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Update: Primitive Hut

A proposal has been issued by David Curtis, Pi-Des for a full-scale Primitive Hut for a site in St. Paul, Oregon. Other potential sites include the Los Angeles, California area, Desert Center, California, and Portland, OR area.

(redacted)

Primitive Hut is a de-mountable shelter system that accommodates 6-8 people. It has integrated rain water capture and filtration. It has modular toilet components. It has a perimeter water sprinkler system for fire suppression. It has a central heating/cooling element.

The entire enclosure is perforated, like a rain-screen system. The upper level has a privacy/thermal curtain. Suspension sacks may be used as lounging, sleeping furniture or they may be used to store gear. The floors are similar to trapeze nets. The entirely perforated system allows for constant fresh air access.

This system is more like “stacked” camping than traditional housing.

It is a new type of housing.

The roof-top has a triangular walk that can function as an emergency evacuation area during flooding.

With sufficient notice, the system may be de-mounted and transported out of the path of wildfires.

The system, when de-mounted, fits in a standard pickup truck bed.

Pi-Des intends the system be airdropped into disaster zones to provide triage nodes in areas most affected.

David Curtis 31 October 2022

Note: Artist rendering, prototype is subject to change in its assembled form. Colors/materials/geometries are conceptual only, they do not represent the final materials. Artist reserves the right to adjust the prototype as needed.
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Kim Gordon at Mississippi Studios

Kim Gordon’s microphone doesn’t seem to be working.

She taps it with her finger.

(Someone) comes out to check the cables.

This goes on for some time.

But it is ok.

It is enough really, for her to even be standing here, getting the tech figured out.

(The warm up act, Brainwashers, was great too. They made a bunch of electronic noise that was throbbing and mutating. Someone called him “Steve”. So I guess it was Steve and the person with Steve.)

Video of cities, shot from various traveling vehicles is projecting on a large screen behind the band.

There is a gap, on stage, between the monitors,

it allows Kim Gordon to stand directly in front of us.

We have the only chairs.

She is leaning forward and basically singing directly down into our skulls.

I do not want this to stop.

I can’t really understand what words she is singing.

But this is, ok,

and I can look directly into her eyes as she is doing this,

and her pants are sparkly,

and her white t-shirt is a little unflattering.

But all of this, is ok,

and her band mates are appropriately cool and competent.

I cannot even reach for my smartphone.

It doesn’t seem appropriate, when one is two feet from Kim Gordon.

So a really great show, it can’t be better.

(Towards the end) She rubs the guitar strings on the leading edge of the stage,

and hands the still sounding guitar to a glazed-over person to my right, who eventually passes the guitar to my wife, who then hands it to me.

Kim Gordon’s guitar hovers on my outstretched hands.

I tap my right knuckles a little on the strings to see if I can hear it.

I pass the guitar, Kim Gordon’s guitar, to the person next to me, and I think of Jesus for some reason.

That person hands the guitar back to Kim Gordon, but it is a bit of a stretch, so I get to put my hands under it again as Kim reaches out to take it back.

Kim Gordon goes back stage.

(I don’t think I have ever been so close to a singer before on stage, except for maybe Missy from Breech, but that is different because I have sung Karaoke with Missy, and danced with Missy.

I did get to fill up Eliza Rickman’s water bottle/sound maker, one time before she performed in Las Vegas. We stood at the water cooler together, watching the small plastic animal shaped toy fill up slowly.)

We stand around waiting to use the toilet.

I walk over to buy the album No Home Record.

David Curtis 9 12 2022, edits 10 30 2022

Kim Gordon photo by Natalia Mantini

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Boa Constrictor House #1

A custom design build for a client in Portland

Dimensions: 6′ wide, 2′ deep, 1′-6″ tall. Exterior grade plywood, pine structure, polycarb liner, stainless steel hinges, latches, and aluminum girts. Hardwood pulls. Galv vents not shown.

© 2022 David Curtis
© 2022 David Curtis
© 2022 David Curtis
galv vent prior to install on right side of enclosure
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Telephonic Harassment

Picture of a frog, selected from results of a key word image search for: frog

Chad Miller, AIA, NCARB, Colorado, telephonic-ally harassed (user accounts with various names) from approximately 6/18/2022-6/20/2022 on the forum of the social networking site Archinect.

Mr. Miller falsely accused an anonymous user account, aka: X, of being someone named “Alexander Watanabe”, in multiple posts, over several hours. Mr. Miller repeatedly made belligerent, demeaning comments on anything X wrote on the site.

Mr. Miller then falsely accused X of making a “homophobic joke”. Mr. Miller had offered that he was a “girl next door sort” to which X replied that the girls next door to X, one just had hip surgery, and the other was recently divorced.

Mr. Miller then proceeded down some rabbit hole.

Mr. Miller and/or others, including an anonymous user account allegedly belonging to Richard Balkins, Astoria, OR, attempted to doxx another user. Mr. Balkins has been de-platformed previously from Archinect, but then returns under various other user names. Some of the users have multiple accounts with different user names.

Mr. Miller repeatedly demanded X reveal the identity of the person controlling the user account.

(Control of a user account is not a fixed position. Sometimes accounts can, in theory, be hacked, or have unauthorized users. Content can be manipulated or removed by moderators.)

Archinect allows users to be anonymous, the vast majority of the forum users are anonymous.

Archinect has a history of enabling telephonic harassment, and of de-platforming users. Some users engage in gaslighting sorts of posts that they obviously do not want traced to their real names.

X then shared (an) identity, a link to a website, implying the site was related to X, perhaps hoping it would get Mr. Miller to change his behavior, but Mr. Miller continued the telephonic harassment of X and others.

Watching this from a screen (the author sometimes reads the forum posts, even though said author is not a registered user there) the author decided to do a keyword search for “Chad Miller, AIA”.

Author learned the name of his alleged employer, the Blythe Group, an architecture firm in Grand Junction, CO, to let them know that one of their employees is engaging in telephonic harassment, and defamation.

Author suggested to the Blythe Group via their website form that if author was a potential client, author would not hire them based on the posts being made by their employee, Mr. Miller.

(Author frequently collaborates with architects and engineers on design work)

The next day Peter T. Icenogle phoned author.

Author spoke with Peter T. Icenogle, AIA, director of Architecture. Mr. Icenogle seemed unaware of Archinect, or that Mr. Miller was posting there.

Author suggested to Mr. Icenogle that Mr. Miller’s posts could negatively impact the firm, given they would likely show up high in internet search results of his name.

