The art of Vegas On the Strip, prized works often hide in plain sight
Published March 2026
The pandemic killed the cheap buffet.
Treasure Island shut down its pirate show to make way for a CVS, and a 660-foot guitar is rising atop the bones of the Mirage volcano.
Loss leaders, attractions like those that cost hotels more than they earn as a way to get patrons in the door, are becoming a thing of the past in modern Las Vegas.
One prominent exception? Art.
Hundreds of millions of dollars of it, hailing from around the globe, is scattered throughout Strip hotels and casinos just waiting to be discovered.
Something to stumble upon
“I think a lot of people talk about Las Vegas and how there isn’t any culture and there’s nothing to do with families and kids,” says Erin Pratt, director of interior design at Resorts World Las Vegas. “The free art that is here at so many of the properties along the Strip is just incredible.”
Demecina Gray oversees nearly 1,600 pieces as the director of art and culture for MGM Resorts International. About 95 percent of that collection is on public display worldwide in the company’s hotels.
“They’re woven throughout the experience,” Gray says. “Sometimes it feels as if it’s a secret, but there are guests that seek out our properties specifically to be surrounded by art.”
Gray recalls a time when she stayed at an MGM Resorts hotel before she worked for the company. “I turned the corner and, with my background in art, said, ‘Is that a Jasper Johns? Where am I?’ ”
That pretty much sums up the experience.
In Las Vegas casinos, there are no signs pointing the way as there are for restrooms, restaurants and other amenities.
Fine art is less something you search for than something you stumble upon — then, more often than not, stare at quizzically.
“I think the beauty of it,” Pratt says, “is that the guests happen upon it organically as they’re just moving about the space.”
Creating moments
It’s one thing to hang a painting on a wall. The wall’s already there. It isn’t taking up additional space.
But sculptures can be a major commitment on the part of a casino.
Take Urs Fischer’s “Lovers #3,” which the Fontainebleau Las Vegas commissioned for its south lobby.
“We’ve always kind of just felt that art and culture needed to be a big part of our brand identity and the ethos of who we are,” says John Rawlins, executive vice president of design for Fontainebleau Development.
They don’t come much bigger than “Lovers #3,” a 46-foot-tall behemoth made of aluminum and stainless steel. A large section of the Fontainebleau’s wall facing Elvis Presley Boulevard was removed, then rebuilt, to accommodate its arrival.
Why go to all that trouble?
“Certainly in the world we live in now with social media, there’s no doubt that we were thinking about that,” Rawlins says. “Creating these moments that people could enjoy, where it doesn’t necessarily mean you have to spend money, but it’s something you can enjoy and remember and photograph and post. So all of that was certainly part of the conversation.”
Get lost in a good way
Masatoshi Izumi’s “CACTUS Life — Living With the Earth” outside Vdara tips the scales at a staggering 8 tons.
Regardless of size, though, depending on how you utilize a casino — and where you arrive and exit — you could spend hours there and never know these sculptures existed.
At Resorts World, Pratt says, that element of surprise is intentional.
“I encourage people to get lost. Get in the casinos and get lost,” she says. “You’ll be amazed at what you find. And it’s free. Every other city that you go to, you have to pay to get into a museum to see the same quality pieces.”
As the newest player on the Strip, the Fontainebleau is still amassing its art collection. The MGM Grand and Resorts World pride themselves on mixing pieces from internationally recognized artists with works from up-and-comers. Resorts World even treats its employees to murals behind the scenes.
“I’ve found people sort of standing and interacting and engaging with artwork in a way where it sort of stops people in their tracks,” the MGM Grand’s Gray says. “And I think that’s the beauty of our art collection.”
At Resorts World, families and individuals can get a list of prominent works and their locations, while groups can schedule tours through guest services.
“It’s something that I hope more locals, as well as our guests, take advantage of,” Pratt says. “Because it really speaks to how international Las Vegas is.”
