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We talk to The Neon Museum’s JK Russ and its artist-in-residence, Thomas Putzier, about making art in Vegas for the first time.
Go behind the scenes in an art museum. Join the crew from the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art as we chat with artists, curators, and everyone else who helps us bring our galleries to life. New episodes will be posted in selected months after the program has aired on KUNV 91.5.
The Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art is located on the campus of one of the most racially diverse universities in the United States, we strive to create a nourishing environment for those who continue to be neglected by contemporary art museums, including BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ groups. As the only art museum in the city of Las Vegas, we commit ourselves to leveling barriers that limit access to the arts, especially for first-time visitors. To facilitate access for low-income guests we provide free entry to all our exhibitions, workshops, lectures, and community activities. Our collection of artworks offers an opportunity for researchers and scholars to develop a more extensive knowledge of contemporary art in Southern Nevada. The Barrick Museum is part of the College of Fine Arts at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV).
KKevin Krall 0:00
You're listening to locally produced programming created in KUNV studios on public radio KUNV 91.5. The following is special programming aired in collaboration with the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art on the campus of UNLV. The content of this program does not reflect the views or opinions of 91.5 Jazz and more, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, or the Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education.
LeiAnn Huddleston 0:34
Hello, my name is LeiAnn Huddleston and I am the Manager of Museum Engagement and Outreach at the Barrick Museum of Art. The Barrick and The Neon Museum have recently collaborated on a community event called the Circle of Introspective Agency, created by their newest artist in residence Thomas Putzier, who you will hear from in a bit. Through this partnership, we thought this would be a wonderful opportunity to spotlight The Neon Museum’s Artist-in-Residency Program, which has been inviting artists down to the Boneyard since 2016. Today, we are joined by Putzier and The Neon Museum’s Arts Program Manager Joanne Russ. Would you two like to say hello?
Thomas Putzier 1:17
Hi, this is Tom Putzier. I'm a queer conceptual interdisciplinary artist based in Minneapolis.
Joanne Russ 1:26
Hi there, I’m Joanne Russ, the Arts Program Manager of The Neon Museum, thank you so much for inviting us along today.
LeiAnn Huddleston 1:33
I'm so happy to have you both. And I'm so glad that we can sit down and talk. Jo, Tom is The Neon Museum’s seventh artist in residence. Could you elaborate a bit more on what the program is and what the selection process is like?
Joanne Russ 1:49
Sure. So yes, this is the seventh artist's residency with The Neon Museum. And the program is designed to really expand the interpretive potential of The Neon Museum collection. So the artist is invited to take inspiration, both from our wonderful historic sign collection, and also from the spectacular city of Las Vegas itself. Artists spend one week prior on an introductory week to get a feel for both of those and the opportunity to, you know, also engage, meet, you know, come to events at the museum or other programs or their galleries or the cultural events. Get a feel for things here.
And then come back and do a six-week residency. So we are absolutely delighted to have Thomas Putzier with us for these six weeks. And just to tell you a little bit about the process of selection. So, we invite artists to submit a proposal, talking about how they would like to engage with the collection and the city. And then also to talk about ideas for public engagement. That's a very big part of the program as well. You know, we love making the artist’s work accessible to the members of the public here to community groups. So, we're also really delighted to be partnering with the Barrack Museum with Tom's engagement program that's happening this coming weekend. So, thanks. Yeah.
LeiAnn Huddleston 3:45
Yeah, no, that was wonderful. Thank you so much. I know I'm still learning a lot about The Neon Museum’s Artist-in-Residency program. And so, it's wonderful to get kind of a little bit behind the scenes on how that process usually works. And I love the amount of engagement that you take focus in and engaging the local community and making sure that the artists are connected before they really respond. I think that's a wonderful way to really make their work connect with a local audience. But moving to Tom. I was wondering since we've kind of talked a little bit about the residency, and kind of that process and a little bit behind the scenes. One, welcome to Vegas. Have you been to Vegas before? Is this your first time? First introduction?