X had commented on Archinect to Mr. Miller: “You know your posts here reflect back on your firm, you know this, right?”

Archinect’s response to this was to de-platform (a user account Mr. Miller was harassing) and delete several related posts.

In doing so, Archinect is protecting the abuser, Mr. Miller, and giving him a platform.

The de-platforming of X seems to be discriminatory and/or retaliatory in nature. Archinect de-platformed X and deleted the posts. Archinect has done this numerous times, to numerous people, over a several year span.

Author called the police department in Grand Junction, CO, where the Blythe Group is based, to ask about filing a police report of Mr. Miller’s online harassment. The dispatcher suggested author file the report in Portland, OR, where author lives.

Author filed the report with the Portland police today.

Author, Portland, OR

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Primitive Hut + Triage Field

Update 8 5 2022: Screenshots from the Rhinoceros modeling of Primitive Hut a de-mountable dwelling system by Pi-Des. Pi-Des prepares for the first 3D mockups of system components, structural analysis, and fabrication detailing. Pi-Des hopes to have first runs of the system available for purchase soon. If you are interested in reserving a primitive hut, please email: dcpides@gmail.com.

Rhinoceros model by David Curtis 2022, environment image from Blade Runner, 1982
Rhinoceros model by David Curtis 2022, environment image from Blade Runner, 1982
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Primitive Hut and Triage Field

Primitive Hut, Triage Field © Pi-Des 2022

According to the California fire service, 2018 was the deadliest and most destructive wild fire season on record, with just under 2 million acres burned, under 8000 wild fire incidents in the state alone, and approximately 100 fatalities recorded. 

On August fourth of 2018, a national disaster was declared in the northern part of the state: by November, strong dry winds aggravated existing fire conditions and CA erupted in a new batch of fires. 

What the 2018 wild fire season made obvious was that we need to adapt to these harsh conditions and respond when climate disasters displace people. 

In the midst of the wild fire destruction in 2018, David Curtis began conceptualizing Primitive Hut, a de-mountable system that can be transported out of the active fire area and reassembled as needed. It acts as a Triage Field that provides an area of refuge should one not have time to evacuate the site. Triage Field is an integral fire suppression device for emergency use. It has other technical capabilities that are currently classified.

© Ro1 2022 © Pi-Des 2022

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David Curtis: Who enables Fox News?

So I have to admit that I don’t actually watch Fox New. (I don’t watch MSNBC either)

But I see it, excerpts from it, in the Twitter feed. So I got a little bit curious, what is maintaining that thing and, it looks like Disney made some deal to purchase Fox, but it apparently didn’t include the news outlet so, the quote unquote news outlet continues.

And it’s in a physical place, they are headquartered in New York, in the Rockefeller Center, which appears to be managed by a global real estate firm, a pretentious Canadian firm Ivanhoe (Cambridge). So I reached out to them in an email and said: Hey maybe it’s not the best idea to be working with Fox News given they are a propagandist for the Republican party masquerading as a news outlet…so they kind of snootily responded that they are a “global real estate entity and they don’t engage in political debate.”

So I figured oh: Who owns that place? And it appears, three, that there are entities, and one, you know, Rockefeller Center is owned, it’s global (hideous things), and one of them is Mitsubishi Estate, so and I looked at their balance sheet and they have a shit load of money, so anyway, so there is no obvious way to communicate with whatever that is, Mitsubishi Estate. There is a person that is positioned at the top of that structure, uh, what he exactly does is not immediately evident.

It would be interesting to engage with those entities and make the argument that historically its not going to work out so well if they continue to enable propaganda that benefits the, I guess, it is corporate fascism? I don’t know. It’s basically corporate fascism, corporate fascist people who think that if they go to this “magical place” they will be rewarded in the after life. Um, so there we go.

(end transcript)

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Protest at SF Mission Police Station

I participated in a peaceful protest with thousands of people in the SF Mission. We stood in front of the police station. SF had not yet lifted the 8pm curfew. When 8pm came some of the protesters announced they were leaving peacefully. About a tenth of the protesters remained after curfew. I did not witness any violence. There was a moment when someone threw a bottle of water down from an upstairs window or rooftop of one of the buildings immediately north of the police station. A man in the crowd picked up the bottle while others urged protesters to remain peaceful. I stood at the steel barricade past curfew. I wore a black skate helmet and heavy gloves. A 23 year old woman spoke at length to the officers. She told them it was their fault we had to be out there. That she just wanted to be living her life in peace.
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Bring them to Justice (update 6/4/2020)

iPhone video by X shot at SF Police station

Thank you, to the people of Oakland. In solidarity with the people of Minneapolis.

I received word yesterday that the four former police officers have all been charged for their roles in the death of George Floyd.

I was with you at a barricade last night (May 30th) in Oakland at 14th Street, just East of City Hall. After we complied with the police demand that we “move back”, in the street, the police THEN shot at us with a tear gas canister. We held our position and I pretty much wanted to rip the cops fucking head off at that point. But I kept my shit together. Thankfully, one of the protestors was able to cover the tear gas canister with some traffic cones and water.

I would like to express my thanks also to the people of Minneapolis.

The police failed you, by allowing an officer to violate his oath, by committing a public execution of George Floyd.

To add insult, rather than immediately arresting the offending officer, his employment was terminated, and reports indicate he is at a residential location surrounded by police officers. Reports are he is in custody today.

The other offending officers must be brought to justice.

The officers who were adjacent to him during the crime are complicit.

Those officers must also be brought to justice.

The precinct that houses the offending officers must be brought to justice.

No peace exists until the officers are brought to justice.

David Curtis

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80% of Americans

80% of Americans lack the cognitive skills to understand that a third party exists. The Media will not present a third party to them even when it exists. The algorithms will not show the 80% whatever scraps of a movement remains.

The keepers of the algorithm via “free” apps, extort third party activists with offers to “promote” content in an attempt to bleed them, so they cannot build to a significant level to ever seriously threaten the duopoly.

America, it costs a billion dollars to run as an independent for POTUS. Unless you fix that the whole discussion is moot.

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America, I’m not that in to you.

In Marin, the Republic of California, April 16, 2020.

Declaration of the Republic of California,

When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which Laws of Nature provide, a respect for the opinions of humankind requires that they should declare the cause which impels them to the separation.

We hold this to be self-evident, that all humans are created equal, that they are endowed with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among us, deriving just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience has shown, that humankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of these States; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present US president(s) is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over us. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

The US President has violated his oath by allowing thousands of humans to perish needlessly from a global pandemic, he directly avoided taking immediate, clear and obvious actions.

