LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — The first of many murals is coming to life in the Chinatown Corridor as part of the effort to revamp the booming area.
FOX5 has continued to follow the Inspiring Spring Mountain project. For months, hundreds of locals, tourists, business owners and nearby residents weighed in on proposed solutions to crime, congestion, parking and traffic in Chinatown.
What do people want? Turns out, it’s also “street art.”
“When we were talking to a lot of the stakeholders along this corridor, what we heard is they wanted to see a lot more public art,” said Commissioner Justin Jones.
Jones recently showed FOX5 some renderings based on public input: images show more trees, wider sidewalks for greater walkability, and the possibility of street art along the paths.
“There’s so many creative people along this corridor. You see it in the food. You see it in the shopping. What we needed was more art to make it cohesive,” Jones said.
“It’s going to bring visitors, it’s going to bring a lot of our locals to check this out,” he said, speaking to us outside the Golden Dragon Shopping Center on Spring Mountain Road, where the first mural is being brought to life by artist Gear Duran.
Since July 1, Chinatown officially became a “redevelopment area.”
Some property tax dollars can be diverted to fund improvements to streets, sidewalks and businesses. Those tax dollars can fund potential improvements.
Businesses pay for half of the costs of the mural.
“We know that there’s going to be more of these property owners who are interested in doing murals,” Jones said.
The mural-in-progress already started to get visitors.
“It makes the area something that you really actually want to go out to see. I know I’m a photographer, so for a lot of folks, murals like these are places that suddenly become spots that you just want to go to, to take a photo in front of,” one woman said.
The county has hired Brian “Paco” Álvarez of Psionic Art Works to oversee various installations, hire Asian American artists for murals and sculptures, and scour the area for spots that could benefit from art.
“There’s so many empty walls in Chinatown. We want to work with every business, every property owner down here to put some art on those walls, bring some sculptures, and most importantly, celebrate the contributions of Asian Americans here in Southern Nevada,” Álvarez said.
Álvarez envisions historical markers, tributes to historical figures in the Las Vegas Valley Asian community, and homages to the cultures that make up businesses and visitors to Chinatown.
“These are all going to be recommendations that we’ll recommend to the County Commission to really help energize Chinatown. And we’re hoping the goal is to give the Arts District a run for its money,” Álvarez said.
Las Vegas local artist Duran tells FOX5, he was inspired by his Chinese heritage to help create his current mural of a golden dragon.
“For me, it’s obviously it’s got some really deep-rooted symbology, many different meanings culturally among many different cultures. For me, it’s strength, prosperity, power, abundance,” Duran said, who needs a crane to paint the large mural.
If your business in Chinatown would like to learn more about bringing a mural to the area, click here: Inspiring Spring Mountain
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