On an overcast Monday morning, the sun poked through the clouds around 9:30 a.m., the day brightening in unison with the spirits on a crowded corner of Symphony Park.
“It’s a pleasure to see so many people for what is probably one of the most exciting moments in the history of the city of Las Vegas,” Mayor Shelley Berkley announced in a pink dress and matching shades.
“I have wonderful talking points that the city prepares for me,” she continued before an audience of around 100 people. “I’m going to set those aside, because I’d like to talk to all of you from my heart about how significant this project is and the impact it’s going to make on our community.”
Emotions ran high at the groundbreaking for the Grand Central Galleries, 355 Promenade Place, a novel, multipurpose exhibition space and media lab opening in April that will serve as a precursor for the 2029 debut of the Las Vegas Museum of Art.
The moment marked the first tangible steps toward the realization of the long-gestating LVMA and had been decades in the making. The pent-up enthusiasm was palpable.
“It feels extraordinary to have this turnout, and to see these people that have already been touched by the museum — it makes it feel very real,” LVMA Executive Director Heather Harmon said. “The physical space allows us to have a signal to the community that we are coming sooner, that you don’t have to wait for the building at Symphony Park to see exhibitions and to benefit from programs. You’re going to be able to do that as early as April of next year.”
Harmon, a fourth-generation Nevadan, is one of numerous Las Vegas natives bringing the museum to fruition, a point underscored by former Ward 5 Las Vegas Councilman Cedric Crear.
“This is a homegrown project,” he said. “This is of Las Vegas, for Las Vegas, grown because of people from Las Vegas.
“When we, as a people, see we have a problem or an issue, we, as a community, come together to solve those problems and those issues,” he continued. “And this is just another example of someone who is homegrown, who is coming back to our community and building something great. It’s going to be a lasting impression for decades to come.”
Tip of the LVMA spear
The space is largely barren now, a 15,000-square-foot concrete box populated by little more than steel beams and boom lifts.
But in a little over six months when the Grand Central Galleries open, there will be exhibitions and public programs, a retail storefront and offices for museum staff. The venue will host educational programs and feature a display of architectural renderings, models and multimedia content about the LVMA’s future home.
The building will include two primary public spaces: a 2,616-square-foot gallery for art in all media, and a specially designed, 3,800-square-foot space to facilitate ambitious installations.
The galleries’ first exhibit will be “A Shared Light: Monet, Impressionism, and the American Landscape,” with nearly 60 works by artists including Claude Monet, Paul Cézanne, John Singer Sargent, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and James McNeill Whistler.
“This location is designed to open doors for the community,” explained City Councilwoman Shondra Summers-Armstrong, who represents Ward 5, where the galleries are located, “offering more ways to encounter art, participate in educational programs and engage in creative events that strengthen our connection and our curiosity.”
She then shared a personal anecdote about growing up in Oakland, California, with working-class parents who didn’t have a lot of money but who made a point of exposing their children to art.
“It changes you, when as a kid, from wherever you’re from, you get to stand 5 feet from the Mona Lisa,” she said. “You get to stand and see amazing art by impressionists and others, and you begin to dream. You begin to see that this world is larger and bigger than wherever you’re from.”
Legacy of Elaine Wynn
Although she died in April 2025, Elaine Wynn’s presence as the driving force behind the LVMA was felt Monday.
“I wish my mother was here,” LVMA board member Kevyn Wynn told the crowd. “This was her passion project, and more than anything, she wanted this building to be built. So today is a pivotal moment for all of us, because this is just the beginning of what’s yet to come.”
Rep. Susie Lee cited Wynn as a mentor and noted the importance that she placed on the LVMA broadening the horizons of local youth.
“When you think about this facility and what it’s going to provide — not just to all of us in our community and, obviously, the economic benefit — but the type of opening up of a world to young people, I think that’s a key goal that I know Elaine had in her mind.”
Berkley recalled the time Wynn came to her office and first shared the LVMA architectural plans on her conference table.
“We walked out to the balcony in my office so that we were better able to see where the museum was going to be located,” she said, “and we shared a very intimate moment regarding this community, our hopes, our goals, our aspirations — what Elaine envisioned for this community.”
It was the last time Berkley saw her: Three weeks later, Wynn died at age 82 after a brief illness. But not before putting in motion her crowning cultural achievement.
“This is going to be an extraordinary part of downtown Las Vegas,” Berkley said. “It will bring business from the Strip down here. People are going to want to see the art exhibits that will be second to none. It will be an opportunity for our fellow citizens to see art that they’ve only seen in books. This is the significance of what we are starting to do today.
“When I was a kid growing up in Las Vegas, everyone said, ‘Las Vegas is a cultural wasteland,’” she continued. “It is not that anymore.”
Taking Shape is a continuing series documenting the construction of Las Vegas’ first stand-alone art museum, a significant milestone in the city’s cultural evolution.
Contact Jason Bracelin at [email protected] or 702-383-0476. Follow @jasonbracelin76 on Instagram.