SaveArtSpace has partnered with Meow Wolf to present Portals & Pathways, a public art exhibition on billboards in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The Portals & Pathways selected artists are Joseph Watson, Joshua S. Levin, Brian Henry, Nancy Good, Q’Shaundra James, Sameer Asnani, Cristina Natsuko Paulos, Gem Jaxx, Changoart, and Ruby Barrientos.

Curated by Spencer Olsen, Fawn Douglas, Robin Slonina, and Christy Sakamoto.

As simple as doors and windows, as infinite as the hidden galaxies of the imagination, our existence is a constant journey through portals and along pathways both visible and not, always moving through space and time, with these markers that frame the flow uniquely for each of us. Viewpoints, perspectives, rites of passage, the structures both simple and complex that define our journeys, as well as the journeys we didn’t take. 

During the week of September 13, 2021, SaveArtSpace will launch public art installations for each selected work on billboard ad spaces in Las Vegas, NV. The public art will be on view for at least one month.

Participating Organizations:

Founded in 2015, SaveArtSpace is a non-profit organization that works to create an urban gallery experience, launching exhibitions that address intersectional themes and foster a progressive message of social change. By placing culture over commercialism, SaveArtSpace aims to empower artists from all walks of life and inspire a new generation of young creatives and activists.

Recognized in Fast Company's 2020 list of ‘The World's 50 Most Innovative Companies’, Meow Wolf is a Santa Fe-based arts and entertainment company that creates immersive, interactive experiences to transport audiences of all ages into fantastic realms of story and exploration. The company's first location in Santa Fe opened in 2016 and showcases the THEA Award-winning, international sensation, House Of Eternal Return, where two million visitors have now discovered a multidimensional mystery house with secret passages, portals to magical worlds, and surreal, maximalist and mesmerizing art exhibits. In 2019, Meow Wolf expanded beyond Santa Fe and opened Kaleidoscape, the world’s first artist-driven ride at Elitch Gardens in Denver. Meow Wolf recently opened their second permanent installation, Omega Mart, at AREA15 in Las Vegas and their third permanent installation in Denver is slated to open in Fall 2021. Meow Wolf is proud to be the only certified B-Corporation in the themed entertainment industry, with a team dedicated to social impact and building a more inclusive and sustainable economy.

Connect with Meow Wolf on Instagram at @meow__wolf.

Curators

Spencer Olsen is the Art Director of Meow Wolf Las Vegas, at AREA15. With a background in mural painting and graphic design, and now focusing on approachable, tactile new-media, Olsen has led several acclaimed collaborative installations. He first caught the attention of Meow Wolf at his 2015 exhibition, "FURTHER LANDS“, and again for his collaborative installation at Life is Beautiful in 2017, called “WORMHOLE.” Before Meow Wolf, Olsen was the lead Visual Designer for graphic mural company, Walls360. Known for his unique aesthetic and perspective, he has collaborated with several renowned hotels and bands such as The Cosmopolitan, MGM, A Perfect Circle, The Killers, and The 1975. Originally from Las Vegas, Olsen currently resides in Santa Fe.

Connect with Spencer on Instagram at @spenceyo_.

Fawn Douglas is an Indigenous American artist and enrolled member of the Las Vegas Paiute Tribe. She also has roots in the Moapa Paiute, Southern Cheyenne, Creek, and Pawnee tribes. She is dedicated to the intersections of art, activism, community, education, culture, identity, place, and sovereignty. Within her art-making and activism, she tells stories in order to remember the past and also to ensure that the stories of Indigenous peoples are heard in the present. Her studio practice includes painting, weaving, sculpture, performance, activist art and humor. She is currently working on her Master of Fine Arts in the Department of Art at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). Through the MFA program, she teaches classes as a graduate assistant and co-curates the Vegas Institute for Contemporary Engagement (V.I.C.E), an artist team that has been the catalyst for exhibitions, podcasts, interviews, performances, and experimentation that makes space for marginalized artists in the Las Vegas community.

