Back in June, when I wrote my primer on the Las Vegas Museum of Art, plans called for an interim gallery to open this fall. On Monday, September 28, that plan got a name, an address, and—at nine o’clock in the morning, no less—one of the best gatherings of prominent Las Vegans I’ve witnessed in ages. Bonus: Thanks to the team from The Venetian Resort Las Vegas, there was gelato (with spoons shaped for the occasion like little groundbreaking shovels)!

The occasion: the launch of LVMA: Grand Central Galleries, the museum’s first home and headquarters. Located at 355 Promenade Place, Suite 180, in Symphony Park, the Grand Central Galleries will open to the public in April 2027 with A Shared Light: Monet, Impressionism, and the American Landscape, organized with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. On hand from the LVMA: Executive Director Heather Harmon, Board Co-Chair Perry Rogers, Board Treasurer Dr. Gard Jameson, and Trustees Roger Thomas and Kevyn Wynn.

And what a crowd!  City Hall and the County Commission turned out in force: Mayor Shelley Berkley; Commission Chairman Michael Naft and Vice Chairman William McCurdy II; Councilwomen Shondra Summers-Armstrong (Ward 5), Olivia Diaz (Ward 3), and Nancy Brune (Ward 6), the latter with her husband, Judge Richard Boulware; former Ward 5 Councilman Cedric Crear; and direct from D.C., Congresswoman Susie Lee.  As Mayor Berkley so eloquently proclaimed, “it starts here, with LVMA: Grand Central Galleries.”

It was something of a McCurdy family reunion, too. The commissioner’s brother, security specialist Greg McCurdy, came, as did Greg’s son, the artist Chase McCurdy (whose mural of La Concha appeared in Family Album, the museum’s first public program), with Samantha Vitone, both of ThirtyThree Gallery (aka 33.G) on West Owens Avenue.

More of the arts crowd was out, as well: contemporary artist Doug Aitken; Carolyn Harris (StudioLux Architectural Lighting Design); Alexia Chen of LGA Architecture, which designed the galleries; Laura Henkel (ArtCulture PR); and Neapolitan photojournalist Benedetta Pignatelli.

The philanthropic set came in numbers: Larry Ruvo (Keep Memory Alive), Myron Martin (The Smith Center for the Performing Arts), Beth Barbre (Nevada Ballet Theatre), Alex Bybee (Communities In Schools of Nevada), and Stephanie Gullbrants and Safari Ross (Nevada Women’s Philanthropy), as well as general-purpose do-gooders like Annemarie Jones and Punam Mather.

Then there was the Thomas contingent—Leslie and Tom Thomas and Dr. Stephen C. Thomas—lending familial support to Trustee Roger Thomas and his husband, Arthur Libera. Real estate, development, and banking were represented by Laila and Anthony Spiegel (PALM DRIVE powered by Lusso), John Tippins (Northcap), and Johanna Blake (Bank of America Private Bank), while Virginia Valentine (Nevada Resort Association) and the Plaza Hotel & Casino’s Jonathan Jossel carried the flag for the hospitality industry.

As for the space itself: there’s a 2,616-square-foot, climate-controlled gallery; a 3,800-square-foot space for installations and experimental and video art; and a bookstore. The flagship—a 60,000-square-foot building by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Francis Kéré—is set to open in Symphony Park in 2029, with the Grand Central Galleries remaining as a nearby satellite location.

Of course, none of this would happen without the vision and philanthropic largesse of the museum’s late, great Founder and Chair Emerita, Elaine Wynn, who spearheaded this effort in partnership with LACMA (for which she served as co-chair of the Board of Trustees).  The LVMA's campaign goal is $200 million, more than half of which has been secured, and the Grand Central Galleries presents the museum’s first naming opportunity.  So, if you’ve ever wanted your name on a Las Vegas museum, now’s your chance! 

Brava, Heather!  And congratulations to the board and everyone on the LVMA team!  April can’t come soon enough. 

LVMA: Grand Central Galleries
355 Promenade Place, Suite 180 | Symphony Park
Opening April 2027
Click HERE for info

Get into it!
#LVMA