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Interview with Theresa Dorothy (Healy) Maynard, January 26, 2004
Date
Archival Collection
Description
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Transcript of interview with David Straus and Heidi Straus by Barbara Tabach, November 6, 2015
Date
Archival Collection
Description
In this interview, the Straus? discuss the joys of growing up in Las Vegas during the 1960s and 1970s, and the changes within the community over time, especially in educational opportunities. Both talk about Joyce Straus? career as artist and art educator, and the influence she had on their lives. They also remember Heidi?s father, Jay Sarno, and the impact he had on the local gaming industry. There is also discussion of the founding of Congregation Ner Tamid, the role of Jewish women?s philanthropy within the community, as well as the establishment of The Meadows School.
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Photographs of O'Shea's signs, Las Vegas (Nev.), 2002
Date
Archival Collection
Description
Site address: 3555 S Las Vegas Blvd
Sign owner: Park Place Entertainment
Sign details: O'Shea's Casino is located just north across a small driveway from the Flamingo. The small but busy facade is a small, yet busy stop along the Las Vegas Strip. The exterior signage consists of two corner signs, a blade sign, hanging off of the west face of the building, a main entrance sign, backlit screens as well as various images laden with neon. All of these create a flashing display of luminescence all just above the pedestrian's head.
Sign condition: Structure 5 Surface 5 Lighting 5
Sign form: Fascia
Sign-specific description: O'Shea's Casino is located just north across a small driveway from the Flamingo. O'Shea's theme and signage is influenced by Irish culture and imagery, integrated into the forms of signage along the Las Vegas Strip. The building design itself is influenced by traditional European housing imagery, generalized with other elements of architecture also. One example of this is the coloring, exposed wooden beams and narrow rooflines over treated windows, which suggest styles seen in classic European architectural imagery. Examples of other elements such as sculpted windowsills and exterior molding are more akin to neoclassical than the Irish pub or cottage. A small blade sign hangs in the center of the structure facing north /south. Attached off of the building by two poles, the double sided cabinet is designed with a circular portion at the top that transforms along it's bottom edge into length portion of the "blade" that continues down to a rounded bottom. The Circular portion serves as the "O" in O'Shea's. The exterior of the signs width is finished in a polished gold aluminum surface. The top portion continues into a full circular space in the front where the backlit image of the O'Shea's leprechaun mascot resides in it's center. The image has a circular green neon border at the edge of the cabinet and is set into a field of incandescent bulbs, which occupy the remaining space in the face of the "O". Incandescent bulbs also run around the edge of a face on a gold raceway. Channel letters run vertically down the face of the blade spelling the remaining "Sea's" of the title. Each letter is filled with incandescent bulbs, and bordered on it's exterior in green neon. The remainder of the space, which comprises the surface of the sign, is a green material. The entire edge of the rest of the sign is also bordered with incandescent bulbs. Below the blade sign, the main entrance for the establishment is denoted by the large, arched, marquee logo, and wall sign for the casino. The arch shape is bordered by gold polished raceways, with the interior space where the O'Shea's logo is written in a bowed, horizontal arrangement with the "O" and "S" being the biggest letters in this group. The same back-lit leprechaun figure which is present in the blade sign, in seen in the "O" of the logo. The letters are of channel design and filled with incandescent bulbs. Gold scrollwork adorns the green background above and on the sides of the logo. An entablature, running the length below the arch, reads "casino" in channel letters filled with incandescent bulbs and bordered with green neon. The orange background in contained on the bottom edge with a gold polished raceway, which sharply curves into a downward point at the very center. All the raceway edges of the sign are lined with incandescent bulbs. Flanking the wall on either side of the main entrance are two backlit message centers with vinyl lettering. They also are bordered with incandescent bulbs, strewn upon polished raceways. To the south toward the Flamingo Casino, a corner marquee sign faces toward the southwest. The message center on the right of the main entrance essentially continues its shape wrapping in radius fashion all the way around the corner. As the entablature wraps the corner, the color changes to a section of black, containing