When steps were taken by the US Congress to remove him. A partisan, corrupt Chief Justice of the Supreme Court failed to act.

POTUS has lied repeatedly to the American people and has cost lives.

POTUS was installed by agents of organized crime families.

POTUS has been compromised by agents of foreign and domestic actors.

The US Congress has been compromised by the same agents.

I, therefore, appeal to the peoples of the world for the rectitude of my intentions, do, as a free human, solemnly publish and declare, That these United States are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the United States government, and that all political connection between them and the United States, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, we have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do.

David Curtis, the Republic of California


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Pandemic Will Likely Worsen Through June 1. Update 5/6/2020 8:01pm PST

A Servpro worker takes off protective gear after working on deep cleaning the Life Care Center of Kirkland, a long-term care facility linked to several confirmed coronavirus cases, in Kirkland, Washington, U.S. March 13, 2020. REUTERS/Lindsey Wasson

5/6/2020: The curve has not indicated any downward trend yet.

5/4/2020 WaPo & NYTimes reports based on a leaked “draft government report” show bad case scenarios that WH has not presented: “200,000 new cases per day by June 1” Based on this scenario, and publicly sourced graphs, we could see deaths in the seven figures in the US alone. We will, with 100% certainty, see deaths in six figures in the US alone.

NEW: Los Angeles estimated roughly 4% of the county has antibodies for coronavirus. That indicates some 220,000 – 442,000 people in L.A. may have been infected. –>55x what current numbers indicate.

Reminder: total confirmed cases in entire U.S. now is at 800,000.

The DEM/GOP leadership seems likely complicit in that they did not prepare for this.

4/17/2020 A study released from Stanford University suggests the number of cases could be 40 times higher than current official reports.

SF Chronicle reports today a study indicates there may be reason to suspect the current official numbers are off by a factor of 10 or more. It is apparent even from the public data the pandemic will continue for a minimum of four months.

Official word is to expect a resurgence of the virus next year.

It seems unclear if the pandemic was intentionally launched. It is certain it is being intentionally exploited. We suspect it was initiated or at minimum anticipated by private/public actions.

Note: This opinion is based on private independent intelligence source(s).

Entities are using chaos technique to disrupt competitors as they gather market resources. This is part of a 100 year strategy to maintain best positions before the bigger less controllable collapses. This has been a clear global pattern since at least late 2000.

David Curtis, reporting for dc_us

Recent (this quarter) actions directly align with a futurist manifesto that was published in 2009. (The Next 100 years: A Forecast for the 21st Century by George Friedman)

Previously:

I ( ) contacted Senator Harris and requested the government publish accurate estimates regarding coronavirus impacts. It seems mission critical that first responders have accurate estimates. The estimates originating from the WH conflict with all public data. DC

WH indicates they consider 100,000 to 200,000 deaths best case, public data suggests worst case could be 3-6 million deaths.

There is little reason to accept the WH numbers as valid at this point unless they can provide the data that support them. Public data suggests 100,000 to 200,000 deaths does not align with any current data nor projections. David Curtis for dc_us 2020

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Desert Concrete by dc_us

Concrete veneer of an existing stone retaining wall based on FLW’s desert concrete

“I wanted to make the existing stone wall more planer by adding concrete veneer. I also wanted some of the existing stones to be visible to show the original construction, so the contractor came up with the technique of attaching wadded paper to the form boards so apertures were cast into the finish surface.” dc

We collaborated with Beth LaDove on the paving and landscaping design.
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Crops from Paris & other

Circulation within tower leg, Eiffel Tower. iPhone pic by dc

…we walked up one of the staircases to the first viewing platform. I recall writing years ago about the replica tower in LV and how it has tube structure within its lattice work that reduces the amount of negative space pushing through the structure.

Fondation Louis Vuitton, iPhone pic by dc

The decision to go with glass has eliminated the oil canning issues present in some of Gehry’s sheet metal clad iconic works. It also allows the ample structure that accomplishes these shapes to be in the foreground. The night before I had gone through the sequence of gesture sketches in the documentation of a book on the Guggenheim in Bilbao.

iPhone pic by dc
iPhone pic by dc

Budapest: the many occurrences of missing stone veneer, usually revealing concrete structure with various globs of perhaps mortar, sometimes worn ends of spray foam. Frequent signs for “Escape Rooms”. A taxi driver points to a building where the KGB operated. Frequent branding of “New York”…on hamburgers, cafe, t-shirts. Something about the elevator door reluctantly closes. Blue and white interiors. A tv in the kitchen/dining room/couch area. I have no memory of the sleeping rooms.

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Rem Koolhaas, but he was Latino

image sample, the Stellenbosch Heritage Foundation

Rem Koolhaas, but he was Latino, sat next to me on the jury.

(Discussing the project)

He had a robotic torso.

(It) looked like a bicycle frame.

I could see electrical wires that replaced his spinal cord.

I couldn’t help asking him about it.

(He said): The doctors told me it was possible…but you don’t want it.

© David Curtis 2015

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Aldous Harding, Designer

iPhone pic by author

Aldous Harding visited SF last night for one of the precious US dates on her current tour in support of her album Designer.

She plays in Los Angeles tomorrow to another sold out show.

My wife and I made the mistake of lingering on a sofa near the merchandise table during the opening act. So despite the small venue, I was further from the musicians than I wanted to be once Aldous began. But the sound was wonderful. I kept looking over to the sound man to see him enjoying it as much as I was.

I did get to see Aldous before the show, as she was heading out to the front of the club twice. She had a look one has when trying not to forget something or perhaps when one’s mind is elsewhere.

Most of the songs were from the new album.

Weight of the planets diagnoses someone inaccessible due to imagined or real duty.

The mildly threatening lyrics of Treasure .

I think there was at least one song from the Party album.

The encore was a cover of Gerry Rafferty – Right Down the Line. Sung slowly as if by a quiet Kate Bush.

It ended too soon. I wanted to volunteer for the tour (as is often the case) but dutifully went home to my family.

A package containing Designer on vinyl was waiting when I got home on the dining room table. I’ve listened to it four times so far today. Five.

https://www.aldousharding.com/

DC 4/23/2019

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Silent Walk, Change the name.

