After our cover story on downtown’s John E. Carson Hotel appeared in last week’s CityLife, we received an e-mail containing these two paintings of the residential motel, by artist Kathleen Strukoff of the La Chica Art & Music Gallery in the Arts Factory. “I live nearby and have also been moved by the place to the point of creating two paintings: the night and day views,” she told us. That’s not surprising, though — Strukoff says she “specializes in capturing the essence of downtown Vegas.” The experience of creating the pieces also serves as a reminder of the temporary communities that art can create: “I was painting the daytime painting on location, right across from the John E., and it caused quite a stir. People were coming over, including the manager who you have in your story. It blew his mind that someone would actually create a painting of his place!”
