Las Vegas is among the 30 largest U.S. cities without a standalone art museum.
That’s about to change.
The city recently approved a 1.5-acre parcel downtown for a $150 million art museum designed by Prize-winning architect Francis Kéré. The design concept includes two floors of exhibition space that sit above a spacious plaza and adjacent sculpture park.
“Our design blends the beauty of the desert environment with local building principles and the passion and collaborative spirit of the Las Vegas Museum of Art to create a space where dreams come to life,” Kéré says of the 90,000-square-foot facility. “It is a tremendous honor, and a highlight of my professional journey, to create a space that will bring art and joy to the residents who call Las Vegas home.”
LVMA is being developed in collaboration with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), allowing it to borrow artworks, organize exhibitions, and benefit from LACMA’s expertise. This partnership ensures that the museum will operate at a high standard.
“It’s both exciting and intuitively natural for LACMA to help Las Vegas develop an art museum of its own,” says Michael Govan, LVMA board member and CEO and Wallis Annenberg Director of LACMA. “Our two cities are closely aligned. Our populations are constantly mingling. And LACMA’s resources are the perfect match for LVMA’s needs and opportunities, as LVMA will bring more people to LACMA’s collections and programs. We’re delighted that we can now go forward with this wonderful partnership, making good on the conviction of both our institutions that art museums are essential on every level to the well-being of civic life.”
LVMA will be in Symphony Park, joining other prominent institutions such as The Smith Center for the Performing Arts, home to the Las Vegas Philharmonic and Nevada Ballet Theatre, and the Discovery Children’s Museum. It also includes over 600 residential units and will soon feature a 400-room Marriott hotel, catering to the nearby Expo at World Market Center exhibition and convention center.
During its construction phase, the museum is projected to generate $191 million in economic activity, including $80 million in wages. Once the museum is open, its annual economic impact is estimated to be $181.5 million. LVMA will also provide cultural and educational benefits to the community, with more than 300,000 students in the Clark County School District living within a 10-mile radius of the site, further enhancing its contribution to the local area.
Construction is expected to start no later than February 2027.
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