Cross Promotion: Artful Soirées

When Realtor Florence Shapiro heard the spiel in mid- December, she was intrigued: Buyers of fine art are buyers of fine homes, so why not show art and home together and make an event of it?

The cold-call pitch came from Grace Price, who promotes the art of her husband, Nicholas. The Prices sought a real estate agent with a sterling reputation who specialized in Las Vegas' high-end listings to co-host a series of their well-established "Artful Soirées." Some of the previous invitation-only events had been held in homes; the new wrinkle was to hold them in homes for sale.

"We've looked at the high-end homes and how they are marketed and found a lot of their clients were our clients as well," Grace Price said.

The idea of holding art-and-home invitational events was imported from Europe, according to Grace Price, where such events have been successful for decades.

"Artwork belongs in homes and yards," she said, citing garden sculptures her husband has created. "It immediately increases the value of a home as something unique to that home."

"The idea sounded great right off the bat," said Shapiro, who serves Prudential Americana Group's luxury homes clients.

Their first such event together is planned for March 10 in an Italian-style spec home completed late last year by Remington Homes. Grace Price handles the RSVPs.

The 10,000-square-foot home, situated on a 1.11-acre lot in the Queensridge community, is listed at $3.7 million. It features five bedrooms, five baths and three half-baths. Additionally, the home has four fireplaces and a pool. The event starts at 6 p.m., a good time to show off the home's view of the city, Shapiro pointed out, but an hour that is sometimes hard to bring out clients.

"It becomes a party," Shapiro said. "You have the food and people and more energy. (Real estate clients) might not come out at night to look at a house, but they will come at night to look at the art in the house.

"I think a house takes on a different character at night, and art and people become a part of that. It becomes a home that's alive. The personality of the home changes dramatically when you have the lights on inside and outside you can see the lights of the Strip."

Nicholas Price said the soirées are a way to present his art in an intimate setting, usually only 20 or 30 attendees, where guests with varying degrees of familiarity with art -- or lack thereof -- can feel comfortable around the art and artist.

"One of my principles is for my art to be shown without pressure or intimidation," Nicholas Price said. "The client doesn't feel intimidated like in a gallery space. They feel more comfortable in a home setting and get to know the artist."

The Prices moved to Las Vegas from London five years ago to bring the concept to their North American clients.

"We felt that we could showcase the homes as we had done in England," Grace Price said.

They have held similar soirées locally with other high-end cross promotions. Earlier this month they held one in conjunction with the Las Vegas Aston Martin dealership in which they debuted the new DB-9 coupe, and showed off original sculptures, paintings and jewelry from the artist.

They view Las Vegas as a growth market in terms of population, luxury clientele and art appreciation. The latter, they said, has been somewhat slow to develop among architects and builders compared with other markets.

"I look at Las Vegas as being an emergent market for art," Nicholas Price said. "I applaud what they are doing downtown (where a nascent arts district has formed), but I encourage the builders to get involved with (supporting the arts) in their own communities."

Price said he has found support among private parties and public entities.

"It's an unusual market for art, but we have found some dedicated collectors," he said.

Among his public displays, more than two dozen of his sculptures and paintings are on floors 2-8 of the Lloyd George Federal Building in downtown Las Vegas. "Pioneers" is on display at the Sawyer Building.

"My work is mostly contemporary and somewhat whimsical," he said.

Next are communities, neighborhoods and commercial areas, a market he believes could be receptive to art as a supplement to landscaping.

Both strongly respect the business of art. The Prices met when both worked in the finance industry; Grace as a private banker, Nicholas as a venture capitalist.

"I'm not a traditional artist because I had to go into business before I could become an artist," he said.

He started the Artful Soirées 15 years ago as a way of promoting his art before becoming a full-time artist.

"I think it's a question of listening," Price said. "We must listen to our clients' needs and objectives. Let's find out what they want to achieve and help them find ways to incorporate art."

Additional soirées are planned for another home at Queensridge and one at Lake Las Vegas Resort.

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