“My art draws me closer to my Nuwu (Nuwuvi) culture and identity. I have learned much through the lessons of our tribal elders and traveling to visit our ancestral lands and sacred sites in Southern Nevada. . . . My art translates these oral traditions for the viewer. Many pieces operate as a filter that keeps the integrity of sacred information that my people hold dear, while allowing Nuwuvi culture to be shared with a broader audience.”

Fawn is a dedicated advocate for environmental conservation, which has included work toward the designation of Nevada’s Gold Butte as a historic national monument and her participation in the #NoDAPL protests on the Standing Rock Sioux reservation. Notable actions also include (but are not limited to) the fight for tribal and rural communities to retain their land and water rights, Red Rock anti-desecration efforts, and protection of the Desert National Wildlife Refuge.

As a survivor of sexual assault, Fawn's experience has also given her the fire to speak up about women's rights and she has been a vocal advocate for #MMIW (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women). She continues to speak up for her sisters and is an active supporter of Our Bodies, Our Lands - a movement that recognizes the connection between protecting land, water, and Indigenous women.

Connect with Fawn on Instagram at @nuwuart.

Robin Slonina is a multi-disciplinary artist whose creative output includes body painting, mixed-media painting and mural painting, as well as indoor and outdoor sculpture and installation. Much of her work is interactive, inviting the viewer to experience the art rather than simply observe it. Slonina enjoys taking the “Do Not Touch” sign off of her art, inviting people to recognize art as an integral and fun part of everyday life.

Robin is also a producer and judge on the hit body painting competition show Skin Wars, alongside RuPaul Charles, Rebecca Romijn and Craig Tracy, as well as Executive Producer and Judge of the live runway competition Battle of the Salons with LaGanja Estranja and Samuel Gutierrez.

Robin graduated from the School of the Art Institute in her native Chicago, then spent several years traveling the world with various visiting arts programs. But Las Vegas has been her adopted home for the past 15 years, where she founded Skin City Body Painting studio and is an active leader in the Vegas Arts District. She currently lives in downtown Vegas with her young son Leo and her husband Jimmy Slonina, who is an actor and performer with Cirque du Soleil.

Slonina’s artwork has been collected and exhibited internationally in numerous galleries and museums around the world. She is available for appearances, artist lectures, body paint demos, custom art and mural paintings, and to create interactive art exhibits.

Connect with Robin on Instagram at @robinslonina.

Christy Sakamoto is the Programming and Outreach Manager at Meow Wolf Las Vegas where she works with the community to develop meaningful engagements. She has spent her career in the arts and culture, previously at the Mob Museum in Las Vegas and the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles.

Connect with Christy on Instagram at @hashtagchristysakamoto.

Selected Artists

Location: 4360 S Decatur Blvd, Las Vegas, NV

Joseph Watson also known from his signature “JOEE” grew up in Gardena, CA. Art has been a creative escape for him ever since his youth. Throughout the years, Joseph had the opportunity to be influenced not only by great creative mentors, but also by the wonderful Los Angeles landscape where everyday life was unique and filled with excitement, danger, culture and love. It’s obvious that Joseph is an observer of everyday occurrences. His work can be described as daily life driven by story, transformation and the decorative element. In 1998, he graduated with honors from the Prestigious Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA. This was a true test of his dedication, creativity and strength.

Life after college opened his eyes to many opportunities where his work could be applied. Everything from doing concepts for major video game companies, toy design at Mattel, philanthropic endeavors with art, mentoring, television appearances and children’s book development are just a few of the things that Joseph is involved in. Works such as his blue flower of hope has earned the respect of many. Also, Joseph is the Illustrator of the Go, Go, Greta children’s books. His art is something that stays with you long after you view it for the first time.

Many Vegas locals know me from the monthly First Friday events. I ran my gallery in the Arts Factory for 12 years straight until the pandemic. I shut my doors and am off to a new chapter in my art life. It has been one fantastic ride so far!

Connect with Joseph on Instagram at @josephwatsonart.