Thomas Putzier 4:34
You know, I was in Vegas as a kid. I grew up as a competitive dancer. And so, I did a number of dance competitions here, but I've never been to Vegas as an adult, which is a very different lens, and it's a very exciting city to be in.
LeiAnn Huddleston 4:51
Oh, that's wonderful. Do you do—I, so, Las Vegas is also a transformational city. I feel like we constantly reinvent our identity and transform ourselves into our more public kind of current consciousness. And we're constantly reinventing, I guess compared to your visit now here as an adult. Do you see that within the city? Does the city still seem as you remember it?
Thomas Putzier 5:20
Totally different. It's definitely grown a lot. The urban sprawl is pretty incredible. So much new infrastructure. It's definitely different seen as an adult. It's a very flashy city. But I think there's something here for kids to see as well. It's very colorful at night. The lights are incredible. I'm so lucky to be a part of this residency and experience the city through making art. And like Jo said, looking at their collection and looking at the city and using that as a referential space to create new work.
LeiAnn Huddleston 6:03
And since we're talking about new work for the residency program, do you have an idea of what you would like to do with your time here?
Thomas Putzier 6:12
Yeah, well, I'm doing a few different things. I'm, right now, I've been very focused on the community engagement piece we are doing at the Barrick Museum, which is titled Circle of Introspective Agency. That is a piece that is experimental and has been ongoing for several years. For me, it first began in Minneapolis on a frozen lake at an arts festival called Art Shanty Projects. And so that's a continuation of a community engagement work that continues to change and evolve. I'm also excited to make a number of new painting works that will be displayed at the English Hotel for a solo exhibition starting February 24th. And I'll also be doing an artist talk and an open studio night on February 22nd.
LeiAnn Huddleston 7:10
Well, you sound really busy. I think these are wonderful opportunities to engage the local community. So, I really hope you all come out. Whoever's listening, please make sure you come and visit these venues and these events. Going back to the community engagement project, I should mention to our audience listening currently, the Circle of Introspective Agency Project is scheduled for January 28th at one o'clock. I do realize that has already happened. So, I do want to talk about—a little bit about the engagement projects that you have done. And with that local engagement that you do within the community. Those are spaces and environments that you welcome conversation, that you create this kind of sphere of openness and inclusivity. Do you want to talk a little bit about what drew you to creating these types of events? What drew you to interacting with the community in this way?
Thomas Putzier 8:09
Yeah, I'd say— originally, I'd say in my early 30s, I realized that I was sort of having this obstacle when it came to using my voice in regards to standing up for myself, based on some anti-queer trauma I experienced in my youth and early adulthood. So, I originally thought through this project as a way to create agency for myself and both for others. And as it evolved, I found myself— I found myself sort of decentered from the project and just acting as a facilitator for conversation. And the project began, basically with a deck of cards used to sort of create introspective dialogue, introspective bonding amongst strangers. And it's an inclusive space. It's a brave space, and it's a space where transformational experiences are happening. And a space where people are able to be vulnerable and also perform strength while talking about themselves in a autobiographical way.
LeiAnn Huddleston 9:24
I love that. I love we—in our more recent history, of course, the anti-LGBTQ kind of language has been really prevalent and hard, especially with current legislation laws. So, it's wonderful to kind of have that space to facilitate conversations around this, which is something that seemingly we're going a little bit backwards and it's becoming taboo to almost talk about or really inflammatory to talk about. So, it's wonderful that you provide these spaces and within communities.
Something that I do—I want to touch on is the installations that you do create, to kind of paint a visual picture, their architecture will monuments created with these open, kind of, I guess, inlets and little concaves and things like that, where they create space for movement and airflow, but they're also really flamboyant and bright and triangular. And some of them are— they seem rigid, they're not kind of fluffy. Which I, for me personally, sometimes when I think about openness and conversation, I think of a rounded structure. Do you want to talk about— I hope this is okay to talk about the little kind of why the use of these kinds of sharp edges and these really bright colors and things like that?