the channel letters hung at a slight angle, spelling the words " Hall of Fame," in cursive text. Small stars in channel design adorn the black background. On the left of the text, O'Shea's is painted in red paint, in a cursive script at a similar angle as the premier text. Neon is shaped over the surface of the letters to allow it to be spelled in light. The word "Casino" is spelled on the right hand side, and treated in the same fashion. A top the black portion of pediment, the sign continues with it's corner finishing, rounded marquee, containing the text, "Magic & Movie," in a three lined arrangement. Putting the two signs together the appropriate title for the advertisement of the attraction is read "Magic and Movie Hall of Fame." The channel letters on the top portion are filled with neon and treated white on the interiors. The edge of the cabinet is treated with white bull nose borders, sandwiching a field of pink holding two tubes of contoured neon. At the peak of the sign a small element reminiscent of a fan, created using a multi layered box, uses different levels receding into space, with the center blade at the front of the sign. The sections are lined with gold raceways and incandescent bulbs, with the center blade being horizontally striped with tubes of neon. Two small gold finished gargoyle statues flank either side of the theatre-esque entrance. Underneath the overhang created by the corner sign, polished aluminum element creates a sloping drum shape above the door. This drum is divided into sections by gold polished raceways. The flat portion, which returns to the ceiling of the overhang is adorned with painted images of clovers, encircled in rings of green neon. This section is reminiscent of the top section of the corner drum of the Barbary Coast. The black pediment along the south portion of the building., abruptly changes to the orange color seen on the main entrance. Along the south wall section of the pediment green pan channels in the shape of clovers hang, lined on the interior with neon. A small sign denoting parking is also present. Another corner entrance is located on the north end of the property, facing northwest. It too has the rounded corner entrance and logo sign. Slightly different than the main entrance, the same "Casino text and structure is seen on the orange pediment above the door, as well as the channel logo with the mascot located in the letter "O." A three-sectioned panel with swooping wings and an arched center creates the field for the main logo. A more busy section of two dimensional scrollwork sits below the neon filled text. The wings of the top section a recessed panels with checkerboard design behind that. Each side of the entire top section is book ended with two small square posts. Three small miniature spires line the very top, and the same inverted drum shape sits underneath the door. Street posts reside on the sidewalk outside.
Sign - type of display: Neon; Incandescent; Backlit
Sign - media: Steel; Plastic
Sign animation: Chasing, flashing, oscillating
Notes: All of the bulbs, which reside in the fascia signs which designate entrances, oscillate rapidly. The entrance sign a bit closer to the north end of the property also contain the pan channel star shapes, with incandescent bulbs in the center. The bulbs which, reside on the widths edge of the small pole sign at the south end of the property, oscillate giving a twinkling effect. The main pylon's animation is rather simple considering the amount of lighting. Bulbs which create the dazzling background chase each other upward to the very point, then once they reach the top, each letter light up from left to right, one at a time, then off one letter at a time. The letters all turn on simultaneously while, while the background chases up, leaving the lights off in its trail. The text then shuts off as well. The small incandescent bulbs lacing the background of the main body of the sign oscillate subtly, twinkling themselves. Each letter of the text contains a single row of incandescent bulbs, just inside the border of the red neon. This row is always on in a chasing animation from left to right even when the letters are dark. The animation for the three sided, pole sign, at the north end of the property is adorned with sparkling animation as well. The purple bulbs, which create the border of the main base, chase each other from bottom to top, and the star shape in the center is filled with oscillating incandescent bulbs. The bulbs, which also encrust the bottom surface of the cabinet, oscillate as well. The incandescent bulbs, which adorn the background of the text portion of the sign, also sparkle with a soft random oscillating pattern. The stars which sit on top of the cabinet, animate in a random, non descriptive fashion. The inner star shaped pans oscillate with incandescent bulbs, and the neon borders flash on then off, in a clumsy random order. The three-sided sign also rotates, one of the few animatronic signs on the Strip.
