Liberace Museum

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Liberace Museum, Las Vegas, 2003

The Liberace Museum was located in Paradise, Nevada, a census-designated place in the Las Vegas Valley. It housed many stage costumes, cars, jewelry, lavishly decorated pianos and numerous citations for philanthropic acts that belonged to the American entertainer and pianist Wladziu Valentino Liberace, better known as Liberace.

The non-profit museum funded the Liberace Foundation for the Performing and Creative Arts. The museum closed to the public on October 17, 2010, due to Las Vegas' sluggish economy and a drop in admissions.

History

Liberace himself opened the museum on April 15, 1979. His brother George became the director. The museum was part of the Liberace Plaza, where his restaurant was also located. The museum had two buildings: The Jewelry and Costume Gallery, and the other building where the pianos and cars were showcased. The Tivoli Gardens Restaurant still exists without Liberace's name, and is privately owned.

Closure

Liberace's 1972 Bradley GT with gold metalflake finish and silver candelabra emblems on the sides

On October 17, 2010, the Liberace Museum closed "indefinitely, but not forever" according to Liberace Foundation Board of Directors Chairman Jeffrey Koep.^[1] The closure was announced due to economic downturn and a decline in the number of visitors. A tour of the Liberace collection is planned.^[2]^[3] The museum's board of directors is continuing to seek a new home for the museum on Las Vegas strip, but the efforts have thus far been unsuccessful.

On the day of the closing, Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Doug Elfman noted that several overly enthusiastic fans attempted to remove some of the small mirrors decorating Liberace's Rolls-Royce, and another tried to steal a hood ornament from a car on display.^[4]

Current status

As of 2013, the Liberace Foundation was exhibiting the collection at temporary exhibitions. As of December 2013, the Foundation was exhibiting Liberace's collection at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, in an exhibition titled "Too Much of a Good Thing is Wonderful: Liberace and the Art of Costume."^[5]

References

↑ "Liberace Museum closing; final day of operation on longtime East Tropicana location Oct. 17 - Las Vegas Sun News". Lasvegassun.com. Retrieved 2013-09-15.
↑ http://www.mynews3.com/story.php?id=27603&n=5037
↑ BY Advocate.com Editors (2010-09-11). "Liberace Museum Closing". Advocate.com. Retrieved 2013-09-15.
↑ "Liberace Museum strikes final notes | Las Vegas Review-Journal". Lvrj.com. 2010-10-18. Retrieved 2013-09-15.
↑ Bornfeld, Steve. "Hey Liberace, Got That in My Size?". Art. Vegas Seven. Retrieved 25 December 2013.

External links

Official Website
Liberace Museum Closing Press Release at the Wayback Machine (archived October 11, 2010)

v t e Museums in Clark County, Nevada

Active	Atomic Testing Museum Boulder City/Hoover Dam Museum Burlesque Hall of Fame Clark County Heritage Museum Discovery Children's Museum Erotic Heritage Museum Howard W. Cannon Aviation Museum Imperial Palace Auto Collection Las Vegas Gambling Museum Las Vegas Natural History Museum Liberace Museum Lied Discovery Children's Museum Lost City Museum Madame Tussauds Marjorie Barrick Museum Mob Museum Neon Museum Nevada State Museum Nevada Southern Railroad Museum Pinball Hall of Fame Shelby Museum Southern Nevada Museum of Fine Art Thunderbirds Museum

Previous	Guinness World of Records Guggenheim Hermitage Museum Hollywood Movie Museum Las Vegas Art Museum Southern Nevada Museum of Fine Art Star Trek: The Experience

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.