Thomas Putzier 10:43
Yeah, I will say that in my practice complexity, and specifically, contradiction is something I'm heavily focused on. So, there are times, say and video work I've made where the content may be depressing. But the visuals and the—sort of visual impact is sort of the opposite of the message. And I sort of like to create this environment where people are questioning their surroundings. The original work—I use this architecture to create the conditions where any passerby became a component of the work itself and became a performer in that work.
The next iteration of that project was more so built as a stage and the stage then held space for numerous performance acts at an arts festival, where different groups from the public were able to utilize that space for different conversations, different music, performances, and even sound baths and meditations. So, I definitely think I'm utilizing space in a different way that makes people curious and pulls people in, which I think maybe is part of my interest in The Neon Museum. Part of my interest in this residency, as well as their collection. You know, I've heard this phrase, The Neon Museum is the most iconic museum in Vegas. And that's just inherently true. And so, since I'm someone who's very interested in referential material and symbolism, working with The Neon Museum, in my mind was just a natural pairing.
LeiAnn Huddleston 12:40
No, I could definitely see those connectors, especially because of the Boneyard, it holds so much of the Vegas’s history, how we've transformed and kind of, in some ways, we've obliterated a bit of our history. But we've also—there's certain things that we keep, there's certain things that we cherish, but sometimes in those kinds of turnovers and those areas of transformation within the city and changing our identity, some things can be lost. And the Boneyard, I think that nickname holds. It's really apt I think for the materials that are in there is like it's almost a reflection of who the city was as we continue to change and reference those beginnings.
Thomas Putzier 13:20
I love the way you put that. I think it becomes this collection of things that are from the past that maybe were forgotten in another way. And it also becomes highly referential to the way in which neon sign companies are utilizing space outside their warehouses, creating sort of piles of completed signs, partially completed signs, old signs to be turned into something else. And I think that's kind of part of the mission of that organization as well. As far as when people come in and experience it. There's so much to think about as far as history and as far as the future goes.
Joanne Russ 13:58
Tom, you summed that up so beautifully in relation to The Neon Museum and their mission. And your question, LeiAnn, you know, I found that really interesting as well. When you're talking about these kind of hard-edge geometric kind of shapes, bright colors, ah, that Tom uses in his work. Our guest juror actually for this year was Carmen Beals, Curator from Nevada Museum of Art. And she talked about those very particular specific things that, you know, there's a lot of interesting kind of contextual material behind the works that Tom makes and dealing with some quite, you know, serious issues. Also, revisioning or re-envisioning the way we see our own environment. And somehow this all comes out with these amazing, quite joyous, bright colors that, you know, really kind of like pop out to you. And that was something that she particularly had reference to with Tom's work. So, I thought that was a really interesting question.
LeiAnn Huddleston 15:10
Yeah, thank you for coming in on that. Because, I mean, that's what drew me to Tom's work, when we were first kind of like, starting these conversations of work to get working together, bringing this community event to life is the—they're loud, but they're really quiet at the same time. Like they take up space. They have these really bright neon colors. Like, I think the Temple of Agency is like a bright, neon, fluorescent green that stands out in the middle of a frozen lake bed. It's something that—it's so stark, you almost just can't ignore it. But it also feels quiet because some of the structures are smaller. So—
Thomas Putzier 15:48
Yeah, I would say I'm—I'm very interested in queering spaces. And I think in doing so I like to start with what's already there. And taking parts, taking shapes, taking forms, taking references, that already exist, and are familiar with people and then starting to edit them and turning them into something completely different and making it sort of unrecognizable, and yet somehow also uncanny in the sense that there is this original starting point that maybe everyone's familiar with. For example, about two years ago, I did a piece in Connecticut called the Gatekeeper. And it's a 12-foot tall, pink sculptural piece in the middle of the woods, on a hiking trail, and at I-Park Foundation. And the piece itself, maybe is highly referential to post-modernist architects. But it's also, if you break it down in its most basic elements, it's four triangles and three rectangles. And so, I like to play with shapes in their most basic sense, and then layer them and combine them until they become something different altogether.