Silent Walk 3
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adapted from Peter S Lucking

(first published by Unshod Quills)

–  On Lipstick

Background
prevalent among the Sumerians, Egyptians, Syrians, Babylonians, Persians, and Greeks.
Later, Elizabeth I with red mercuric sulfide.
For years, rouge
only promiscuous women
true societal acceptance
By 1915 push up tubes were available, and the first claims of “indelibility” were made.

Raw Materials
wax, oil, alcohol, and pigment.
beeswax, candelilla wax, or the more expensive camauba. Wax enables the mixture to be formed into the easily recognized shape of the cosmetic. Fragrance and pigment are also added, as are preservatives and antioxidants, which prevent lipstick from becoming rancid.

DSC

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Complicit Defamation

Update 6/17/2022: How does one reconcile a site like Archinect that pretends to be a forum for “connectivity” and “new ideas” but then heavily moderates speech and routinely de-platforms and censors the peers that try to speak on it? It seems really conflicted and hypocritical of Archinect.


Paul Petrunia

Sites allow anon comments to drive traffic. They don’t care about ethics. They wait for the comments to moderate themselves. Meanwhile the defamation has already happened and the sites remain complicit.

©2018 David Curtis

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Sasha Grey, Neu Sex signing

sample from book cover

Sasha Grey, Neu Sex book signing at Martha Otero 5 May 2011.
It is difficult to imagine a more appropriate, or intimate setting for this signing:
Correct neighborhood, residential scale, eye-level hedges, the serious door man…
Inside, three smallish white rooms, share a continuous gabled ceiling. A small, crooked line of interested humans, wait for autographed copies from the author, Sasha Grey.
I glance around the room, but the queuing for the signing takes precedence, I get in line.
My peripheral vision and hearing realizes it is her, or something like her, in a black full length dress.


I’m having difficulty focusing due to the heat and humidity, compounded by the gallery lights. It’s 90 degrees F. in West Hollywood today.


Then I actually look at her. Until now she has been a series of virtual images, so it is a bit odd to compare both printed photos with a live human, without really getting a good look at either.
But this is a book signing. I wait my turn.


Nearer the table I blurt: “Do you take plastic? Checks?”
Agent: “No, cash only.”
DC: “How much are the books?”
Agent: “$40”
DC: (to guard) “Is there an ATM nearby?”
Guard: “I don’t know, around the corner, at the gas station, down Melrose, there’s a (bank name) across the street”
(I leave for 15 minutes then return)
DC: “I would like to buy one book, please.”
Agent: (takes cash, slides book to SG)
SG: “Hello, what is your name?”
DC: “Hello…David…I am envious of your book.”

SG: “Oh, (writing) I think I messed up your name.”
DC: “That’s OK, I need a new name anyway.”
SG: (laughs)
DC: “Are you happy with how the book turned out? (I haven’t seen it yet)”
SG: “Yes”
DC: “Is this wall (painted wall behind SG) part of the show?”
SG: “Yes, it’s by the artist James Jean”
DC: “Jeans?”
SG: “Jean, he did the paintings of me in the other room.”
DC: “Are you still looking to hire a photo assistant?”
SG: “Eventually.”
DC: “I’m from LV, I’m sharing some space in Holsum with some people,
an architect, an art director and some artists/representatives.
Las Vegas has about 25% vacancy now in commercial so there are some deals.
(DC hands SG a card)
Well, thank you. Congratulations on the show.”
SG: “Thank you.”
(dead link to martha otero website)
I should perhaps discuss the actual work being shown at some point.
The photographs are self-described obsessive documentation of the artist during her porn mode.
She documents behind the scenes intimate moments existing separate from the scenes viewers are likely to consume in the porn films…cleaning up what looks to be vomit off the floor… a funny face in between shots.
In her book she observes that “men are incredibly insecure when it comes to their sexuality”.
There is a central piece on the main gallery wall, milky white with grayish impressionist solo figure.
I keep revisiting it for some reason.
To the left, a multi-colored work with a carnival theme insists repeated views.
I’m glad to see the works on walls but perhaps happier they exist now in a book to be revisited. I am glad to have visual confirmation that the artist is flesh and blood.
David Scott Curtis, 5 May 2011 from Las Vegas, NV

024_14a
SG at signing, video by DC
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Guggenheim Forensic

I visit the corpse

wall trusses during construction, photo by David Curtis
forensic annotations

of the Rem Koolhaas designed Guggenheim Hermitage Museum in Las Vegas over the (native american genocide) weekend.

This project was originally designed and constructed in 2000-2001, I was a senior professional for the executive architect TSA of Nevada (the Stubbins Associates).

The internal partition truss (140′ long, fully clad, both sides in 1/2″ corten) was fully suspended from the underside of the hotel tower. It has been reconfigured, if not completely removed.

Retail shops have been inserted into what is left of the corten gallery shell.

A Hugo Boss store at the north end features one of the remaining exposed corten partitions. The remnant of the stone fireplace from the previous VIP lounge remains, a feature element in the new store.

On the exterior, nearly the entire work has been obscured by vinyl supergraphics of celebrity chefs.

Near the porte cochere, some corten remains visible as does a sliver of window, the laminated glass pin at the partition foot. The former, full height sliding glass and steel door is visible. A smaller, perhaps exit door has been cut in to it.

The (3) former rotating display walls are gone.

Vestige end display cases of glass occupy what would have been the ends of the rotating walls when paused in the East West direction.

One of the cases features a head shot of Grace Hartzel, perhaps a highlight of the remodeled interior.

On a positive note: The removal of the fully suspended East truss partition likely avoids an eventual structural collapse that the corten might have enabled. See also: rust is a thing.

And no, I did not work on this remodel.

I worked on the former museum from schematic design through construction admin. I flew to Rotterdam to provide OMA assistance during the completion of the construction documents. I sketched all the roof details on the plane in pencil. I still have them.

I later served as a Gallery Educator for the Guggenheim Museum after it opened under Anita Getzler.

