Art show nods toward Raiders’ Las Vegas arrival

The Raiders won’t arrive in Las Vegas for another three years, but the team is already making its way into the city, at least on canvas.

The “Raiders Rough & Ready” art show, which opened Saturday at Bash Fine Art & Custom Framing, 750 S. Rampart Blvd., features paintings and prints of the Raiders and other National Football League teams by Dave Hobrecht, Edgar Brown, Robert Hurst and others. The show runs through Sept. 2.

“The show is a tribute to their arrival,” gallery owner and director Anthony Luzi said, referring to the Raiders. “I know they’re coming rough and ready for Las Vegas.”

Raiders fans may like Robert Hurst’s “Silver, Black and Chrome” print, which legendary Oakland Raiders and Los Angeles Raiders stars with former owner Al Davis and legendary Raiders coach John Madden.

The $2,050 print has an anomaly.

“There’s a mustache on the logo that was added to make him look more like a pirate,” Luzi said. “It not only sets this print apart, but it makes it more desirable.”

The Raiders aren’t the show’s sole focus. Jason Robichau’s “Super Bowl MVPs” features NFL most valuable players from the past half century. Edgar J. Brown’s “Cool Eli Super Bowl MVP” focuses on New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning charging at the viewer.

The “Helmet Series” showcases football stars from different teams on 18 archival pigment prints. For $130 each, Luzi said fans could proudly display their alliance.

“I’m impressed with everything that there is here,” said M. Kameron Hawkins, who attended the exhibit’s opening reception at the gallery Saturday night. “It shows a mixture of different artists with different styles and it all goes toward a good cause.”

Luzi, who opened the gallery in Boca Park in May, said this is the second time he’s partnered with the Las Vegas-based Deacon Jones Foundation. NFL Hall of Famer David “Deacon” Jones and his widow, Elizabeth founded the foundation in 1997.

Deacon Jones played 14 seasons in the NFL from 1961 to 1974; he spent 11 of those seasons with the Los Angeles Rams.

Proceeds from the sales benefit the Deacon Jones Foundation’s Young Emerging Artists Education & Scholarship Program, which assists inner-city youth interested in developing their artistic talents.

“My husband came from poverty and was disadvantaged,” said Elizabeth Jones, who lives in Las Vegas. “He achieved everything he could have possibly ever achieved, but he always wondered what he could’ve been if he had an education. That’s why we started the foundation.”

Jones died in 2013 at age 74, but Elizabeth — inspired by her husband’s passion for helping youths — continued their work.

A year after her husband died, Elizabeth decided to sell fine-art reproductions of NFL paintings. She recalls seeing “beautiful art pieces” in the offices of NFL owners and knew NFL fans who would jump at the chance to own one.

Through a partnership, the foundation launched a fine art program featuring limited-edition prints officially licensed by the NFL and the NFL Players Association.

Last year, the foundation sponsored an after-school Mojave Art and Scholarship Program at Mojave High School in North Las Vegas. Elizabeth Jones said she plans to launch similar programs this year in Florida, California and Massachusetts.

There are 30 art pieces available in the show at Bash, priced from $130 to $6,000. All buyers receive a certificate of authenticity with an NFL licensed-seal.

“You can’t cure the whole world, but we can make a dent in it one student at a time,” Elizabeth said. “If all of us did that the world could be a much better place.”

Contact Sandy Lopez at slopez@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4686. Follow @JournalismSandy on Twitter.