Rita Deanin Abbey Art Museum

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Rita Deanin Abbey Art Museum

Step into the vibrant world of Abbey, a visionary artist born 1930. Inspired by the majestic SW landscapes, her creations resonate with beauty and depth.

Explore her captivating legacy at her meticulously crafted museum, where every corner tells a story.

14/04/2026

Already half sold out! If you’ve been meaning to experience RDA Performs this season, this is the moment to reserve your seat.

On Saturday, May 2, we close our inaugural RDA Performs season with Desert Sounds: Rain Spell—an immersive musical journey that traces a day-long trek through the desert.

With accompanying narration woven throughout the program, the journey moves through the sounds of a vast desert from morning to dusk to dawn.

Featuring select principal musicians of the Las Vegas Philharmonic, the program invites you into the desert landscape with the luminous minimalism of Arvo Pärt (who composed the haunting music for There Will Be Blood), the ethereal textures of Toru Takemitsu’s Rain Spell, and the vibrant energy of Astor Piazzolla’s Verano Porteño.

Set within the intimate galleries of the Rita Deanin Abbey Art Museum, and with only 75 seats available, availability is limited. Only half the seats remain.

Desert Sounds: Rain Spell
RDA Performs Season Finale

🎟️ Reserve your seat: rdamuseum.org/performs

13/04/2026

From the archives: Rita Deanin Abbey pictured alongside Spirit Tower (1993), a monumental sculpture that reflects her enduring commitment to scale, structure, and the landscape.

Spirit Tower embodies Abbey’s interest in the intersection of art, architecture, and environment. Its geometric forms rise with a quiet strength, echoing both the built world and the surrounding terrain, while the weathering steel surface connects the work materially to the earth itself.

Discover a hidden gem in the Las Vegas desert — the Rita Deanin Abbey Art Museum.

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Rita Deanin Abbey (1930–2021)
Spirit Tower (detail with Rita), 1993
Cor-ten steel
20’ x 12’ 10” x 15’ 3” (H x W x D); 11 tons
Base: 2’ 8” x 14’ x 14’

© Robert Rock Belliveau and Rita Deanin Abbey Foundation

12/04/2026

Voting is now open for the 2026 Best of Vegas Readers’ Choice Awards, and Rita Deanin Abbey Art Museum is proud to be part of this year’s celebration of the city’s cultural community.

If you’ve visited, been inspired, or believe in preserving Abbey’s extraordinary legacy, we’d be so grateful for your vote. Every submission helps shine a light on Nevada’s only single-artist museum and the vision behind it.

Voting is open until May 1, and you’ll even be entered to win tickets to the Best of Vegas party.

Vote here: rdamuseum.org/vote

Thank you for supporting the Rita Deanin Abbey Art Museum 💛

22/03/2026

From the hands of Jonathan Rhodes Lee at the harpsichord to the perspective of the overhead camera, Ancient Echoes invited audiences into the intricate mechanics of the instrument and the ensemble around it.

These moments revealed details not always visible in performance—the precision of touch, the architecture of sound, and the dialogue between musicians in real time.

In collaboration with the UNLV Early Music Ensemble () the program offered both performance and insight into the world of early instruments.

Join us for the Season Finale of RDA Performs - Desert Sounds: Rain Spell
Saturday, May 2 | 2–4 PM

09/03/2026

Our next RDA Performs concert, Ancient Echoes: Baroque & Modern Resonance, takes place this Saturday, March 14, and we would love to invite you to experience this very different musical program.

Where Broadway Reimagined celebrated the theatrical stage, Ancient Echoes explores a fascinating dialogue across centuries — with special performances on the piano's predecessor, the harpsichord, by UNLV Early Music Ensemble Director, Dr. Jonathan Rhodes Lee. The program brings together early instruments to join the harpsichord, including Baroque cello and Baroque oboe alongside contemporary sounds including clarinet, saxophone, and a vibraphone.

Composer Jennifer Bellor, Director of UNLV’s NEXTET, is featured on the program with several of her own works, including Time’s Arrest, her evocative piece for vibraphone. It’s easy to imagine the shimmering textures of this music resonating within the walls of the museum.

As always, seating is limited to 75 guests for an intimate listening experience. This concert will unfold before the museum's striking Wall of Creation.

🎟️ Secure your seat before the program sells out at

https://ritadeaninabbeymuseum.org/event/ancient-echoes/

09/03/2026

Ancient Echoes: Baroque & Modern Resonance brings centuries of music into conversation.

Guided by Artistic Director Alexandria Le in collaboration with Jonathan Rhodes, Director of UNLV’s Early Music Ensemble, and Jennifer Bellor, Director of UNLV’s NEXTET, this intimate program explores the expressive clarity of Baroque music alongside bold contemporary compositions by living composers.

