News: Walls, Undercover: Las Vegas Design Center First Friday Seminar Delves into the History of How We Embellish Our Walls

05.14.10

(LAS VEGAS)—The drive to decorate our surrounding walls is shared by cultures throughout history. Art Libera and Koroseal Studios’ presentation “Wallcovering: A History” will peel away the layers behind this compulsion. The presentation is part of Las Vegas Design Center at World Market Center Las Vegas’ First Friday design series and will take place Friday, June 4 at 10 a.m. in C-176.

“I wrote this course based on an article I read in the New Yorker about the cave dwelling drawings at Lascaux in France and the origins of art, perspective and animation. I was moved by the beauty of these drawings, and the implication that human beings are innately creative at their core,” says Libera. “It really just caused me to examine human art and decoration on walls throughout the centuries.”

Libera is a renowned force in the design industry. He’s best known for the role he’s played in the development of specialty high-end wallcoverings that were converted by Koroseal Studios into a line made accessible to a broad audience.

Topics Libera will discuss during Friday’s presentation include the following: 

·         Wallcoverings have been used to convey political, spiritual and social positions (as well as decorative flair) throughout time.

·         Wallpaper was a dramatic expression of the capabilities of the printing press, and was a huge industry for centuries in Europe.

·         The United States produces some of the most unique, handmade, studio and specialty wallcoverings in the world. Las Vegas is a huge laboratory for many of those designs.

·         The cross-cultural influences on wallcoverings include Egyptian, Asian, Renaissance, Art Deco, Art Nouveau and more.

For more than two decades Libera has specialized in the mural wallcoverings and textile products of Evans & Brown Anya Larkin, Mark Pollack, Sondra Alexander, Silk Dynasty and Maya Romanoff. He’s currently involved in a variety of aspects of the design industry, acting as the business development director for Evans & Brown Company, as well as a marketing consultant for Koroseal Studios, in addition to his role as principal for his personal consulting business, Eye For Art, Inc. His company specializes in working with product designers and artists, and developing licensing partnership between the artistic community and the manufacturing community.

A resident of Marin County, California, Libera attended college at the School of Hotel Management Cal Poly Pomona University, and is a member of the San Francisco chapter of NEWH.

First Friday at Las Vegas Design Center is a unique, not-to-be missed shopping day for local and out-of-market design professionals. The monthly event features educational opportunities, showroom specials, hospitality and other exclusive offerings for the trade.

Libera will speak from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Friday, June 4, in C-176 at World Market Center Las Vegas, 495 South Grand Central Parkway. To R.S.V.P. or for more information on either First Friday seminar, please e-mail LVDC@LVDesignCenter.com or call (702) 599-3093.

About Las Vegas Design Center at World Market Center Las Vegas

Sitting at the epicenter of the world’s fastest growing home furnishings complex, Las Vegas Design Center at World Market Center Las Vegas is a year-round resource for design-seeking consumers and designers showcasing top names in fine furniture, decorative accessories, wall décor, lighting, floor coverings, fabrics and trim. Now open to the public Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., LVDC boasts hundreds of leading manufacturers’ lines. An important source of education for the industry, Las Vegas Design Center also attracts many of the industry’s most prominent thought leaders to its comprehensive slate of seminars, networking receptions and other sought-after events. Las Vegas Design Center is home to the recently opened Mundo: A Culinary Haute Spot. For more information, visit www.lvdesigncenter.com.

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