© David Curtis 2018 (edits 11/12/2022)

A partial history of the Contemporary Arts Collective

Researched by DC and SP from the CAC files in Las Vegas, NV, 2002

The following text was retrieved via the Wayback Machine of the CAC’s website (after it was renamed the Contemporary Art Center. It was edited by CAC volunteers:

2012

  • 23rd Annual Juried Show – Juror Mat Gleason is a Los Angeles based art critic and curator. He is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post’s Arts Section and publishes Coagula Art Journal, a pioneer hybrid of tabloid journalism and anti-academic art writing which he founded in 1992.  Selected artists: Richard Adams, Robyn Alatorre, Jennifer Beaty, Mike Busch, Leigh Craven, Will Cruz, Jessica Daniel, Sue Danielson, Clark Derbes, Arthur Fields, Dona Geib, Sarah Hanson, Chad Haskell, Carolyn Holden, Dan Hooker, Russel Jacobs, Donald Johnson, Brent Kallenbach, Joanna Lord, Rosemary Meza-DesPlas, Naoko Morisawa, Robert Nelson, John Norris, Mark Oatis, Jody Paulson, Ila Prouty, Michelle Ramin, Jeffrey Rhodes, Nohelia Rivas, Keri Schroeder, Adam Schwieder, Marlene Siu, Greg Stahl, Cathryn Sugg, Alessandra Suply, William Swaney, Haikuhie Tataryan, Daniel Victor, Jevijoe Vitug, Eric Vozzola, Jayson Warnock, Margi Weir, Vicky Wetherill, and Betsy Williamson. March 23, 2012
     
  • Defeat the Future by Yo Fukui, Antonio Serna, Chad Stayrook, Naoko Wowsugi, Richard A. Wager. Curated and presented by UNLV MFA graduate Yo Fukui in partnership with the CAC, “Defeat the Future” brings together the work of five New York artists working across the genres of video installation, painting, sculptural installation, photography, and performance art. The distinctive impressions from these individual artists are unified through the theme of an impractical story – the artist in the role of the warrior trying to defeat an imaginary monster that we all have a tendency to create at times in our mind, the “Future”.  February 1 – March 10, 2012

2011

  • Garden of Eden by Andrzej Maciejewski – still-life photography in the style of the old masters, emphasizing the contrast between what the gifts of nature used to be and what they have now become through the manipulation of man. Everything looks perfect and flawless but many things, like the taste, the exceptionality, and often even the humanity, have been lost during the process. December 1, 2011 – January 21, 2012
     
  • Affect/Effect by Scott Carter deconstructed the CAC gallery to display a relationship narrative of comfort and re-addressing basic construction design in contemporary architecture. Oct 6th – Nov 19th, 2011
     
  • In And Out of Whack by Deborah Karpman & Kimberly Hennessy;  Two artists carefully walking lines separating extremes: protection and invasion, strength and weakness, chaos and order. Shown together, work from each artist pushes and pulls at the other in a precariously balanced drama. June 30 – August 13, 2011
     
  • Geolocations by Nate Larson and Marni Shindelman followed random tweets and traveled to the GPS Geotag location to take a photograph of the site of the update. The project created a real life situation and location for these usually anonymous posts. January 6 – March 4, 2011
     
  • 22nd Annual Juried Show sponsored by Cirque Du Soleil Cultural Action Department, showcasing exceptional work of national and international emerging artists in all media. May 5 – June 18, 2011
     
  • It’s All A Blur by Tony Labat, Guillermo Gomez-Pena, and Dayle Hoyt; curated by Justin Hoover, in partnership with SOMArts Cultural Center in San Francisco.  Incorporating video installations, drawings, sculpture, photography, and performance/video artworks about the migrant body in the West, economics of labor, and cross-cultural identity distinct to the Western states. March 15 – April 23, 2011

2010

  • I Hope You Are Feeling Better: Nov 3, 2010 – Jan 7, 2011
    Curated by Andreana Donahue and Kathryn Kruse
     
  • Off The Strip 2010 – October 14th – 17th, 2010
    Off-site locations: The Onyx Theater, The Aruba Theater, the Sci-Fi Center and Insurgo Theater. In spring of 2009, The Contemporary Arts Center of Las Vegas introduced Off the Strip: Two Weeks of Video and Performance Art.  The event featured the work of twenty emerging and mid-career artists and artist groups, seven evenings of live performance and video screenings and multiple, alternating installations at the gallery.  The first annual Off The Strip featured artists from Berlin to Boston, from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, and the open-ended call drew video and performance works that navigated gender and identity politics, institutional critique, relational aesthetics and explorations into technology, social networking and the body-psyche. The 2010 OTS Call for Proposals encourages submissions that will be particularly meaningful within the context of Las Vegas or Nevada.  This year’s Off the Strip will be condensed into a four-day festival and will include an afternoon panel of artists and three scholars speaking on the relevance of performance art to community, especially within the unique social, economic and pop-cultural environment of Las Vegas. Chaired by Art Critic and Assistant Professor of Contemporary Art, Kirsten Swenson.
     
  • Let’s Build A Nation (CAC the Nation): Sep 28, 2010 – Oct 30, 2010 – Building a Nation collective declares Contemporary Arts Center a sovereign nation from September 30th-Octobter 28th, 2010, establishing its national identity, national symbols and history.  Let’s Build A Nation explores the concept of a nation as a temporal imagined community corresponding to its immediate locale.  It also addresses issues specific to Las Vegas particularly its’ themed hotel environments simulating cultures of other nations.
     
  • “New Cities”: Jul 24-Sep 2, 2010. Curator: Kirsten Swenson. Contemporary Arts Center presents a group exhibition, titled ‘New Cities’ that departs from Dan Graham’s famous 1966 essay, ‘Homes for America’. This exhibit brings together mid-career and emerging artists whose work seeks to visualize and conceptualize the new American home.
     
  • America’s # 1 Most Foreclosed City: Aug 3rd-Sep 18th, 2010 – Emily Kennerk’s installation casts a bright, critical light on the real estate collapse that has transformed our city
     
  • CAC Members’ Night at the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art: Jul 28, 2010 – Figuratively Speaking: A Survey of the Human Form
     
  • BEER FEST: CAC FUNDRAISER: Jul 10, 2010 – Enjoy a wide selection of specialty beers from beverage sponsors Joseph James Brewing Company, Aces And Ales, Southern Wine and Spirits, Wirtz Beverage Nevada and Tenaya Creek Brewery and more.  Live music by Close to Modern, art, food, fun and plenty of ice cold beer!
     
  • CAC Members’ Night at the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art: Jun 30, 2010 – Figuratively Speaking: A Survey of the Human Form
     
  • CAC Invitation to Exhibition and Lecture at the Springs Preserve: Jun 10, 2010 – Join Springs Preserve Curator Mike Spiewak as he leads a tour of the current exhibit “Nevada: The Photography of Cliff Segerblom” in the Big Springs Gallery
     
  • Reign of Glass: Jun 3rd-Jul 24th, 2010 – Erin Stellman, plans to address the complex attendant dichotomies of the MGM Mirage City Center which is the most expensive privately funded construction projects in U.S. history.  The goals are to foster a dialogue surrounding the American preoccupation of hope and to consider that hope within the context of the never-ending cycles of architecture in the las Vegas Valley.
     
