HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Liberace Museum Collection is a private museum collection that includes many stage costumes, cars, jewelry, lavishly decorated pianos and numerous citations for
philanthropic Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...
acts that belonged to the American entertainer and pianist Wladziu Valentino Liberace, better known as
Liberace Władziu Valentino Liberace (May 16, 1919 – February 4, 1987) was an American pianist, singer and actor. He was born in Wisconsin to parents of Italian and Polish Americans, Polish origin and enjoyed a career spanning four decades of concerts, ...
. Originally exhibited in the former Liberace Museum located in
Paradise In religion and folklore, paradise is a place of everlasting happiness, delight, and bliss. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical, eschatological, or both, often contrasted with the miseries of human ...
,
Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...
, the Liberace Foundation for the Creative and Performing Arts later housed the primary collection of Liberace's outfits at Thriller Villa, the former Las Vegas home of
Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...
, and displayed Liberace’s automobiles, related artifacts and occasional special exhibits at the Liberace Garage in Las Vegas. Liberace Garage doubled its square footage to approximately 10,000 in 2020, now facilitating storage of the entire Liberace Museum Collection, as well as exhibit space.


History

The Liberace Foundation for Creative and Performing Arts was founded in 1976; Liberace endowed the foundation with its collection along with $4 million in cash. He stated his hope for the foundation to return his good fortune to musicians starting on their careers. The foundation acquired the entire shopping plaza on the southwest corner of Tropicana and Spencer, which would later be renamed the Liberace Plaza. The plaza contained both the museum and Tivoli Gardens, a restaurant designed and operated by Liberace. Liberace himself opened the Liberace Museum on April 15, 1979, in
Paradise In religion and folklore, paradise is a place of everlasting happiness, delight, and bliss. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical, eschatological, or both, often contrasted with the miseries of human ...
,
Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...
, a
census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...
in the
Las Vegas Valley The Las Vegas Valley is a major metropolitan area in the Southern Nevada, southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada, and the second largest in the Southwestern United States. The state's largest urban agglomeration, the Las Vegas Metropolitan St ...
. Admission to the museum cost $3.50. His brother George became the director and later George's wife, Dora, assumed that role. The museum had several buildings showcasing Liberace's unique costumes, pianos, cars, jewelry and artifacts. At its peak, the museum attracted 450,000 visitors per year, and was the third most-visited tourist attraction in Nevada, after the
Las Vegas Strip The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada, that is known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos. The Strip, as it is known, is about long, and is immediately south of the Las Vegas city limits ...
and
Hoover Dam The Hoover Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado, Black Canyon of the Colorado River (U.S.), Colorado River, on the border between the U.S. states of Nevada and Arizona. Constructed between 1931 and 1936, d ...
. The museum was expanded in 1988, tripling its size by expanding into the office, library, and apartment spaces in the plaza. The collection was housed in three buildings: the main building, displaying most of the pianos and automobiles; the annex, with Liberace's bedroom (recreated from his Palm Springs house), jewelry, personal items, a mirrored Baldwin grand, and his on-stage capes and costumes, many designed by Michael Travis; and the library, containing Liberace's musical arrangements, his archives, and a tribute to his family. The annual Liberace "Play-A-Like" Competition was started by the foundation in 1993 to mark Liberace's birthday; competitors were expected to embody "Liberace's joyful spirit of showmanship and entertainment ability" through their choice of music and costume. The competition was held at the Liberace Museum. It was expanded in 2006 as the Liberace Piano Competition to encompass traditional performances, and the young musicians could choose to play either a traditional Steinway grand or Liberace's rhinestone-studded Baldwin grand. By 2008, the competition had outgrown the space at the museum and the finals were held at the Community Lutheran Church. In 1995, 18 pianos were on display, including historically significant instruments that had previously been played by
Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period who wrote primarily for Piano solo, solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown ...
(finished in green-and-gold, built by
Ignaz Pleyel Ignaz (Ignace) Joseph Pleyel (; ; 18 June 1757 – 14 November 1831) was an Austrian composer, music publisher and piano builder of the Classical period. He grew up in Austria (then part of the Holy Roman Empire), and was educated there; in his ...
in the early 1800s),
Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; ; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and music critic of the early Romantic music, Romantic era. He composed in all the main musical genres of the time, writing for solo piano, voice and piano, chamber ...
(built by
Bösendorfer Bösendorfer (L. Bösendorfer Klavierfabrik GmbH) is an Austrian piano manufacturer and, since 2008, a wholly owned subsidiary of Yamaha Corporation. Bösendorfer is unusual in that it produces Imperial Bösendorfer, 97- and 92-Key (instrument) ...
), and
George Gershwin George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned jazz, popular music, popular and classical music. Among his best-known works are the songs "Swan ...
(built by
Chickering & Sons Chickering & Sons was an American piano manufacturer located in Boston, Massachusetts. The company was founded in 1823 by Jonas Chickering and James Stewart, but the partnership dissolved four years later. By 1830 Jonas Chickering became partners ...
), as well as an early piano designed by
John Broadwood John Broadwood (6 October 1732 – 17 July 1812) was the Scottish founder of the piano manufacturer Broadwood and Sons. Life Broadwood was born 6 October 1732 and christened 15 Oct 1732 at St Helens, Cockburnspath in Berwickshire, and grew up ...
dated to 1788. The rhinestone-decorated Baldwin grand that Liberace had debuted for his sold-out
Radio City Music Hall Radio City Music Hall (also known as Radio City) is an entertainment venue and Theater (structure), theater at 1260 Sixth Avenue (Manhattan), Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York C ...
concerts in 1986 was also on display. Admission fees had risen modestly to $6.50 for adults. Image:Liberace Museum.JPG, Liberace Museum, Las Vegas (2003) File:Liberace Museum - Las Vegas (4158422525).jpg, Neon-lit signs for the Liberace Museum and associated restaurant Tivoli Gardens. Both were operated by Liberace; the museum closed in 2010, and the restaurant moved shortly thereafter. File:Las Vegas Strip - Wall of Music at the Liberace Museum, Las Vegas - NARA - 7720041.jpg, Exterior "Wall of Music" decoration (c. 2000s) File:Liberace Museum (2272724849).jpg, Museum annex interior with mirrored Baldwin (2007) File:Liberace Museum (2273519424).jpg, Liberace's costumes (2007) File:Liberace's piano and candelabra at the Liberace Museum, Las Vegas, Nevada.jpg, Rhinestone Baldwin and candelabra, by
Carol Highsmith Carol McKinney Highsmith (born Carol Louise McKinney on May 18, 1946) is an American photographer and author. Her work documents the landscapes, architecture, and people of the rural and urban United States in a decades-long nationwide study, in ...
File:Liberace Museum - Las Vegas (4158420539).jpg, Mirrored upright piano (2009) File:Liberace sign - Dec 2019 - Stierch.jpg, Sign at the
Neon Museum The Neon Museum in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States, features signs from old casinos and other businesses displayed outdoors on . Efforts to establish a neon sign museum were underway in the late 1980s, but stalled due to a lack of resources. On ...
boneyard (2019)
All the proceeds of the museum benefited the Liberace Foundation, which provided 2,700 scholarships to college and graduate students totaling more than $6 million. In 2000, the Foundation took out a $2 million loan to renovate the plaza and museum; the renovation added to the museum to accommodate traveling exhibits, bringing the total size to . It also added the round glass entrance and neon signs, cafe, and a Walk of Honors.
Siegfried and Roy Siegfried is a German-language male given name, composed from the Germanic elements ''sig'' "victory" and ''frithu'' "protection, peace". The German name has the Old Norse cognate ''Sigfriðr, Sigfrøðr'', which gives rise to Swedish ''Sigfrid' ...
hosted the grand re-opening ceremonies in 2002, which was also attended by
Charo María Rosario Pilar Martínez Molina Baeza, professionally known by her stage name Charo, is a Spanish-born actress, singer, comedian, and flamenco guitarist who rose to international prominence in the 1960s on American television, as well ...
and Lieutenant Governor
Lorraine Hunt Lorraine T. Hunt (born March 11, 1939) is an American businesswoman, former politician and entertainer who served as the 32nd lieutenant governor of Nevada from 1999 to 2007. Hunt was elected to the Clark County Commission (Nevada), Clark Coun ...
. The 30-year loan carried both a 9.5% interest rate and penalties for early repayment; expenses outpaced revenue for seven of the ten years between 1998 and 2008, driven by falling attendance (in 2002, attendance had dropped to a quarter of its peak at 100,000 per year, and by October 2010, just 36,000 had visited that year) and lost income from vacant storefronts in the Plaza. The reduced revenues would force the Foundation to subsidize museum operations from its dwindling endowment. In 2008, the Foundation awarded a total of $112,000 in scholarships; that dropped to $62,000 in 2009. In January 2010, Jack Rappaport, the director of the museum, announced it would be moving to the Strip. However, the Liberace Foundation announced it would close the museum in September and on October 17, 2010, the Liberace Museum closed "indefinitely, but not forever" according to Liberace Foundation Board of Directors Chairman Jeffrey Koep. Koep stated the museum would continue to exhibit costumes from the collection as a traveling show under the management of
Exhibits Development Group An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibition ...
after its closure.