Sign environment: Being essentially part of the Flamingo, O'Shea's is only separated by a small drive, producing the easy traffic flow from the north entrance of the former. The north of O'Shea's on the immediate vertical explosion of the front tower/porte cochere of the Imperial Palace. It is easy to say that O'Shea's is sandwiched in between two giants, assuming its place as the charming gap between the Flamingo and the Imperial Palace which is quite a bit more pedestrian friendly. Traveling north on the east side of the strip, O'Shea's is not hard to miss at all
Sign - date of installation: Original date of installation 1989. The southwest, and northwest corner signage were added at a later date
Sign - thematic influences: O'Shea's centers around the theme of the Irish pub, utilizing various imagery to get support the design. The color green is used extensively in the main signs color scheme while the ever-popular image of the folkloric leprechaun illuminated it a cartoon form upon the pylon. The green pan channels, which are shaped like shamrocks, are place along the exterior wall, an obvious reference to the St. Patrick's Day Holiday as well a reference to good luck. ( example: the four-leaf clover, luck of the Irish.) Luck is something synonymously associated with an industry such as gaming. Gold is also used extensively with the exterior referencing the infamous pot of gold associated with the lore of leprechauns. The actual structure itself is constructed with elements which suggest a European rustic cottage.
Surveyor: Joshua Cannaday
Survey - date completed: 2002
Sign keywords: Chasing; Oscillating; Fascia; Neon; Incandescent; Backlit; Steel; Plastic
Mixed Content
Transcript of interview with Rita Deanin Abbey by Claytee White, November 29, 2014 and February 26, 2015
Date
Archival Collection
Description
Rita Deanin Abbey is an Emeritus Professor of Art at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She taught drawing, painting, and color theory and innovated interdisciplinary courses with the sciences at UNLV from 1965 to 1987. The University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Marjorie Barrick Museum and the Palm Springs Desert Museum (presently Palm Springs Art Museum), Palm Springs, CA collaborated to present the Rita Deanin Abbey 35 Year Retrospective, which was held February 16-March 5,1988 at UNLV and March 25-June 5,1988 at the Palm Springs Art Museum. Abbey received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1952 and her Master of Arts degree in 1954 from the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM. She also studied at Goddard College, Plainfield, VT; the Art Student s League, Woodstock, NY; the Fians Hofmann School of Fine Arts, Provincetown, MA; and the San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA. She was an artist in residence in the studios of Toshi Yoshida, Tokyo, Japan, John Killmaster, Boise, ID; Methow Iron Works, Twisp, WA; Tamarind Institute, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM; the Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ; Shidoni Foundry, Tesuque, NM; Bill Weaver Studio, Chupadero, NM; Savoy Studios, Portland, OR; and Carlson & Co., San Fernando, CA. Abbey, who works in the areas of painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, porcelain enamel fired on steel, stained-glass, and computer art, has had 60 individual exhibitions and has participated in over 200 national and international group exhibitions. She is represented in private and public collections in the United States, the Middle East, Europe, and South America. Abbey has published several articles in journals, and six books: Rivertrip, Northland Press, Flagstaff, AZ, 1977; Art and Geology: Expressive Aspects of the Desert, Peregrine Smith Books, Layton, UT, 1986 (co-authored by G. William Fiero); the Rita Deanin Abbey Rio Grande Series, Gan Or, Las Vegas, NV, 1996; In Praise of Bristlecone Pines, The Artists' Press, Johannesburg (presently located in White River), South Africa, 2000; Isaiah Stained- Glass Windows, Gan Or, Las Vegas, NV, 2002; Seeds Yet Ever Secret, Poems and Images, Gan Or, Las Vegas, NV, 2013. She has been the recipient of many commissions and