  • CAC Members’ Night at the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art: May 26, 2010 – Figuratively Speaking: A Survey of the Human Form
     
  • Ultimately – May 15 – Jun 30, 2010 – by Wes Fanelli and Nico Holmes-Gull, east side projects installation, second installation honoring Pride 2010
     
  • “Body Rituals”: Apr 25 – May 12, 2010 – CAC window exhibit by Jean-René Leblanc. The “Body Rituals” series is a personal exploration of the concept of new male subjectivity, the fluidity and discontinuity among sex – gender – identity, and the phantasmic processes of constructing the body. The strategic conflation of lace, a “male” body and the absence of any specific genitalia is an attempt to destabilize any visual reading of gender assumptions constructed on a strict historical binary framework supported by the medical gaze. The absence of the head acts to liberate the gaze from the dualistic world of desire. Such mobility of gender offers a possibility to the viewer to transgress prescriptive notions of desire.
     
  • “Downtown Contemporary” Art Dinner & CAC fundraiser: Apr 13, 2010 – features work representative of five downtown contemporary art galleries:  Contemporary Arts Center, Trifecta Gallery, Henri & Odette, Brett Wesley Gallery and The Fallout Gallery. The works will be on view in the West Wing Gallery of Rosemary’s Restaurant from April 11-June 19th.
     
  • 21st Annual Juried Exhibition: Mar 31st- May 22nd, 2010
     
  • CAC Members’ Night at the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art: Mar 24, 2010 – The Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art has generously extended a CAC members’* rate of $6 for admission to their current exhibition 12 +7: Artists and Architects of CityCenter.
     
  • CAC Members’ Event- Exhibition and Curator’s Talk at the Springs Preserve: Mar 3, 2010 – special members’ event, CAC members will receive complimentary admission to the current exhibition “Desert Chromaticity,” featuring a  Curator’s Talk at 7 p.m. followed by an artists’ panel discussion with David Baird, Chad Brown, Catherine Borg, Shawn Hummel and Stephen Hendee.
     
  • Tomorrow People: Feb 4- Mar 19, 2010 – Leah Craig, Justin Favela, Catherine Cruse and Thomas Willis have banned together as four artists that will develop unique supernatural abilities to help mankind.  All incarnations of the exhibit concern the emergence of the next stage of human evolution known colloquially as, “Tomorrows People”.

2009

  • BLVDS “GIVING” Cover Art Gallery Reception – Dec 17, 2009 – partnered with BLVDS magazine to help select their December issue cover art. In response to a call for work that addressed the theme “Giving”, numerous high-quality submissions were received from our artist members.  These submissions were reviewed by the exhibition committee who selected ten finalists and their winning submission.  BLVDS then juried those finalists and selected the cover artist to be published in this month’s “Giving” issue.
     
  • 20th Anniversary Exhibit YOUR FUTURE STARTS HERE: Dec 3, 2009 – Jan 28, 2010 Curator: Jim Stanford. This exhibition or retrospective will culminate those members that have been most influential throughout the 20-year history of the CAC.  Jim Stanford will represent past and present Board member’s artwork and narratives to offer historical significance.
     
  • Imprinting: Pressing the Limits: December 4, 2009 – January 23, 2010. Curator: Michael Costello | Coordinator: Mark Diederichsen. Artists:  Michael Costello, Mitchell Shields Marti, Jennifer Lynch, Willis F. Lee. The emphasis of the theme will be on experimental monotype “imprinting” rather than “printmaking”. “Imprinting” is more expansive, and opens the door to photographic work. Experimental monotype imprints.
     
  • Hot Hot Haute 2 – Oct 24, 2009 – Wearable Art Runway Fashion Show and Auction /Gala
     
  • Blanket: Oct 17 – Nov 26, 2009. Artists: Danielle Kelly and Noelle Stiles. Danielle Kelly and Noelle Stiles will offer a performance-based exhibition of sculpture and dance that will culminate an experience through the intersection of time space, physical potential and physical limits.
     
  • Last Chance: Sep 2009. Artist: Christoph Draeger.
     
  • Twenty Twenty: Aug 20 – Sep 24, 2009 – will feature the work of selected current UNLV MFA students. Conceptual practice, emerging artists, literature, reading, visual art.
     
  • Metasonic : August 7, 2009 (one night) Curator: Dave Sanchez, Artists: Dave Sanchez Burr, Richard Vosseller, Craig Colorusso. A visual and sound representation within the CAC gallery space as well as at a remote open air location in the desert, releasing the binding of sound to time and thus allowing us to experience the force of sound through the abstract.
     
  • Painting: Painting Physical Presence: July 30th – September 19th  2009, Curator: Beate Kirmse. The painting of Eric Gecas and Ayako Ono, seen together, will demonstrate very different manifestations of ‘physical presence’, reflecting two very different approaches to physicality through painting.
     
  • Installation: Beneath the Neon: June 24th – July 24th 2009, Curator:  Brian Alvarez. Installation, based on the book of the same title by Matthew O’Brien, exploring another side of Vegas few have ever seen.
     
  • Stop and Glow:  April 23rd – May 23, 2009. Curator: Beate Kirmse Artists: Catherine Borg, Evan Dent, Stephen Hendee, Danielle Kelly, Eric Pawloski, Brian Porray, Sean Russell, Todd VonBastiaans. Partnering with the City and County of Las Vegas, this exhibition celebrates the launch of 8 new ACE transit train stations and the artwork used for the shelters.
     
  • Off the Strip: Two Weeks of Performance and Video Art in various locations: April 2nd – April 16th 2009.

2008

  • Untitled: October 1st – November 27th 2008. Curator and Artist: Catherine Borg. Video Installation.
     
  • Lorca at CAC: October 30, 2008 – Poetry Reading & Performance. Join Pablo Medina and Mark Statman as they read and discuss their translations. Listen to Flamenco music by RJ Fox and enjoy a media show featuring photographs of and drawings by the great poet.
     
  • Painting Physical Presence: July 31 through September 20. Artists: Erik Gecas | Ayako Ono, Curated by Beate Kirmse
     
  • Metasonic : June 4th – July 30th, 2008. Curator: Dave Sanchez, Artists: Dave Sanchez Burr, Richard Vosseller, Craig Colorusso. A visual and sound representation within the CAC gallery space as well as at a remote open air location in the desert, releasing the binding of sound to time and thus allowing us to experience the force of sound through the abstract.
     
