Art Tour at The Shops at Crystals and Aria, Las Vegas

In my previous posts I covered where I had breakfast at Della’s, walked the south strip, then took a pretend trip to Europe at casinos in the middle of the strip (and also had lunch at Giada’s, my favorite meal of my trip to Vegas this time). While covering the middle of Las Vegas Boulevard I skipped over this section of the Shops at Crystals and Aria in Las Vegas. The reason is because I love this specific area of the strip, wanted to highlight it by itself.

You see, in my fake trip mid strip tour to mini Europe, I moved right from Monte Carlo to Bellagio. But the Crystals and Aria are actually located in between these two on the west side of the street. In fact, if you enter the Monte Carlo you can board a free tram that will take you to Crystals and then Bellagio.

One of the pluses of walking is that before you get on the escalators that take you to the bridge crossing City Center Place street and into the Crystals shopping mall area is that you can stop at Gallery Row. If you look up from outside, you can see the sky reflected on the Aria windows and the residential condo Veer Towers and wonder about the rich and famous who can afford and choose to live in there.

One of the offerings of this little Gallery Row of a handful of art galleries is a gallery of sculptures featuring the art of Richard MacDonald. Richard MacDonald uses the incredible physiques and posing ability of performers in various Cirque du Soleil shows to create breathtaking sculptures of the human body.

Another gallery you can visit features some of the gorgeous glass art of Dale Chihuly in theGallery featuring Dale Chihuly. His art is a celebration of form as well as color and  light in the way they carefully design how the artwork is displayed.

There are additional sculptures by Richard MacDonald you can see in Bellagio in The Art of Richard MacDonald by the O theater lobby. There is also a famous Dale Chihuly sculpture in the Bellagio lobby, Fiori Di Como.

This is one of the things I love about Vegas- you might get spendy on the gambling or the food, but many shows you can get half price tickets (thanks to Tix 4 Tonight) AND there are so many free things you can do like this. Here’s a taste of both these artists I mentioned (the other 2 galleries of Gallery Row, one of photography and one of antiques, are also fun to visit but Richard MacDonald and Dale Chihuly were my personal favorites).

Continuing on with the art theme, when you enter the Shops at the Crystals, besides the high end designer shops that you can window shop at, you can also check out some floral and garden art. Since I was visiting in November, you can see the theme of Autumn reflected in the horticulture art.

Also here in the middle of the Crystals building is The Treehouse, a 2 story modern tree house which also is the home of a restaurant. You can wonder at what the wooden structure may resemble as it tries to fulfill artform and functional space.

As you continue to walk towards Aria, before you go up the Grand Staircase of bamboo and pink agate is the art/sculpture walk through water feature installation called Halo. Basically, it’s a bunch of water tornados in various cylinders with different lights to highlight the movement and shape of the liquid funnels in different mesmerizing ways.

I love water art, so I lingered for a while to check out each of the cylinders, as each is unique. It was cute as some children were “cheering” a funnel on as it would start or wane down. I tried to capture some of the appeal in these photos…
 

After going up the stairs, walk outside briefly and then into Aria, where it seems like the art gallery continues but now in the form of dramatic decorations inside the hotel for the lobby, lounge, and restaurant Julian Serrano Tapas. All the restaurants in here are pretty impressive.

Then there are luxurious art details everywhere in the public areas of Aria, particularly dramatic floral arrangements on pedestals. By the check in desk – that silver sculpture? Oh that’s just Silver River by Maya Lin (who most know as the designer of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial), making a statement about water conservation and the importance of the Colorado River to Nevada in terms of energy and water.

Of course most noticeable are probably the rotating art installations in the lobby – in November it was these glass swirling leaves. Because the featured art changes, I always like checking out Aria’s latest design theme.

Has all this chatting and admiring the free art made you a little thirsty and snacky? Stay tuned for my next Travel post, which I will share on Foodie Friday, where I cover some insanely garnished bloody mary options at Todd English PUB!

Have you ever been to The Shop at the Crystals or Aria? Which of these art pieces I have pointed out would you pick as most interesting to you? Have you ever done an “Art Walk Tour” while visiting Vegas?

My Guide to the Free and the Food on the Las Vegas Strip

• Las Vegas Hotels at the South End of Strip: Mandalay Bay, Delano, Luxor, Excalibur, New York New York, and MGM Grand and what each offers in terms of feel
• A look at some of the breakfast options at Della’s Kitchen in the Delano, including juice, Doughssant, bacon cheddar biscuits, and Pecan Raisin French Toast
• Take a little trip to Europe with the offerings and recommendations for free stops in the Middle of the Las Vegas Strip like Paris, Caesar’s, and the Bellagio properties. Did I mention they are all free, and include the World’s Largest Chocolate Fountain?
• Photos recapping my lunch at Giada Las Vegas inside the Cromwell, including the G signature cocktail, flatbread with pesto, burrata, grilled cheese, gelato
• Art Walking Tour at The Shops at Crystals and Aria, Las Vegas, including Gallery Row with Richard MacDonald and Dale Chihuly to the various art in Crystals and Aria
• The garnishes of the Bloody Marys at Todd English PUB in Las Vegas are outrageous, ranging from bacon, onions rings, sliders and corn dogs to chicken wing!
• My tour of The Wynn in Las Vegas, including details on The Lake of Dreams, Parasol Down, the Conservatory, Jeff Koons sculptures, and Le Reve The Dream show
• Lunch at Beijing Noodle No 9, Caesar’s Las Vegas of Shanghai Wave cocktail, Sichuan Dan Dan Mein Spring Noodles, Shanghai Soup Dumplings, and Lamb Pancakes
• Steampunk restaurant of Rx Boiler Room by Mandalay Bay brings an opportunity for a cocktail from a crystal skull