Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
still rages today in Nevada. The fact that the efforts to create the museum were
spearheaded by former test site employees, and supported by big donors such as
Lockheed Martin and Bechtel Nevada (corporations still involved in the Nevada
testing site), only added fuel to the fire. So did the content of the exhibits, which
emphasize the positive aspects of the testing from deterrence against the Soviets
to scientific breakthroughs at the site. When it opened, museum director Bill
Johnson told the
San Francisco Chronicle
“Reminding people what the Cold War
was all about is probably the most important mission the museum has. A lot of
people have forgotten that the testers thought they were saving the world.” Some
of them still do, actually. One of the docents told me on my last visit “We were
soldiers on the battleground of the Cold War and added to the freedom of our
country.” So the pro-testing part of the equation is well represented, but there's
very little about the down-winders and the terrible consequences they've suffered.
According to museum officials, that will be added. But it hasn't happened yet, a
serious flaw. Despite all this, the museum has much to teach, and should be vis-
ited. It is, without a doubt, the most thought-provoking, important sight in Vegas
proper.
One warning:
The museum's signage is not very prominent, making it a bit dif-
ficult to find if you're driving yourself. Use the address to locate it; if you look for
the name of the place, you may pass it (as I did, twice, the first time I visited!).
The
Marjorie Barrick Museum of Natural History
55
(on the campus of
UNLV, at 4505 Maryland Pkwy.;
%
702/895
-
3381; http://hrcweb.nevada.edu/
museum; free admission; Mon-Fri 8am-4:45pm, Sat 10am-2pm)
is another sur-
prisingly serious delight. Hidden on the University of Las Vegas campus—even
the security guards I asked for directions didn't know where it was—it houses no
less than one of the most important collections of pre-Columbian art and artifacts
in the United States. Beautiful baskets, painted bowls, turquoise jewelry, 13th-
century Mexican dog sculptures, intricate blankets, multi-colored bead neck-
laces—some of the treasures here (which come from nearly every culture of
pre-Columbian Latin America, from Mexico through the extensive region domi-
nated by the Mayans) will have you rolling your tongue back in your mouth,
they're that jaw-droppingly lovely. As is the space itself, a massive gallery with high
ceilings, shiny wooden floors, and huge glass cases that's as silent as the moon. In
the hour and a half I spent admiring the works here, I was the only person in the
entire gallery. I can only guess that this museum has been ignored because of its
lack of advertising and, to be blunt, its poor wall text which, instead of helping
visitors understand the significance of what they are seeing, is riddled with pro-
fessor-ese—quadrosyllabic words and such meaningless phrases as “Distinctive
socio-politico-religious and economic features then developed.” Along with its
pre-Columbian collection, the Barrick hosts well-chosen touring shows, and has
extensive holdings of Native American art and artifacts from throughout the
Southwest, including Navajo and Hopi weavings, jewelry, pottery, and basketry;
and Southern Paiute archaeological finds. Outside is a pleasant desert garden.
“A kitsch pianist with a scullery maid's idea of a regal wardrobe”—that was the
snarky way
Time
eulogized Liberace in its 1997 obituary. Well, Mr. Showmanship
is having the last laugh. In a year when Elvis-A-Rama, the museum devoted to that
Vegas icon, is unceremoniously closing its doors, the
Liberace Museum
555
(1775 E. Tropicana, at Spencer Rd.;
%
702/798
-
5595; www.liberace.org;
$
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