The upcoming Duck Duck Shed event is set to provide a fascinating look into the craftsmanship that has shaped Las Vegas.
Scheduled for April 24 to 27, the third annual weekend series will feature an array of panels, lectures, and tours.
This year’s focus will be on the architecture, design, and cultural forces that have played a role in influencing the city’s identity over time.
The event draws its name from the influential 1972 book “Learning From Las Vegas,” which categorized buildings as “Ducks” and “Decorated Sheds.”
Neon Museum executive director Aaron Berger is the visionary behind this initiative, highlighting a new collaboration with the American Institute of Architects that provides continuing education credits for architects.
“But this is just as accessible to Las Vegas enthusiasts — people who love to see Las Vegas in a different perspective,” Berger said.
Among the event’s highlights is a session on stadium design priced at $65.
Frankie Sharpe, director of sports architecture at Bjarke Ingels Group and lead designer of the proposed A’s baseball stadium on the former Tropicana site, will discuss how the new facility will embody the spirit of Las Vegas.
Another session, featuring historian David G. Schwartz and priced at $165, focuses on legendary hotel-casino developer Jay Sarno.
Schwartz will converse with Sarno Jr., the son of the founder of Caesars Palace and Circus Circus, exploring the historical impact of these iconic properties.
The event fee includes a brunch in the exclusive private dining room of Caesars’ Bacchanal Buffet as well as a copy of Schwartz’s book “Grandissimo: The First Emperor of Las Vegas.”
For those interested in the town’s dynamic history, a session on iconic implosions priced at $25 will be led by broadcast journalist Steve Crupi.
Crupi will share video and anecdotes surrounding some of Las Vegas’ most memorable demolitions.
Additionally, the historical significance of The Mirage’s volcano will be explored in another $25 session.
Although the attraction has been dismantled to make way for Hard Rock’s guitar-shaped room tower, the architects and engineers who created the volcano will reunite to explain their design process and innovations.
Participants can also attend a $25 session on casino carpets, where experts Alice O’Keefe and Terrien Hale discuss how color theory, wayfinding, and guest behavior psychology inform carpet design choices.
Another highlight will explore how Fontainebleau Las Vegas embodies the spirit of Morris Lapidus, noted for revolutionizing resort design in the 1950s.
This session is also priced at $25.
A notable free event includes “Stories from Backstage: Cirque du Soleil,” offering an exclusive exhibit at Las Vegas City Hall that showcases costumes from the entertainment powerhouse.
Curator-led tours are available during the Duck Duck Shed weekend, with a special curator’s tour priced at $15.
In addition to the main events, attorney, writer, and podcast host Dayvid Figler will lead a $25 discussion on how current Strip development resonates with the structures analyzed in “Learning from Las Vegas.”
Curator Michele C. Quinn will also guide a tour of Aria’s public fine art collection for $45.
Furthermore, Circa Resort & Casino’s Stadium Swim will host the world premiere of a Las Vegas-based film titled “Action! Action!” The film reveals the story of friends hired to steal Al Capone’s painting from the Mob Museum and is priced at $15.
Attendees are encouraged to purchase tickets in advance, as event locations, times, and dates vary.
For detailed scheduling and ticketing information, prospective visitors should check the Duck Duck Shed website.
The presentations and discussions exemplify the new mission of the Neon Museum: to illuminate the cultural essence of Las Vegas by displaying its iconic signage, diverse collections, and rich stories that define its vibrant past, present, and future.
This new direction allows the museum to address various topics—ranging from the former Tropicana to the proposed stadium—without remaining rooted in the past.
Berger remarked on this evolution, saying, “So we’re not always looking backward, which has been a really big goal of our board, our staff and certainly me since I’ve joined the team.”
He emphasized that the Neon Museum is now broadly considered the “Museum of Las Vegas.”
“That’s really what we are going forward. We’re able to tell so many more stories with this new vision, this new direction, and it leads into our expansion efforts,” he explained.
The museum is currently in the interpretive planning stage of its proposed expansion and is actively gathering input from various community stakeholders.
Berger said, “Las Vegas is the Entertainment Capital of the World. So how does a museum that’s going to use the moniker ‘Museum of Las Vegas’ not include entertainment in our offerings?”
He added, “If we’re the Wedding Capital of World, how do we tell that story? We are a city that in order to build we blow up. So how do we tell that story?”
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