LeiAnn Huddleston 17:13
I love that. I love that that is also taking a key place within the work that you create, as you're thinking about how those shapes invade these spaces. Something that kind of, I guess going back to what you'll be able to do at The Neon are—there are certain signs that I think really kind of reference that kind of specific shaping. Like one that I'm thinking about is the Stardust sign. It is of huge importance that has the— basically the way that that was designed, was so eye-catching and gorgeous. And I believe at the time was really innovative. Are there any signs that you've seen within the Boneyard where it's like, oh my gosh, that's amazing. I love this sign and what they do with their design?
Thomas Putzier 17:58
Well, it's interesting you brought up the Stardust because that's one I'm also obsessed with. And one of the pieces I plan to be making, I'm sort of using that sign, that font, as a starting point. And considering that that structure was imploded, I've sort of started to think about the Stardust sign itself, becoming bloated and becoming imploded and using that idea as a starting point, to manipulate shapes. But I will also say I think most of the signs in there that have, that contain sort of hidden symbolism, get me really excited. And also, just different intersections in the city. You'll stop at a stoplight and right in front of you, there'll be 10 different neon signs layering upon each other. And in the dark night, I only see that and then I start erasing everything else. And then what's left just becomes this outline. And so that's another work that I'm going to be working on that's incredibly referential to a specific location and direction, using those neon lights in those spaces as an outline to create new painting works.
LeiAnn Huddleston 19:18
I'm very excited to see those. I'm very excited. That gets me really jazzed. Oh, well, that's— that's wonderful. I'm glad that actually is something that you're going to be working with because it's definitely one that I personally really enjoy. So going back to what you said about referential spaces, and I kind of wanted to bring back the point of some site-specific works within your kind of oeuvre. About with your community engagement project, since you engage with the local communities, what have you found in your time here with Las Vegas that you've discovered about the local community? And do you think with the community project you'll do here? Do the questions change? And how do these kinds of facilitations of conversations usually go?
Thomas Putzier 20:05
Yeah. So, I've done these different community engagement pieces stemming from this experimental project dealing with introspection across the country, and it's been done in different formats. One of the last ones was with a queer youth group. And the questions were definitely sort of geared more toward that lens. But I definitely think with these, it's more so—it's less about what I'm bringing, and what I'm questioning and more so about I think what the community is bringing to the table.
And as far as these conversations go, I definitely feel like I'm still a visitor here in the sense that I don't—I can't fully analyze this city. But I will say, I think one thing I bring is my own baggage, which I think maybe sort of generates where some of my own questions are coming from for other people. Some, you know, some of these—most of these questions are very simple, like, are you your truest self? You know, and rather looking at that as a yes and a no, and using that as a place to sort of jump into an internal thinking space. So far, I've been here just exactly two weeks, I think.
Joanne Russ 21:33
And one week for the introduction.
Thomas Putzier 21:34
Right, there was the weekend. Back in September I was here. Completely different environment. You know, 100 degrees. But I will say I'm constantly exploring, constantly driving around, constantly hiking, constantly seeing new venues.
LeiAnn Huddleston 21:50
That is actually—it's good that you're seeing—you're seeing a more well-rounded view of Las Vegas. I feel like a lot of people when they think Vegas, they immediately think Strip, the casinos, the gambling. Like a lot of people outside of The Strip, I don't think they always realize that there are other things happening, that there's still—there's life happening outside of that one drive. So I'm glad you're getting a chance to go out and especially see the natural wonders that the desert has to offer.
