Wendy Kveck

It’s impossible to glance at the UNLV portion of Wendy Kveck’s résumé and not jump to the following conclusion: Joining the university’s College of Fine Arts — first as a student, then a faculty member — was all part of a master plan she hatched as an adolescent.

How else to explain Kveck’s profound allegiance to UNLV for the better part of two decades? 

It’s an allegiance that began when Kveck, who already was a few years into her career as a professional artist, first arrived on campus as a graduate student — a non-degree-seeking graduate student.

Eventually, Kveck applied and was accepted to the art department’s graduate program, earning her degree in 2007. Since then, the accomplished painter has guided and nurtured countless student artists as a part- and full-time instructor.

Kveck returned to UNLV as a visiting assistant professor in 2018 following a five-year stint teaching part time at the College of Southern Nevada. Her current position is a dual role: graduate program coordinator and assistant professor in residence, both with the art department.

In addition to simultaneously wearing those two hats, Kveck for the last six years has:

• Served on nine different faculty committees (nearly all tied to UNLV’s Graduate College or the art department’s graduate program);

• Sat on 11 undergraduate student advisory committees and 15 graduate student advisory committees;

• Chaired the art department’s Ad Hoc MFA Program Working Group, which is responsible for reviewing and updating curriculum and requirements for admittance to the MFA program.

So, yes, of course Kveck has been a Rebel — in spirit or in reality — for as long as she can remember … except, well, she hasn’t.

In fact, Kveck almost certainly never would’ve discovered UNLV had she and her husband not decided to close out the 20th century by rolling the dice on a cross-country move to Las Vegas — a move that wasn’t even their idea.

“At the time, I was working in visual merchandising in Atlanta and — after finally achieving some work/life balance — had started painting again,” says Kveck, who obtained her undergraduate degree in painting and drawing from the University of Iowa. “Then two close friends invited my husband and I to move to Las Vegas to help them open their fine dining restaurant off the Strip, as my husband is in the hospitality business.

“The timing was perfect. We were ready for a move, and I would have more time to develop my work for graduate school applications.”

Two years after heading west, Kveck still had not made a move on graduate school. That would change, though, after another bit of right-place/right-time serendipity: While looking to purchase their first home, Kveck and her husband zeroed in on one particular property in downtown Las Vegas. Then Kveck discovered the identity of a would-be neighbor. 

“The house we were interested in was across the street from the home of Mary Warner, an artist and UNLV art professor whose paintings I admired,” she says. “I took that as a sign.”

After she and her husband purchased the house in 2001, Kveck fully immersed herself in the local arts scene. She volunteered at the Contemporary Arts Collective, attended various UNLV art functions, and eventually took those non-degree-seeking graduate art classes.

Her instructor for those classes? None other than Warner.

“At this point, I knew I wanted to apply to UNLV’s MFA program and work with both Mary and Stephen Hendee, a visiting artist who was going to begin teaching in the department that fall,” Kveck says. “To this day, they both remain mentors, colleagues, and dear friends.”

OK, so it was a life gamble and some real estate fortuity — not a childhood dream to be a Rebel — that led Kveck to UNLV. Whatever the case, her presence on campus over the years has positively impacted the College of Fine Arts, as well as all of the undergraduate and graduate art department students who have passed through her classroom.

Also benefiting from Kveck’s move to Las Vegas: local artists and the broader arts community, for whom she has long been a tireless advocate.

One example (among many): In 2015, Kveck founded Couch in the Desert, a collaborative online effort that highlights the work of Las Vegas-based artists — as well as visiting artists, writers, and thinkers — who have contributed to the presentation and discussion of contemporary art in Las Vegas.

Through Couch in the Desert — and with the support of many colleagues in the local arts community — Kveck also organizes in-person public events ranging from performances and discussions to screenings and exhibitions, all involving both local and visiting artists. The overarching mission of these gatherings: to foster connections, encourage conversations, and bolster the visibility of Las Vegas’ art community.

All of it speaks to Kveck’s deeply held belief that artists are essential to creating vibrant, thriving, well-rounded communities. 

“The arts connect us and are an expression of our humanity,” she says. “I truly believe that art can change the world, one encounter at a time. It can inspire joy,  elicit empathy and understanding, share stories, cultures, and imagine futures that allow us to consider new ways of being in this world together.”

