Concept

Las Vegas has always been a city in flux. With its ever-changing skyline, entertainment, and even residents, it’s hard to find one icon that is truly ours. When you look at the history of Las Vegas, there is not much. Mobsters, movie stars, and millionaires. However, there is one interesting part of the city that makes it so much of what it is, and in recent years, has seen a new-found adoration from its citizens: Atomic weapons testing. In the height of the Manhattan project, our city found itself just miles away from some of the most rigorous and extensive nuclear testing to be done in the mainland United States.

The explosions became part of life in Las Vegas. The citizens embraced them and assimilated them into everyday life. They held Miss Atomic pageants. They had Atomic cocktails. They even had bleachers on Fremont Street for atomic blast watching parties. The tests, and the culture they created, shaped what Las Vegas was and has become. In recent years, the citizens of our desert oasis have embraced this part of our history, and a sort of Atomic Revival has been born. Through art, music, and culture, the aesthetics of the atomic age could become as much a part of life in Vegas today as they were in the 50’s.

And so, we felt nothing was more appropriate to represent Las Vegas than a giant, unexploded nuclear ordnance