Thomas Putzier 22:18
That is so real though. I think when I was driving just here for this interview, I, you see the strip in the background the entire time. And when I was pulling up, I was thinking there are people that never leave that Boulevard, the entire time they're here, and there's so much more to experience and so much more that is informing that space.
LeiAnn Huddleston 22:41
And this gives you a better understanding of what the local community is like. Because we're always transitioning, and our identity is always changing as a city, we have a lot of transients, in that kind of sense of like people coming for work, they come in the hospitality, they come for vacation, and then they leave. This is a segment of their life before they hop somewhere else. So, what I think is really interesting, coming from that perspective, is that if you're only viewing The Strip, you're only seeing such a small portion of what Vegas has to offer, and especially the local communities. Engaging with them, you really— a lot of people—you really have to get out of The Strip in order to engage with and really go into the separate parts. I know you were saying that North Las Vegas, when you had recently visited, felt completely different than the area we are in now with Paradise. It's just, there's so many different pockets within the city, that kind of these communities would love to be reached, if only those kinds of people coming in, would engage with.
Joanne Russ 23:41
And I will add to that, that I think, you know, it's a pretty special experience for people when they're visiting the city, however long they're here for, to be able to come to cultural environments such as the Barrick Museum, such as The Neon Museum, where it's possible to engage directly with local folks who live and work here as well, because it's such a—a unique and interesting experience too, isn't it? And there's a lot of dialogue, kind of shared dialogue, that can happen in those kinds of situations. So, I think that's something that's really important. And it's something too, that when an artist comes here, you know, to have these kinds of conversations and really connect with local folks is important too.
LeiAnn Huddleston 24:33
Yeah, I liked that you said that Jo, because it's definitely one of those things that in order—the—I guess in order to connect with the community, you do have to invest—you have to go to these— these local gatherings. You have to go and see the different residency programs that we have without the city and go to these events and see what the—with the—I guess touch back in with that community and especially within the arts. It's really vital to get connected through these events in order to get in with the arts community here, although I find it very welcoming, it's always a welcoming community. It's definitely one that you kind of have to journey to find sometimes. So, I think we're about to wrap up. And I just wanted to remind everyone about the upcoming dates that are taking place with Tom and The Neon Museum. Tom, would you like to say those dates one more time, so we—we make sure we get those in there?
Thomas Putzier 25:32
Yes, February 22nd I'll be doing an artist talk, as well as an open studio at the Juhl condo building starting in the afternoon. And then February 24th, in the afternoon, I will have a solo show exhibition opening at the English Hotel in the arts district.
Joanne Russ 25:51
And in relation to that, we'll have a public viewing on Preview Thursday, March the 2nd, so folks can come and experience Tom's work installed in the context of the English Hotel in the context of the arts district, Las Vegas.
Thomas Putzier 26:13
We would also like to thank our sponsors for the Circle of Introspective Agency Project with the partnership at the Barrick Museum and The Neon Museum. Thank you to Cosmopolitan Las Vegas, the National Endowment for the Arts and Foundation for Contemporary Arts.
LeiAnn Huddleston 26:33
Thank you for doing that.
Joanne Russ 26:35
I'd also like to just add a special thank you to the Juhl, who host artists and provide a wonderful studio space as well in downtown Las Vegas.
LeiAnn Huddleston 26:47
Thank you so much for joining us, you two. It was really wonderful to talk with you both a little bit about your work, Tom, and The Neon Museum, as well as a little bit about the city of Las Vegas and its community. That was a wonderful kind of conversation to have. So thank you all for listening today. I hope you have a wonderful day.
Kevin Krall 27:07
You've been listening to special programming aired in collaboration with the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art on the campus of UNLV. The content of this program did not reflect the views or opinions of 91.5 Jazz and more. The University of Nevada, Las Vegas, or the Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education.
This transcript was edited by Michael Freborg.