President and C.E.O. Myron Martin, the Smith Center’s head honcho and “keeper of the vision,” holds steadfast to the core of the Smith Center project. He speaks to the enduring qualities of the venue, visually and operationally. He also is hopeful about the Smith Center altering views on Las Vegas.

“What we were trying to do was create one of the best performing arts venues. One that looked like it had timeless, elegant, and lasting architecture…” Martin says, adding that “the Smith Center was a redevelopment tool that will transform the city by creating something that causes people around the world to see us differently.”

The Smith Center has mass appeal with the diversity in performance options. However, education is seemingly one of the most critical to the Smith Center administration team. Led by former Clark County (NV) School District administrator Candy Schneider, vice president of education and outreach, programs and initiatives have been going on since before the Center was even open, five and a half years ago. While the Smith Center was being built, Schneider says they partnered with a variety of organizations throughout the community to borrow space for performances, professional development workshops for teachers, and artist residencies.

“Our goal in starting programming before the building was constructed was to demonstrate a strong commitment to education and to set the tone for the rich in-depth arts experiences that would fill the Smith Center once [we] were up and running.”

For Schneider, the Smith Center’s framework for educational and outreach programming is fashioned by building relationships through the arts that engage individuals and organizations within the Las Vegas community. With the scale of the Center, having abundant opportunities and resources has shown favorable. The Center has since opened the doors of its theaters to thousands of young people, and to the worlds of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, the Momix Dance Company, and the Griffin Theater’s presentation of Frindle. Only time will tell what sort of creative and cultural impact the new venue will have on the minds of youthful pupils in the future, who may not have been exposed to such otherwise.

“In addition to students attending performances, we look forward to supporting and inspiring those who are studying in the arts through master classes, artist talk-backs, and artist residencies. It is our hope that many of our most dedicated and talented young musicians, dancers, and actors will one day take the stage at The Smith Center as professional performing artists,” Schneider says.

Much like the Smith Center’s collaboration with the Culinary Academy, the education department too has projects and partnerships up their sleeves. There is a major focus on youth involvement and nurturing exposure to the arts and culture set forth by Schneider and her team. Additionally, there is a focus on arts education for the enhancement of teachers.

The Smith Center, in partnership with the Clark County School District and the Kennedy Center Partners in Education program of Washington, D.C., focuses on arts integration and professional development for teachers to share the strategies of the arts across all curriculum areas.

“We have presented a variety of teaching artists from the Kennedy Center roster, including classical musician Marci Daft, dancer and choreographer Kimberli Boyd, and international puppeteer Hobey Ford. Each of the teaching artists focuses on arts integration strategies connecting their art form to a specific curriculum content area such as math, science, language arts, and social studies,” Schneider says.

The other national partnership is with the Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts program which allows local artists to lead in professional development courses for preschool educators and to provide the necessary tools to use creativity as an alternative learning methodology for children ages three to five. Schneider says that the Smith Center’s Southern Nevada Wolf Trap Early Learning Through the Arts program is one of 16 regional programs that replicates the Wolf Trap’s seven-week residency program.

The Nevada Ballet Theatre, one of the Center’s resident performing companies, recently celebrated 40 years as a company with their debut on the Reynolds Hall stage. Beth Barbre, executive director and CEO of the company, says, “The whole weekend was a huge success and the community came out in full force to support the dance company. You can tell the community is hungry for culture.”

The program featured a collaboration with the other Smith Center residents, the Las Vegas Philharmonic and singer/songwriter Matt Goss. Also, special guests from prestigious national dance organizations appeared, including the American Ballet Theatre and the Pacific Northwest Ballet. The choreographic work of dance icon George Balanchine was also part of the night’s presentation.

The general consensus of the dancers’ perception of the program was summed up as being positive, exciting, and upbeat. Betsy Lucas, a dancer with the Company since 2010, describes how impactful the night was for her, “It was great to see so many people be excited about the ballet and the new theater. You could feel the energy in the space. Between the live music, the guest artists and a room full of supporters, it was a really special night for all of us at the Nevada Ballet Theatre.”

Lucas also voiced her keenness for the intimate feel of the Smith Center and the design of the space. Additionally, much like others, Lucas is a big fan of what the Center means for the education and outreach to the community, including the fostering expansion and awareness of culture and the performing arts in Las Vegas.

Projects like the Smith Center, Symphony Park and the transformation of downtown, give the impression that thinking outside the box is essential in changing public perception of Las Vegas. The positive receptiveness of the public acknowledging a quality cultural arts center in Las Vegas speaks loudly that slot machines, walking Elvis reincarnations, wedding chapels, Sigmund and Freud, Wayne Newton and the other usual suspects of the city, are no longer the only game in town.

Even from an outsider’s point of view, the need to establish something different is evident. From a red carpet interview at the opening night gala event for the Smith Center, the night’s emcee, Neil Patrick Harris, could be heard supporting the idea that there can be more essence to Las Vegas, particularly when it comes to entertainment.

“I’m a huge fan of live entertainment. I think Vegas weirdly has a stigma for the entertainment being all spectacle and not a lot of substance. It’s nice to have a performing arts center where people can come and see great concerts, whether they are classical or Broadway caliber shows. I think that the city deserves it,” Harris said.

Mayor Goodman was reflective on the night of the gala as to what it means to the city and how far the Smith Center project and its 61 acre foundation had come up until that point. Among special moments at the Smith Center’s opening night celebration, Jennifer Hudson ended the show with a rendition of “Take Care of This House” adapted for the occasion, which Martin found poignant and symbolic.

“It was an emotional moment and a great way to punctuate the opening night saying to the community to take care of this place because it was built to last,” Martin says.

Could the Smith Center be a marker for the start of a Las Vegas renaissance in the form of urban redevelopment with culture at its core? Perhaps, but this sort of venture and endeavor is nothing new to communities that want to revive certain aspects of their city. Much like the Melbourne Docklands, San Francisco’s Crissy Field and the future Greenwich Millennium Village in London, The Smith Center is just the centerpiece for what is yet to come.

For more information on the Smith Center and upcoming shows, visit www.thesmithcenter.com or call 702-749-2012. A PBS televised presentation of the opening night gala show is set to premiere in fall 2012, produced by George Stevens, Jr. and Michael Stevens.

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