Location: 1920 E Sahara Ave, Las Vegas, NV

Doc Shua was on course for life as a statistical actuary when his car broke down in the high desert mesa between Albuquerque and Las Cruces, New Mexico. With his shirt pulled over his head to provide the implication of shade, and a third of a cup of melted ice from an old soda, he made his way in search of assistance. While scuffling his way over the prickly pair and sage, he was stung through his sandals by the rare and beautiful scorpiones chromatomia. As is often the case with a chromatomia sting, Shua slipped into a hallucinogenic fever and eventual blackout. He awoke in the presence of curandero Don Pablo Kline-Rodriguez (half Jewish on mother's side). Owl had directed Don Pablo to the unconscious Shua, and with the help of the spirits of the land, he was able to retrieve him, keep him breathing for six days, and truth be told, give him a decent shave and a haircut. When he awoke, Doc Shua told Don Pablo of his visions. They became convinced that the scorpion had been waiting for him, and that he would have to give up his dream of living with death and numbers. Handing him a brush and a box of pigments, Don Pablo blew out the evening candles saying, "you'll have to paint your way out of this desert." Shua awoke the next morning at a truck stop with his car and a blanket that was crudely painted in the image of a winged armadillo crushing a rainbow scorpion in his scaly maw. His paintings, "maps," as he calls them, are shown in sweat lodges, float tanks, mobile tents, and other fine art emporiums throughout the U.S.

Joshua S. Levin, is a full-time cross-training cultural creative. He is a professor of anthropology at the College of Southern Nevada, a visual artist, musician, poet, educator and happy family guy. With a lifetime of balancing interests in science and art, Joshua has focused his energies on using the creative process as a means to empower healthy, meaningful relationships to self, society, and the environment. He loves to share and collaborate in these arts of living and has had the good fortune to do so across the U.S. and internationally. "Say 'yes' to the adventure that calls to your heart. Perhaps I'll see you there and we can celebrate artfully, beautifully, awake and alive, content and inspired in the brilliance of it all. Get in communication with your unconscious. Nurture your dreams with your practice. Fulfill the promise of all that you are. Love yourself that you may genuinely love others."

"Oh this boat of sorrows, oh this boat of joys, guide me across the ocean on the signal and not the noise."

Connect with Joshua on Instagram @joshualevin.

Location: 2784 S Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas, NV

The universal appeal of light and movement are central to Brian Henry's art practice, be it his dazzling 3D creations on massive LED signs across the globe or his memorizing collection of 15 second loops on Instagram. Las Vegas native and lifelong resident, Brian was a member of the first graduating class from the Visual Arts Program at the Las Vegas Academy in 1995. He has been a commercial artist since age 17 and has worked in the design industry for over 25 years during which he has developed state of the art LED signage for high profile resort and retail properties worldwide. His namesake multidisciplinary design firm, Brian Henry Design, launched in 2013 with a focus on custom created motion graphics, 3D design and ultra high resolution LED displays. Formerly the Senior Design Associate at Young Electric Sign Company for 15 years, Brian specialized in innovative and technologically advanced LED displays, outdoor spectaculars and custom control systems. Brian's designs can be seen along the Las Vegas Strip, throughout the United States and as far away as Paris and Hong Kong. In addition to his commercial art accomplishments, Brian is also a noted fine artist with exhibitions in Las Vegas, Joshua Tree, Palms Springs and online for his avid social media following. Perhaps best known in the new media art world for his daily 3D projects launched in 2016 and again in 2021 as well as his NFT offerings on Foundation and HEN, Brian’s work has been featured internationally on The Insider, The Insider Art, ET News and Un Poco De Todo to name a few.

Connect with Brian on Instagram at @bri4nh3nry.