Here are some sculptures and installations on the Strip you need to know about:
The Travellers Have Arrived/Hippo Wild Ride
Artists: Gillie and Marc
For sheer whimsy and the joy of discovery, it’s tough to top Rabbitwoman and Dogman. The anthropomorphic alter egos of British-Australian artists Gillie and Marc appear in a series of bronze sculptures spread around the world.
“When you stumble upon it, it attracts people,” Demecina Gray, director of art and culture at MGM Resorts International, says of “The Travellers Have Arrived.” The piece, located in an assuming stretch of The Cosmopolitan, depicts the characters riding a donkey. “You can tell based on the bronze wear where everybody likes to touch it. People can’t get enough of being near that sculpture.”
While the characters are nude in this piece, the duo also can be found fully clothed while canoodling atop a hippopotamus.
“It’s one of our most-photographed pieces,” Erin Pratt, director of interior design at Resorts World Las Vegas, says of “Hippo Wild Ride.” “It’s dynamic, and it’s interesting, and it’s approachable. There’s nothing sacred about it. We want you to touch it. We want you to have that experience with it.”
Between Wicked Spoon and Block 16, The Cosmopolitan/Hilton lobby, Resorts World
Oceans
Artist: BREAKFAST
Made of 483 motorized elements known as brixels — one side marble, the other brass-tinted steel — the kinetic sculpture transitions every few minutes to reflect the tides off the coast of one of more than a hundred cities. During a recent visit, the piece reconfigured itself to represent real-time conditions outside Alexandria, Egypt, followed by Sur, Oman, and Cape Town, South Africa.
John Rawlins, executive vice president of design for Fontainebleau Development, calls the piece “some of the most incredible melding of art and science.” It was created, he adds, as a way to bring some of the best parts of Miami to Las Vegas and to transport water to the desert.
West entrance near Saint Laurent, the Fontainebleau
Tulips
Artist: Jeff Koons
“ ‘Tulips’ is a symbol of hope and the strength of life’s energy. It reflects the viewer to affirm the viewer’s existence,” Koons said in 2013, when Wynn acquired the piece for $33.6 million. The 3-ton stainless steel sculpture represents a bouquet of twisted balloon flowers.
Near Cipriani, Wynn Las Vegas
Lovers #3
Artist: Urs Fischer
The Swiss-born artist shapes small pieces of clay in his hands before selecting one of them to be digitally scanned and produced on a gargantuan scale. His fingerprints can still be seen on the 46-foot-tall sculpture that depicts the meeting of two forms: one silver, the other gold. Two of Fischer’s large-scale paintings, “The Touch” and “The Eye,” complement “Lovers #3” and make up the Urs Fischer Gallery as a singular statement.
“Bolt,” “Untitled” (Tall Column) and “Bent of Mind”
Artist: Tony Cragg
Originally presented as a trio before “Bent of Mind” was moved to the Proper Eats Food Hall, these biomorphic pieces from the Turner Prize-winning British sculptor stretch the limits of stainless steel. “Bolt” stands nearly 11 feet tall, while “Untitled” (Tall Column) tops 15 feet.
Self-park entry lobby, Aria
Tourterelle
Artist: François-Xavier Lalanne
The French sculptor, Gray says, “specialized in creating this sort of functional art and decreasing the gap between design and art.” Three pieces of “Tourterelle,” a series of eight 4½-foot aluminum-and-wood turtledove chairs created in 1997, offer a chance for visitors to take a break. “I think people have always loved engaging with those three works,” she adds.
Porte-cochère, Aria
Smiling King Bear
Artist: Okuda San Miguel
Fashioned from fiberglass, aluminum and highly pigmented synthetic enamel in the Spanish artist’s signature prismatic style, the pop surreal sculpture stands 16 feet tall.
Near the registration desk, Wynn Las Vegas Atrium
Cloned Bulldog With Pet Bottle
Artist: William Sweetlove
The Belgian artist’s kitschy works have a deeper meaning that draws attention to climate change. The dogs are outfitted with rain boots to account for rising sea levels, and they carry bottles to emphasize a coming lack of potable water. Two of the clones are displayed together — as are the similar but far larger Sweetlove works that flank the main entrance to Area15.
Casino cage, Resorts World