Performed on both period and modern instruments—including harpsichord, viola da gamba, and Baroque oboe alongside saxophone, clarinet, and vibraphone—the concert reflects and reinterprets early musical forms through a contemporary lens.

Just as Rita Deanin Abbey drew upon traditional techniques while continually evolving her artistic language, this program bridges past and present, honoring early traditions while reimagining them through modern sound.

With seating limited to 75 guests, the evening offers an intimate encounter across centuries of music.

🎟️ Secure your seat before the program sells out at https://ritadeaninabbeymuseum.org/event/ancient-echoes/

09/03/2026

You’ve probably never heard this instrument live.

Discover the sound of the harpsichord at RDA Performs’ Ancient Echoes — March 14.

🎟️ Reserve your seat at rdamuseum.org/performs.

06/02/2026

In 2010, Rita Deanin Abbey began work on Hidden Pass, approaching its construction with the same resolve and physical engagement that defined her sculptural practice. Working at scale in the Nevada desert, Abbey oversaw the fabrication and installation of each steel component herself, shaping the work through direct, hands-on decision-making rather than delegation.

Hidden Pass emerged through a process of testing, adjustment, and intuition, its shifting planes and apertures conceived in dialogue with light, wind, and the surrounding landscape. The sculpture’s making reflects Abbey’s belief that monumentality was not only a matter of size, but of commitment, presence, and sustained attention to place

Discover a hidden gem in the Las Vegas desert — the Rita Deanin Abbey Art Museum.

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Rita Deanin Abbey (1930–2021)
Hidden Pass, 2010
Two-inch steel plate sculpture
16 x 28 ft 8 in x 13 ft (approx. 22 tons)
Art Series: Environmental Sculpture
Series Date Range: 1988–2010

© Robert Rock Belliveau and Rita Deanin Abbey Foundation

12/01/2026

Abbey’s monumental steel sculpture ‘Spirit Tower’ (1993), is a defining work that reflects her lifelong exploration of scale, form, and the dialogue between art and environment. Composed of jagged, ascending planes, the sculpture evokes both the geological drama of the desert and Abbey’s pursuit of artistic transcendence.

Originally created for the Mojave landscape, Spirit Tower now stands outside the Summerlin Library (), where its powerful silhouette continues to inspire new generations of viewers.
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Rita Deanin Abbey (1930–2021)
Spirit Tower, 1993
Corten steel
© Robert Rock Belliveau and Rita Deanin Abbey Foundation

MonumentalSculpture NevadaArt DesertArt SculptureInContext

08/01/2026

This weekend at the Rita Deanin Abbey Art Museum, we invite you to experience movement, breath, and sound as living extensions of the museum’s artistic environment.

Guided by Nicole Scheerer, founder of The Sunshine Den, our Sweet Flow Yoga and Breath as Art sessions unfold within the galleries and gardens, where conscious breathing, gentle movement, and meditation are shaped by Abbey’s architecture, light, and landscape. These practices are designed to support release, presence, and clarity, offering a way of engaging with art that is felt as much as it is seen.

We close the weekend with a Sound Bath led by Terry Mahoney, a meditative experience centered on reflection. Surrounded by the stillness of the museum, sound becomes a medium for gratitude, awareness, and quiet renewal, marking a thoughtful transition between moments, seasons, and intentions.

Guests are encouraged to linger afterward, exploring the galleries and gardens at their own pace.

Tickets via https://ritadeaninabbeymuseum.org/events/

08/01/2026

Tickets Now Live! Don’t miss your chance to experience everyone’s favourite Broadway tunes, reimagined in an intimate, one-of-a-kind concert setting at the Rita Deanin Abbey Museum.

Featuring acclaimed Broadway pianist Philip Fortenberry, recipient of the Ghostlight Award for Best Musician on Broadway, alongside special musical guests. With just 75 seats available, this is a rare opportunity to hear beloved Broadway music up close and reinterpreted like never before.

🎭 Broadway Reimagined: A Chamber Music Tribute
📅 Saturday, January 24, 2026 | 2:00–4:00 PM
🎟 Seating strictly limited to 75 guests

Reserve early to secure your place: https://ritadeaninabbeymuseum.org/event/broadway-reimagined

Address

5850 North Park Street

89149

Opening Hours

Thursday	10:00 - 17:00
Friday	10:00 - 17:00
Saturday	10:00 - 17:00
Sunday	10:00 - 17:00

Telephone

+17026585097

Website

https://rdamuseum.org/tickets, https://ritadeaninabbeymuseum.org/

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