Location: 3355 Spring Mountain Rd, Las Vegas, NV

Nancy Good was born in Texas in the early 1960s and has lived and worked as an artist in Las Vegas since 2011. Her creative pursuits over the past three decades have been heavily influenced by: travels to Australia, Africa, Vietnam; childhood residency in Japan; adult life as an artist, photographer, musician, fly-fishing guide, backpacker, writer, and teacher in Montana, Nevada, California, Tennessee and Illinois, along with her eclectic DNA revealing connections with cultures the world over. A common thread through Good's work is how she employs materials and tools of modern times while playfully utilizing aesthetics of ancient ancestries, including symbols and primitive mark-making. The late Ed Fuentes (Paint This Desert, Arts & Culture Blog funded by the Warhol Foundation) described Good's art as Hockney-esque in color and aboriginal in expression.

Following undergraduate studies in classical voice, creative writing and art at Eureka College in Illinois, Good has continued ongoing self-education through extensive experimentation. Known for mural-sized (10' x 6'), physically-interactive, 2-dimensional works interpreting humanity's search for meaning, Good's studio practice is deeply rooted in self-discipline, dedication and unwavering focus on the creation of strong contemporary art that compels dialogue and human connection. Working with a sensory condition known as synesthesia, Good is acutely aware of vibrations, and translates this into her work via color palette and thematic elements. In 2017, Good received a Nevada Arts Council Jackpot Grant to assist in the production of her large-format photographic/digital art works on fabric for exhibition at the Winchester Cultural Center in Las Vegas. Even larger works (7' x 7') from this series were subsequently commissioned for installation at the Delano Hotel in Las Vegas in 2018.

In May of 2018, Good also opened CORE Contemporary, a fine art gallery with the specific mission of providing exhibition opportunities for other artists, educational opportunities for the community, mentoring and artist development, and maintaining an arts & culture event space, all while she works in her on-site studio.

In keeping with her community service and arts advocacy passions, Good co-created Mural Mecca in 2019. Mural Mecca hosted its inaugural Mural Fest as a way to raise funds for five important Las Vegas nonprofits while also supporting four separate local artists selected for the festival weekend. This festival event raised over $10,000 and elevated awareness for the Las Vegas Rescue Mission, Gender Justice NV, the Las Vegas Youth Orchestras, Alternative Peer Group, and Sin Sity Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.

In April of 2019, Good was selected from applicants across the state to participate in the Nevada Arts Council's inaugural Basin to Range (BRX) program. This participation included the award of a grant to help support a collaborative partnership with St. Mary's Art Center (Virginia City, NV) to create a unique traveling art exhibition of 30 artists from Las Vegas and Virginia City.

In the summer of 2020, Good has founded CORE Arts Concord Inc., an arts nonprofit dedicated to arts and culture opportunities, education and community engagement founded in equity, tolerance and inclusion. This nonprofit "arm" of her gallery will provide support for dedicated mid-career Las Vegas fine artists.

A published and award-winning artist, Good’s work is regularly seen in exhibits across the country in high profile locations such as Las Vegas City Hall, Clark County Rotunda, Donna Beam Fine Art Gallery (UNLV), Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art (UNLV), Reno/Tahoe International Airport, Nevada Humanities, Meow Wolf Las Vegas, MGM, HERE Arts in NYC, Nashville International Airport, Nashville Convention & Visitors Bureau, Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, Contemporary Arts Center in Las Vegas, Burning Man, Life is Beautiful Festival and galleries in the Southeast, New York, Montana, Nevada and California. Her work is also found in important private collections throughout the U.S. and overseas through sales, gifts and charitable donations, including the acquisition of her work by the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Fine Art and celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck. Most recently, Good has received four Congressional Commendations for her artistic contributions.

Artist Statement:

Working on paintings interpreting the liminal points in one's life (where the shock of events outside our control create confusion and denial) I interpret how pivotal moments are most often followed by a compelling drive to seek verifiable truth and expanding awareness as to how oneself is connected to these truths. Recent works interpret those points where certain populations are forced to confront complacency and move through an unexpected, and undeniably uncomfortable, rite of passage into humane action. “Critical Mass of Collective Memory” conveys the linear and non-linear aspects of human experience and memory, and how the experience and memories of one individual/group weave and layer themselves with those of another.