Present-day locations and exhibitions

The Liberace Foundation is still operating in Las Vegas and manages the collection. In November 2013, the Liberace Foundation exhibited a portion of Liberace's collection at the
Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas (commonly referred to simply as The Cosmopolitan or The Cosmo) is a resort casino and hotel on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned by The Blackstone Group, Stonepeak Partners, and Cherng Family Tru ...
, in an exhibition titled "Too Much of a Good Thing is Wonderful: Liberace and the Art of Costume." It featured 15 performance costumes, the rhinestone Baldwin piano, and a rhinestone-encrusted
Excalibur Excalibur is the mythical sword of King Arthur that may possess magical powers or be associated with the rightful sovereignty of Britain. Its first reliably datable appearance is found in Geoffrey of Monmouth's ''Historia Regum Britanniae''. E ...
kitcar. The exhibition closed in October 2014. The sign for the Liberace Museum was restored and relit in 2014, featured at the
Neon Museum The Neon Museum in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States, features signs from old casinos and other businesses displayed outdoors on . Efforts to establish a neon sign museum were underway in the late 1980s, but stalled due to a lack of resources. On ...
boneyard.


Thriller Villa

The Liberace Foundation announced in 2015 that the Museum Collection is being housed inside one of
Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...
's former residences in Las Vegas, and features a exhibition space. According to the Liberace Foundation's website, private showings can be arranged by appointment. The building, now known as Thriller Villa, was originally built in 1952 and expanded in the 1990s as Hacienda Palomino by local theater developer Horst Schmidt; after Schmidt died, it was sold to Aner Iglesias, the honorary consul of El Salvador, in 2004. Jackson rented the house from 2007 until his death in 2009.


Liberace Garage

As of April 7, 2016, a new commercial location has opened called, "The Liberace Garage" featuring all 8 vehicles from the Liberace Museum, housed in the Hollywood Cars Museum. The space also features the rhinestone-encrusted Radio City Baldwin piano, and stage costumes worn by Liberace. For the 2019 Grammy Awards, Chloe Flower performed on the rhinestone Baldwin, flown to Los Angeles for the award ceremony, while backing
Cardi B Belcalis Marlenis Cephus (; born October 11, 1992), known professionally as Cardi B, is an American rapper. Noted for her unfiltered public image and lyrics, Cardi B is one of the most successful female rappers. From 2015 to early 2017, she ga ...
.


References


External links


Official Website

Photographs of items in the museum
* * * {{LV museums Buildings and structures in Paradise, Nevada Museums in the Las Vegas Valley Biographical museums in Nevada Defunct museums in Nevada Performing arts museums