grants and has won several awards, including the Bicentennial Commission for the State of Nevada, 1976; the Governor's Seventh Annual Visual Arts Award for the State of Nevada, 1986; and the Chairman's Award of Excellence at the 1987 International Exhibition of Enamelling Art, Ueno Royal Museum, Tokyo, Japan. From 1988-1990, Abbey fabricated Northwind, a steel sculpture (17ft. x 27 ft. 5 in. x 25 ft. 10 in., 7 tons), installed in Las Vegas, NV. Abbey was invited by the Gallery Association of New York State to exhibit four of her works in its 1989-1991 traveling exhibition, Color and Image: Recent American Enamels. In 1992, the Markus Galleries, Las Vegas, NV, and the Nevada Symphony presented an exhibition of art by Abbey, which inspired Virko Baley s Piano Concerto No. 1. The world premiere performance of the concerto was held in 1993 at the National Opera House, Kiev, Ukraine. In 1993, Abbey constructed Spirit Tower, a cor-ten steel sculpture (20 ft., 11 tons), which was commissioned by the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District for the Summerlin Library and Performing Arts Center. Abbey was invited by the Pacific Division of the American Association for the Advancement of Science to lecture on Art and Geology at San Francisco State University for the 75th Annual Meeting, on June 19-24,1994. She was one of three artists from the United States invited to participate in the exhibition, Enamel Today, at Villa am Aabach, Uster, Switzerland, June-July, 1995. Additionally in 1995, Abbey completed a series of cast bronze sculptures at Shidoni Foundry, Tesuque, New Mexico. Commissioned in 1998, Abbey completed the Isaiah Stained-Glass Windows in 2000, sixteen 10 ft. x 2 ft. stained-glass windows for the main sanctuary of Temple Beth Sholom, Las Vegas, NV. Also in 2000, she completed Holocaust, a stainless steel sculpture (14 ft. 3 in., 4.5 tons), installed in Las Vegas, NV. In 2003 her bronze sculpture, Ner Tamid, was installed in Temple Adat Ami, Las Vegas, NV. Snakewash, a cor-ten steel ground sculpture (62 ft.), was completed in November 2003. Abbey fabricated steel sculptures and cast small and large bronzes from 2004 through the present. In 2006 she completed and installed Guardian of All Directions, a stainless steel sculpture (14 ft., 1.5 tons). The Guggenheim Hermitage Museum and Young Collectors Council visited the studio and home of Rita Deanin Abbey, Las Vegas, Nevada October 15, 2006. During March 2008, Women's History Month, Abbey was recognized for her contributions to the Arts by Mayor Goodman and Members of the Las Vegas City Council. Hidden Pass, a 2-inch steel plate sculpture (16 x 28 ft. 8 in. x 13 ft., 22 tons), was installed in 2010. Between July 16-December 23, 2011, Abbey exhibited in Blast from the Past, '60s & '70s Geometric Abstraction at Palm Springs Art Museum, Palm Springs, California. The City of Las Vegas Office of Cultural Affairs, Las Vegas Arts Commission presented Abbey the Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in the Arts on May 25, 2012. Balanced Arc, an outdoor bronze sculpture (8ft. 8 in. x 9 ft. x 7 ft. 4 in., 1600 lbs.), completed in 2012, was installed in April 2013. The Western Museums Association 2014 Annual Meeting in Las Vegas, NV, toured The Art of Rita Deanin Abbey at the Desert Space Museum October 5, 2014. Abbey participated in the fall group exhibition Macrocosm/Microcosm: Abstract Expressionism in the American Southwest at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, October 2, 2014-January 4, 2015. Her artwork was also shown in the Recent Acquisitions exhibition at the Marjorie Barrick Museum, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, June 19-September 19, 2015. Currently, Abbey is working on new sculptures, paintings, and enamels. vii
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Untitled female in black and red gown: original costume design drawing
Date
Archival Collection
Description
Series II. Folies-Bergere production papers, designs, and photographs -- 17th Edition: The Best of the Folies-Bergere -- 2003-2004 costume revisions: costume design drawings, photographs of costume pieces, invoices, and notes -- 1900s ballroom
Mixed Content