Humanity faces a critical juncture that is most often experienced through the filter of an individual's growth. However, close observation points to this being a collective experience by our entire species. Individually, we see some handling this experience with a willingness to learn through it, while others fight tooth and nail to oppose the evolution that is already progressing with the force of a nuclear reaction. We are at a state of critical mass with regards to our collective awareness and now memory of what was, what is and what may be.

Connect with Nancy on Instagram at @nancygood_art.

Q’shaundra James Wait for Her Smile & White Noise

Location: 3152 S Highland Dr, Las Vegas, NV

Q’shaundra James was born in Las Vegas, Nevada. She earned bachelor’s degrees in English and Fine Art at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Her work has been exhibited in various galleries such as the Untitled Space in New York and the Palo Verde Art Center in California. One of her paintings: Wait Till She Looks Up belongs to the Student Union’s permanent art collection located at UNLV. Recently, Q’shaundra displayed work at the 1st Annual NAACP Juneteeth Jubilee. She was also an apprentice in Italy for a local artist, Federico Paris. During undergrad, she received the Kenneth M. & Mary Alice Devos Art Scholarship and the Outstanding BFA award.

Alongside Chase McCurdy, Q’shaundra teaches art classes at the Neon Museum and currently has work displayed in the Las Vegas City Hall Loan Program and at the Lost Museum.

Artist Statement:

My work revolves around W.B. Dubois’ “The Veil” theory. The Veil refers to African-Americans inability to clearly see themselves outside of white America’s prescribed narrative. The transparent fabric drapes over black Americans, inevitably obscuring their vision and image. Rather than distort my sitter’s sight with the veil, I grant them clarity. Pulling back the fabric from their eyes, my figures discover they are on display. Unfortunately, the history of slavery and the predominantly white fine art canon forever ties the black image to the past. Black portraiture is commonly associated with abjection, struggle, and otherness. Aware of this notion, the sitters resent the uneasiness of marginalization. To their dismay, portraits find the original forms they imitate are also objectified. Similar to the confines of a canvas, African-American’s must contend with stereotypes and stigmas. Instead of conforming, the figures of my portraits find agency through defiant attitudes. My sitters’ rebelliously refuse to acknowledge their audience or glare back indifferently. Despite the models efforts, the veil will always loom in the background.

Connect with Q’shaundra on Instagram at @Little_troublemaker.

Location: 3641 W Sahara Ave, Las Vegas, NV

Sameer Asnani is a first generation Desi-American Artist and Illustrator based out of Las Vegas, Nevada. His family migrated from Mumbai, India to America in the 1970’s. Being a lifelong artist, he always had an aptitude for art, but his skill truly began to develop when he started life drawing at the Art Institute of Las Vegas at the age of 15. Sameer earned an Associate of Arts Degree from the College of Southern Nevada in 2019. Sameer has worked on multiple art commissions for schools, government buildings, and casinos.

Connect with Sameer on Instagram at @sameer_asnani.

Location: 260 S Decatur Blvd, Las Vegas, NV

Who are the Mirror Twins?

I often don’t like to reveal too much about my paintings of the twins. I feel that as a Woman, … there is some parts of us that always lives a “little girl that lives in the the balance of dualities… worlds”

-Cristina Natsuko Paulos

We are the Mirror Twins.

The Mirror Twins are very mysterious, even to me. Sometimes they reveal themselves as sisters, and other times they might represent the various fractured parts of my mind. It’s hard to tell with them. 

Because I enjoy creating art that shows balance- whether it’s between light and darkness,vulnerability and strength, insanity and sanity, fear and courage, and so on and so forth, the Mirror Twins give me the opportunity to explore that balance and duality within myself in a visual form. I can then combine the exploration of my mind along with my healing with a mixture of Western meets Eastern Pop Culture values, fairy tales, and early childhood development.

I employ cartoon design features with my Mirror Twins artwork in order to draw people in so that they’re able to be somewhat comfortable enough to explore somewhat uncomfortable and darker topics in my work.

