Stepping into the Rita Deanin Abbey Museum feels like an entrance to the minds of many. Each of its gallery spaces shift in scale, structure, hue, and mood … yet all stem from a singular vision.
Known for her deep connection to nature, Rita Deanin Abbey (1930-2021) shared her awe for the natural world through a variety of artistic mediums—painting, sculpture, steel work, woodwork, stained glass, clay, bronze and more—capturing the essence and organic textures of the landscape of the American Southwest, while making them her own.
Abbey, a writer and UNLV educator as well as a pioneering artist, was a local figure who never sought out the spotlight but quietly shaped the city around her. Before the museum’s opening in 2022, her artwork dotted the city, including “Spirit Tower,” a 20-foot-tall steel sculpture at Summerlin Library; a bust of Nevada politician Flora Dungan in the Humanities building at UNLV; and the 16-panel “Isaiah Stained-Glass Windows” at Temple Beth Shalom.
Her namesake museum, situated in the northwest Valley, stands as Southern Nevada’s sole artist-specific museum, a fitting tribute to Abbey’s influence. The 10,500-square-foot space, built with marble floors, houses hundreds of works spanning each period of her life. The 10-acre footprint also features a courtyard, desert garden, an outdoor sculpture park and her residence and studio.
Artwork from the “Montenegro” exhibit.
Recently the museum unveiled four new exhibits, each representing a different artistic period: Drawings from the Model, Albuquerque Revisited, Montenegro and Gan Or Series. These are the first major changes to the museum’s offerings since its opening three years ago and are intended to continue the conversation of Abbey’s work and to showcase her evolving artistic language.
In one of the 12 galleries, a section is dedicated to the examination of the human body. Four of the 103 pieces from Abbey’s “Drawings from the Model” series, dating from 1962 to 1983, are on display here. While the materials used are simple, the works establish a strong connection between the curvature of the female body and the natural sculpting of the wild. The black ink and charcoal is brushed and smeared, not only to reflect the play of light but also to evoke the bends of human anatomy.
“She would draw from geological formation, wildlife and ever changing atmospheric conditions such as rain storms and flash floods, [capturing] the spirit of the desert in her abstract composition. Her emphasis on detail and contrast and unity reflects her impressions of her local environment,” says museum director Laura Sanders. “But you don’t have to know all about that, it’s about how the art makes you feel. That’s what I love about her abstract expressionism.”
For those seeking a deeper connection with the artwork, the museum has introduced an app that allows visitors to scan gallery cards for detailed information about the pieces, along with access to archived works.
According to Sanders, this is just the beginning of the museum’s efforts to enhance its visitor experience. Plans are already underway for a new event space, developed in collaboration with an architectural firm, to host educational programs, musical acts and special events. A notableGan Or Series, which showcases a collection of sketches of the fireplaces Abbey designed for her solar desert home.
Abbey’s home, which she shared with her husband Dr. Robert Rock Belliveau (1932-2024), will soon be transformed into an in-home museum, offering visitors a chance to walk through and see the sculptural fireplaces come to life and an intimate perspective on the couple’s shared existence through their personal furnishings, paintings, sculptures and more.
These recent additions are just an exciting glimpse into the museum’s future, further elevating the Rita Deanin Abbey Museum as a living tribute to Abbey’s artistic legacy and vision.
“We established how these individual galleries will showcase the works of her entire life and where they draw parallels,” says Sanders. “The museum fosters an ongoing dialog between the past and present works, which reflects an astonishing amount of mediums.”
RITA DEANIN ABBEY ART MUSEUM 5850 N. Park St., ritadeaninabbeymuseum.org. By appointment only, Thursday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., $20.
