first Friday of each month. Take our advice: If you are in Las Vegas on the first Friday of a month, don’t miss this festival. It has dozens of specialty food trucks serving delicious cuisine, countless art vendors selling every type of art and craft imaginable, as well as street performers, live bands, and great people all around. The Mob Museum, which gives an extensive look at the mafia in old school Las Vegas, is becomingly increasingly popular. Housed in a former post office, fans of the famous movie ‘Casino’ with Joe Pesci and Robert DeNiro should really appreciate it.