  • Midway: May 1st – June 7th, 2008. Performance, installation and paintings based on Coney island iconography. Artist: Aaron Sheppard
     
  • Stop and Glow: April 23 – May 23, 2008. Curator: Beate Kirmse, Artists: Catherine Borg, Evan Dent, Stephen Hendee, Danielle Kelly, Eric Pawloski, Brian Porray, Sean Russell, Todd VonBastiaans. Partnering with the City and County of Las Vegas, this exhibition celebrates the launch of 8 new ACE transit train stations and the artwork used for the shelters.
     
  • Punchline: March 6-7, 2008.
     
  • 19th Annual Juried Show: March 14th 2008 – April 26th 2008. Juror: Marjorie Vecchio
     
  • Whipped UP: January 3rd through January 26th, 2008 – Artists: Martin Parr & Diane Bush
     
  • Extra.ordinary: January 3rd through January 26th, 2008. Artists: Zak Ostrowski, Grayson Ronk, Barret Thomson

2007

  • 3Dementia: Dec 6th – Dec 29th, 2007. A group exhibition exploring the breadth and variety of thirteen young Las Vegas artists representing an intriguing outlook into the future of Las Vegas sculpture. Artists: Christopher Bauder, Justin Crabtree, Brandon Davey, Richard Hesketh, Scot Kolkman, Raj Medhekar, David Sanchez, Aaron Sheppard, Brent Sommerhauser, Erin Stellmon, Steve Vogel, RC Wonderly, Rocky Mountain, Yo (Fukui)
     
  • Words and Pictures: November 2007
     
  • Vintage Point: October 5, 2007. With the photo exhibit called “Vintage Point” four local artists — Darius Kuzmickas, James Stanford, Fred Sigman and Erin Stellmon — and three current News Bureau photographers — Darrin Bush, Brian Jones and Glenn Pinkerton — will put a contemporary spin on the Bureau’s classic images. A compilation of vintage and contemporary video footage will also be on view.
     
  • 2007 Art Quotient Scholastic Show: May 29 – Jun 23, 2007
     
  • West Coast Textures/ Evolving Possibilities: Apr 6 – May 12, 2007 – Contemporary Encaustic Show
     
  • 18th Annual Juried Show: Feb 27 – Mar 24, 2007
     
  • The Directors Cut – CAC Members Show of Small Works: Jan 23-Feb 10, 2007
     
  • The Beauty Within: Jan 5 – Jan 23, 2007 – Artists Henry Vargas and Dray document their trips to Sri Lanka
     
  • Infrastructure & Other Capital Constellations: Nov 21, 2006 – Jan 5, 2007. A Mixed Media Installation by Cooper Holoweski & Benjamin Lipkin

2006

  • CAC Annual Art Auction Show & Fundraiser: Oct 28-Nov 4, 2006
     
  • Unrealizable Dreams: Sep 19-Oct 14, 2006 – Photography Exhibition by Ivana Damien George & Deborah Bright
     
  • CAC Members Juried Show (Theme TBD): Aug 3-Sep 2, 2006
     
  • Jackpot!! “Cup-a-licious”: June 8th – July 15th 2006 – A national show of alternative and fine art ceramics juried by Mark Burns. This year’s theme is the cup.
     
  • Miguel Rodriguez Ceramic Show: May 5 – June 2, 2006
     
  • Secret of the Giant Colossal: May 4th-June 3rd 2006 – Artists Stephen Hendee and Catherine Borg each create a site-specific installation for the CAC gallery.
     
  • CAC 17th Annual Juried Show and 3rd Salon de Refuse: March 21st – April 15th 2006
     
  • A nationally recognized juror will award $1,000 best of show, and other cash prizes.
     
  • “Weird and Wondrous”: February 9th – March 4th 2006 – A national, juried show of experimental and new media art

2005

  • Observable Inhumanity: a result of Human Anesthesia: Dec 21st 2005 – Feb 4th  2006. Mixed media installation by Artists Iñaqui Muñoz ( Stgo-Chile), Micharl Tino (San Francisco), and Jorge Catoni (Las Vegas)
     
  • The CAC Annual Art Auction Exhibition: Nov 15th – Dec 3rd 2005 – An annual fund-raiser and soiree for the Contemporary Arts Collective’s following exhibition season
     
  • “DARK”: Sep 27th – Nov 5th 2005 – An interactive sound installation curated by David Curtis
     
  • CAC Annual Members’ Juried Show: Aug 4th – Sep 3rd 2005 – A themed juried show for members, with cash prizes
     
  • Las Vegas History: An Interactive Art Experience: June 30th – July 28th 2005 – A Centennial co-sponsored exhibition from Left of Center Gallery
     
  • Pause Show: June 1 – June 25, 2005 – Sharyn O’Mara & Chandler Dayton
     
  • Snap! Vegas: May 4th – 25th, 2005 – The Contemporary Arts Collective will feature several local photographers. Come down to see how their lens captures a unique perspective of Las Vegas.
     
  • 16th Annual Juried Show: Mar 19 – Apr 9, 2005
     
  • Human Inhumanity: February 11, 2005. Artists: KD Matheson, Jorge Catoni, Kate Jackson
     
  • Weird and Wondrous: Feb 9th – March 4th, 2005. A national, juried show of experimental and new media art.
     
  • Cult of Potato: Feb 4 – Mar 5, 2005. Andrea Avery, Michiel Brink, Nina Ganci, Jeffry Allen Price, Rebecca Stees, Topp & Dubio
     
  • Figure – Pattern – Space:  Dec 29, 2004 – Jan 29, 2005. Chad Brown, Danielle Kelly, Julie Madden

2004

  • Day Without Art:  December 6-December 23, 2004. This is a day (traditionally December 1st) when art organizations all over the world pay their respect to the many artists of all disciplines, that have succumbed to AIDS, or are living with HIV. Even though our schedule could not use that particular date to pay our respects, we are partnering with AFAN, and a local group called “Project Up Front”, to bring an art exhibit that is created by local artists living with aids.
     
  • 2004 Art Auction: December 4, 2004. The Contemporary Arts Collective partners with Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts and the Las Vegas Jazz Society for Annual Fine Art Auction to benefit non-profit art collective and gallery programming and exhibition season. The invitational exhibition of approximately 50 (small) works generously donated by well-known and emerging artists, will be on display at the CAC gallery from Nov. 12th through First Friday: December 3, 2004, with a live auction on the following night at Cordon Bleu Cafe.
     
