Las Vegas has its share of fine art. There are some wonderful collections here; public and private, old and new, big and small. It has an arts district and celebrates its kitschy side through art from the past including the neon designs that once advertised the casinos and hotels of yesterday. But what are some of today’s biggest, boldest, most interesting and original modern pieces?

1. Near the City Center area, on Harmon just west of the strip, glancing upward, there appears to be a curious, very large, flower-like configuration, but wait – as you get closer, it looks more like a …big pile of boats! Boats? Yes, boats. Artist Nancy Rubin’s creation; ‘Big Edge,’ at Vdara contains over 200 boats, mostly canoes, rowboats and flat-bottomed boats in varied hues and sizes weighing from 60 to 125 lbs. each. They are connected to armature and to each other, shooting upward and outward like fireworks.

2. Speaking of boats, a river flows at City Center’s Aria. An 87 foot, 3,700 lb. replica of the Colorado River, the lifeline of the Las Vegas area, winds behind the registration desk. Artist Maya Lin, famous for her design of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., cast the design ‘Silver River,’ in reclaimed silver. Lin focuses on the natural world and sits on the board of Natural Resources Defense Council. For an area with water issues, this is an elegant reminder of the delicate balance of our ecosystems.

3. ‘Pipe Dream’, a commissioned piece by Tim Bavington, at the East end of Symphony Park translates the aural into visual. Each colored pipe, painted in synthetic polymer paint, represents a note in Aaron Copeland’s musical composition ‘Fanfare for the Common Man.’ This forms a colorful backdrop for an outdoor stage.

4. The name Dale Chihuly has long been a name associated with glass and the ‘Fiori di Como’ at the Bellagio is his largest single work; 2,100 square feet, using some 2,000 pieces of glass positioned fifteen to twenty-five feet overhead. This project required 10,000 pounds of steel for the armature, some 40,000 pounds of hand-blown glass and an army of over 100 glassblowers, architects, engineers, shippers, installers, and fabricators.

5. The $33.7 million ‘Tulips’ by Jeff Koons was acquired by Wynn Resorts in 2012. Rendered in mirror-polished stainless steel and transparent color coating, ‘Tulips’ is on display at the Wynn Theater rotunda at Wynn Las Vegas.

Art is scattered about the city, indoors and out, from galleries to parks. Its scope is unlimited in many ways; take the time to appreciate originality, imagination and creativity, in a town where it is learning to thrive.