Rhythm And Resilience: Black Vegas Exhibition Opening Reception

Opening reception for the exhibition "Rhythm and Resilience: Black Vegas" which explores African American life in Las Vegas from the arrival of its first Black resident through the 1980s, tracing the impacts of segregation and racial barriers while celebrating the creativity, resilience, and achievements that shaped the city's character. Beginning with John Howell, the first African American settler, it follows the growth of a downtown Black community and its forced relocation in the early twentieth century to what became the Historic Westside. Despite systemic exclusion, this neighborhood emerged as a vibrant cultural and social hub where residents built businesses, churches, and civic organizations, cultivated music and nightlife that drew world-class performers, and organized for civil rights and equity.