  • Our Daily Bread: Oct 1 – Nov 6, 2004. Jack Endewelt, Marty Walsh, Plasmo, Victoria Reynolds
     
  • CAC Fortune Fundraiser: Sep 20, 2004. Artists interpretations of cards from the Tarot deck hosted by Jazzed Restaurant & Vinoteca in NW Las Vegas & co-sponsored by the Las Vegas Weekly. The event featured dozens of artist who auctioned off their art in a CAC fundraising effort. In addition Tarot readers donated their services doing readings to garner additional funds for the CAC. This fund raising event was a tremendous success!
     
  • Connections Show: Aug 21-Sep 25, 2004. Daryl DePry, Susanne Forestieri, Sarah Pearson-Ochoa, Jerry Ross
     
  • Wild Wild West Show: Jul 17- Aug 14, 2004. Scheduled every summer, the Contemporary Arts Collective supports its membership by showing members work in a themed, juried show.
     
  • Lost Vegas by Gregg Segal & FOUND by Ana Maria Rodriguez: June 4 – July 4, 2004. Color documentary photography depicting the landscape and habitants of East Fremont Street by L.A. photographer, Gregg Segal. Color documentary landscape photography taken in Las Vegas by Ana Maria Rodriguez.
     
  • Las Vegas Sign Design Exhibition: Apr 29 – May 29, 2004. This exhibit is being organized as an International Design Competition by Joshua Abbey, to be exhibited at the CAC, as a fundraiser. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority is our sponsor. Winning designs will be displayed. $1,000 goes to the Best of Show
     
  • Body Of Work 04: March 26 – April 24, 2004. Figurative paintings and drawings by Wendy Kveck, Julie Madden, and Jennifer McKeon
     
  • 15th Annual Juried Show: Feb 25 – Mar 20, 2004.
     
  • Glow: Jan 16 – Feb 14, 2004.  Curated by Eric Murphy, this exhibit brings together five artists from Japan, Canada, and the United States, who use luminosity in diverse visual practices. The artists are Kazuko Kizawa, Robbin Deyo, Eric Murphy, Mike Pelletier, and Ingrid Mary Percy
     
  • Manifesto of the Mundane: Dec 11, 2003 – Jan 11, 2004. Work by Keith Conley and Bill Morrison

2003

  • CAC’s 5th Annual Art Auction: Paddle This!: Nov 18 – Dec 5, 2003 – Invitational art auction exhibition, silent auction and live auction to benefit the CAC. The best fine art that Southern Nevada has to offer in an exciting and classy auction to benefit the CAC. Nate Tannenbaum hosts this must-be-there event!
     
  • Here & There: Exploring Regionalism: Oct 3 – Nov 9, 2003. 11 artists who have worked independently and professionally from Louisville, KY exhibit paintings, prints and 3-D. Exhibit aims to explore the idea of Regionalism today thru discussion with the Louisville artists and their Las Vegas counterparts. CAC shares this exhibit with 2 other Galleries in the Arts Factory.
     
  • Bushwick Farms Present: Sept. 5 – Sept.28, 2003 – A suite of black and white silver prints from an on-going project based on a traveling Vaudeville Show, which this husband and wife team has created, using themselves as fictitious characters. All this is created from a 1968 travel trailer, which is towed across America. Popcorn and lemonade will be served.
     
  • Yum: Jul 18 – Aug22, 2003 – Members juried exhibition dealing with the theme of food
     
  • Vegetable Eye by Tom Umholtz and Zen Mechanics by Mark Hutchings and Daniel Gron: June 6 – August 15, 2003
     
  • Jackpot Show! A Juried Teapot Exhibition: May 2 – May 30, 2003
     
  • 2003 Annual Juried Show: March 7 – April 19, 2003. Juror: Steven High
     
  • The Great Escape: Jan 3rd – Feb 15, 2003- Thomas Bleigh, Andrea Buckvold, Jason Lee, Jennifer Mahlman, and Chris Wildrick

2001

  • Cream 2001: Nov 16 to Dec 14, 2001 – A show featuring Bob Wysocki, Miguel Rodriguez, and Neil Linssen
     
  • Whimsical Nightmare: Oct 12 – Nov 9, 2001 – A show featuring Rebeckah J. Bogard, Magda S. Kearns, and Andy Wallace
     
  • Nascar Revival: Oct 12 through Nov 9. A show featuring Denise A. King
     
  • Tuscarora: June 6 – July 27, 2001 – An exhibition of four artists that live in Tuscarora, Nevada, population 18. Artists: Ben Parks, Elaine Parks, Gail Rappa, Ron Arthaud.
     
  • Special Gallery Show: 2001. A show featuring Atsushi Machida, Alisa Ochoa & Jason Tomme.

Summer Design Studio 2022

David Curtis, principal at Pi-Des, leads a studio this Summer from Portland, OR.

An anticipated focus will be de-mountables.

Primitive Hut © 2022 Pi-Des
Primitive Hut © 2022 Pi-Des

David shares lessons learned from his 4 year development of Primitive Hut. There will be offshoots that focus on global just-in-time delivery system collapse responses, and 10-20 year pattern based projections that hope to best influence design practice decisions.

The studio will be remote collaboration, and some on site work, if needed.

The Pi-Des studio is based in NE Portland, OR in the Summer, and Desert Center, CA in the Winter.

Participating students may have introductory to advanced design experience, adequate sketching and or digital modeling ability. It is ok if you are a complete beginner, but you must be open to learning critical thinking, and design language.

David has 34 years of professional design experience, and is a graduate of the Knowlton School of Architecture. He has been in solo practice since 2007.

In addition to his architectural and product design work, he has run several art galleries, most notably a four year stint with the former artist-run Contemporary Arts Collective in the Arts Factory, downtown Las Vegas, NV. He also founded Apparatus studio on Commerce street, and the David S Curtis studio where he was a gallerist.

David was a senior professional for the Stubbins Associates on the Guggenheim Hermitage Museum, and a Design Director for the design architect on the Nevada State Museum, Clark County, NV.

He taught Community Design at the Art Institute of Las Vegas, Residential Architecture at The Community College of Southern Nevada, and Architecture at The Meadows School. He has been a guest critic at Parsons School of Design, and at UNLV. He was a Gallery Educator for the Guggenheim Hermitage Museum.

For more information please contact David at Pi-Des studio, 971 331 9699 mobile, or email: dcpides@gmail.com

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