When did your passion for the arts begin to develop?

As a child, I grew up drawing and making things. Then in junior high, my mother researched the Chicago suburbs to find me private painting lessons. That’s when I fell in love with oil painting and painting people.

In high school, I experimented in theater, dance and speech, but I ultimately went to the University of Iowa for a degree in painting and drawing. It was there where I first began to consider the possibility of living one’s life as an artist — my art professors and the graduate students who were mentors gave me the confidence that it was possible.

I immersed myself in my studio course work and the community that art cultivates — that is, the idea that one can learn and feel through art and the dialogues around it. 

Of all the compliments you have received for your artwork over the years, which have resonated the most?

The responses that come from my students — and women in particular — who connect with the female figures in my paintings. They tell me that they can relate to the emotions expressed by the depicted characters and the feminist-informed themes in my work. This is why I make art: to touch and connect with people through an experience with the work.

What academic course at UNLV did you lean on most to set you up for early-career success? How, if at all, does that course still resonate as you go about your everyday business?

The Graduate Faculty Studio Seminar and the Visiting Artist program were especially meaningful. 

The studio seminar was integral for developing a close community within my cohort. It was structured around readings, discussion, and group critiques with our peers and faculty. These critiques involved investigating how others experienced our work and how that work might exist in the world.

We were encouraged to consider our work in relation to the context of Las Vegas — and by extension American culture — and also to create our own opportunities outside of the academic setting by looking for alternative exhibition venues.

At the time, there wasn’t a flourishing local gallery scene. So we began to organize group pop-up shows in Las Vegas hotels, which we called “One Night Stands” — the idea being to explore performance and installation in response to a collective prompt.  

As for the Visiting Artist program, it was and remains a cornerstone of the MFA program. For me, it provided the opportunity to learn about a diversity of creative practices through the lecture series in the fall and an artist-in-residence class in the spring, when we could invite working artists to visit our studios and discuss our work. I had such pivotal and illuminating studio visits with such artists as Tony Labat, Amy Yoes, Gary Simmons, and feminist art hero Carolee Schneemann.

Over the years, you have volunteered for nearly a dozen committees at UNLV, mentored and advised students, organized community arts events, and advocated for local artists. Where does your community involvement and “give back” mentality come from?

My parents and grandparents modeled volunteerism and community service, so I’ve always valued this kind of work.

I’ve also been privileged to learn from the generosity of other artists and their consistent dedication to the empowerment of artists and their communities through curatorial work and artist-run initiatives.

Additionally, there’s a long history of the entire UNLV art department — faculty, students, and alumni — supporting the local arts community in volunteer leadership roles, and creating space and opportunities for artists in Las Vegas. I’m referring to spaces like Nevada Institute of Contemporary Art (NICA), Smallworks Gallery, Contemporary Arts Collective (CAC), Goldwell Open Air Museum, and Left of Center Gallery — all founded in the 1980 and ’90s — to the more recent projects by Nuwu Art Gallery and Community Center, Scrambled Eggs Gallery, Weaving Our Cultures, and Available Space Art Projects.

I’m especially grateful to Las Vegas artists (including many UNLV alumni and faculty) for their recent works advocating for the national monument designation of public lands — Basin and Range, Gold Butte, and Avi Kwa Ame. I proudly share these artist projects with my students as examples of artists creating awareness, and affecting local and regional change. 

What’s your message to the current UNLV student who is having second thoughts about pursuing a fine arts degree?

It’s true that sustaining a career in fine arts is challenging. But it’s also incredibly fulfilling. 

My advice: Don’t forget that there are many ways to live one’s life as an artist or creative — and a fine arts degree can provide a foundation for a multitude of career trajectories. So, explore these possibilities while you’re in school. And don’t be afraid to seek out mentorship — develop professional relationships with your faculty through the rigor of your work, inquiry, and engagement in your classes.

Dedication is key. Many artists learn best through making and doing, and then processing. So, work hard to discover your best work.

Finally, find and nurture your community of artists while you’re in school and after graduation. Practice good artist karma: be generous, share opportunities, show up, and challenge one another to grow.