ArtsVegas Team & Contributors

We're a collection of art & culture aficionados living in the desert. This blog covers our experiences in art and culture in Las Vegas. It's slightly to the left of center, and mostly off-the strip. Contact us at: artsvegas@gmail.com

Creative Director

David Hardy grew up in suburban Baltimore. Most of his twenties were spent in bands. He moved to Las Vegas when he lost a bet, but ended up loving it. He is a graphic designer, professor, and dreamer. He enjoys the many lowbrow activities that this city has to offer.

Managing Editor & Wrangler

Molly O'Donnell is part-nerd (the impractical kind: literary) and part-art enthusiast (the part more people relate to). She is an editor and freelance writer whose work appears locally on, duh, ArtsVegas and in the equally esteemed Las Vegas Weekly. She most enjoys metaphor and snark, preferably together. Writing first-person essays has been her favorite outlet so far, with torturing the youth (teaching) a close second.

Lead Writer & Content Coordinator

Nate Serefine moved to Las Vegas in 2012 but is no stranger to the desert. Nate is a disabled Army veteran who served as an intelligence analyst in Iraq in 2003. He’s currently a government drone and posts pictures and stuff at Empty Foxhole where he describes his experience in the Army and the transition back to civilian life. In LasVegas, he can usually be found walking around the West side or taking the bus and looking at pictures of cats online.

Current Contributors:

Hektor Esparza has been writing about the arts and culture in Las Vegas since 2001. He was actually born in Brownsville, Texas but thinks he can call himself a native since his earliest childhood memories include seeing Jaws III in 3D at The (original) Red Rock 11 Movie Theater. Hektor is a father, a lifelong skateboarder and a darn good whistler. Check out his Non-Profit Foundation, Push Forward.

Checko Salgado was born in a log cabin casino in Las Vegas, NV. He is a photographer, instructor, designer, type geek, video jockey and full- time father. He has been in punk bands since he was 15 and loves all types of music (except New Country and Top 40). When he grows up he wants to be a fireman on Mars.

Stephanie Gonzales is a photographer, born and raised in Las Vegas. She loves: taking pictures of strangers, live music, travel, sunsets, sneaking into the movies, food, her cat Wilson and a good cup of joe.

Dino Hatzis is a local musician/writer. He is currently attempting to balance between attaining a philosophy degree and maintaining his sanity. His current musical projects include Shiny Boots of Leather and Art the Rat.

David Boyles moved to Las Vegas to pursue his dream of dancing with Thunder from Down Under. After that dream was crushed, he wound up in the UNLV English Department, where he studies Shakespeare and attempts to teach freshman how to read and write. He is the performance editor at The Shakespeare Standard, and writes occasionally for Vegas Seven and the Las Vegas Review of Books.

Hernan Valencia arrived at Las Vegas by way of Lima, Peru and the San Francisco Bay Area. He's into learning, drawing, traveling and laughing. He's the principal of The Construct, a creative agency specializing in illustration. Holding a degree in Design from San Jose State University, he plans to achieve a Master's in Art and eventually teach at the university level. He's also addicted to attending music festivals and playing the bass guitar.

Paul Sacksteder moved to Las Vegas eight years ago to pursue a MFA in creative writing at UNLV. Somewhere along the way the summers seemed a little less hot, Joshua Trees were green enough, and he figured he was a local. These days he’s a stay-at-home dad and enjoys dragging his daughter for lunches in Chinatown.

Past Contributors:

Ernest Hemmings is from Baltimore. And Erie. And Cleveland. And every armpit, rustbelt, forgotten wasteland where people go to eat drugs and dance. Living and writing in Las Vegas since 2001, he’s the guy responsible for TSTMRKT and the Samuel Beckett Festival in Las Vegas. He likes minimal German techno, latex clothing, and dirty women.

Jason M. DeFreitas is an agent operating according to the following four principles: 1. Always be well behaved. 2. Never show respect of authority. 3. Leave no echo unchanged. 4. Facilitate global liberation of the female gender. Porcelain Bomb Las Vegas.

Tiffany Boyles is currently a teacher at UNLV. Her students call her “O, Captain my Captain” and her teachers refer to her as “that smart, pretty girl.” Tiffany was born and raised in Las Vegas as were both of her parents. So, don’t bag on V-town unless you’re looking for a punch in the face. Tiffany also loves food.

Nick Leonard is a Las Vegas native. He's a freelance photographer who loves shooting with film, especially instant. His favorite subjects to shoot are motels and their signage. A long road trip with a box of film is sublime for Nick. You'll likely find Nick riding his bicycle around town with cameras, on a bus, or in a thrift store.".

Krystyn Frye is a local Las Vegas girl, hailing from another desert land, Phoenix. Apparel copywriter by trade, wife, curiosity chaser and chocolate lab owner. Embracing new adventures in art, the outdoors, fashion and the unknown.