-CRISTINA NATSUKO PAULOS

Cristina Natsuko Paulos grew up in the San Fernando Valley in Southern California. She relocated to Las Vegas in 2002. She received her BFA from the California Institute of the Arts in the animation program in 2006. As an artist, she incorporates various techniques from her animation studies and applies them to her work creating impressions of movement. Her work focuses on that of mirror twin character and work based on life and female archetypes, as well as portraiture and imagery and subject matter drawn from life. Her work is focused on surrealist storytelling and often uses the media of painting, comic-illustration, puppetry, and animation. 

Paulos is also a burn and trauma survivor, mental health advocate and police brutality survivor.  Often in her own work she reveals her personal journey to recovering, trauma and her own madness to sanity.  She hopes to end the negative stigma of what it is to “label” mentally ill and also hopes to elevate others to break the stigmas.  She also actively fights for safer cop interactions of policing, she’s pro-good cops in our communities.

Paulos’ works as a professional sign artist and sign painter, comic artist, painter, puppet artist, art teacher and is a published illustrator.

Connect with Cristina on Instagram at @mirrortwins_art.

Location: 6593 S Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas, NV

Gem Jaxx is a modern visual artist, who was born in Salinas, CA and resides in Las Vegas NV. You will discover a unique style from pop culture to iconic history in an edgy fashion exploding with vibrant colors. The transformation from her digital art cut into pieces of paper pasted over canvas, wood, and reclaimed objects as the foundation. The mediums used to finalize her work are aerosol, acrylic, oil, paper, and pastel.

Recently she was curated by Van Der Plas Gallery in Manhattan NYC (2021). In addition to artwork permanently installed at the Allegiant Stadium home of the Las Vegas Raiders (2020). Gem was exclusively invited to display her art inside the Liberace mansion for an exclusive Auction. The luxury hotels and brands Venetian, Palazzo, MGM, and Belvedere have displayed her work in recent years. Her art has traveled throughout Orange County, Hollywood, and Los Angeles, CA arts district. Her work was on exhibit at Norbertellen Gallery and The Autry Museum festivals in Los Angeles.

On her downtime, she regularly promotes herself at her downtown gallery “Saturation” located inside The World-Famous Arts Factory in the Las Vegas arts district.

My artwork explores the relationships with current pop culture and history. I create artwork to connect people with the present times and history. I want to give purpose to the present, forgotten, and obsolete. I experiment with a vibrant color palette because this is what speaks to me, and it flows like magic. I work in digital format and then I print my own artwork and I cut them into pieces and build layers. With influences such as Andy Warhol and today’s artist Shepard Fairey. I enjoy mashing pop art with street art and to finalize my creations I use aerosol, acrylic, oil, paper, stencil, and pastel.

Connect with Gem on Instagram at @gemjaxxart.

Location: 3305 S Decatur Blvd, Las Vegas, NV

A Las Vegas native born in Compton California and raised in Las Vegas Nevada. Feliciano Lopez who's artists name is Changoart is a multimedia artist who has created paintings and murals nationwide since 2008 using multiple mediums from acrylics, spray paint, epoxy resin, and wood working. Bright colors, solid contrasting outlines are Changos passion creating a unique one of a kind execution influenced by Van Gogh, Dali, Kahlo, Gondekk, Nychos, Pop culture and twisting his inspirations in his own artistic personality.

Keep up and see his latest creations on Instagram at @changoart or shoot him a personal email felicianol87@hotmail.com.

Ruby Barrientos NUWAVE MAYAN

Location: 3890 W Tropicana Ave, Las Vegas, NV

Ruby Barrientos is a first-generation Salvadoran American artist born and raised in Reno, NV. She is a self taught/independent visual artist having shown in galleries, museums locally and currently serves as Reno’s City Artist through June 2022.

Ruby is an artivist utilizing a unique artistic voice that she coined Nuwave Mayan, a style that incorporates her Salvadoran Mayan ancestry and heritage in the creation of socially relevant work. Ruby’s exhibits, talks, performances, public art, and community involvement speaks to her commitment to engaging with the public through thoughtful discussions about creating better more inclusive futures.

Connect with Ruby on Instagram at @ruby_jo.