Originally intended as a temporary space while the economy rebounded, and located in one of the many vacant storefronts in the Las Vegas Valley, Pop Up Art House established itself as the Valley's leading contemporary art gallery since May 2011. As of October 2012, the gallery reintroduced itself as a more permanent force, VAST space projects. Recognizing the tremendous opportunities in the local scene, the gallery remains committed to community-building through curated exhibitions within the gallery space and beyond. The gallery aims to show work that engages with or is informed/inspired by the unique resources of the place, or pays tribute to it. As a compendium of these times, each exhibition is accompanied by a catalog produced by the gallery's publishing arm, SmackSheets. While the Las Vegas Valley sits unenviably on the top of every economic downturn list -- edging even Detroit for the title of "America's Most Abandoned City" -- the lesson to be learned is that what goes bust must go boom. VAST space projects aims to take advantage of this downturn by bringing national voices into the local community and igniting a dialogue, facilitating an import/export exchange of ideas. The gallery recently relocated to a 5,000 square foot warehouse where programming focuses on installation exhibits. The gallery's interest in projects of site-and-situation-specific works, is further expanding with new satellites taking over spaces in a mid-century motel and a former medical building at Emergency Arts in the heart of Downtown Las Vegas.
