A towering new mural depicting neighborhood kids swimming, playing basketball, painting and blowing trumpets now stretches across the playground wall of the Walnut Recreation Center in northeast Las Vegas, alongside a second set of vinyl artworks installed inside the building's restrooms. Clark County Commissioner William McCurdy II dedicated both public art installations at the community center on Thursday, joining local artists and residents for the unveiling.
The dedication, held from 4 to 4:30 p.m. as a 30-minute ceremony co-hosted by McCurdy and the Clark County Parks & Recreation Public Arts Office, marked the completion of two separate art projects years in the making, according to the Nevada Arts Council. As reported by News 3 Las Vegas, the installations were created through a collaborative effort involving community voices and are intended to reflect the culture, diversity and identity of the Walnut neighborhood.
A Mural Built From Neighborhood Input
The outdoor centerpiece is a 26-foot-high, 36-foot-wide mural painted by artist Matthew Murphy, who works under the name Black57, across an exterior cinder-block wall facing the recreation center's playground. The project followed an initial budget allocation of $21,157 approved by the Clark County Art Committee back in April 2023, per meeting minutes reviewed by the county. To settle on the mural's imagery, the Nevada Shakespeare Festival theater company conducted field interviews and administered surveys among neighborhood children and families who actually use the playground, and their input shaped scenes of kids swimming, playing basketball, playing the trumpet and creating art.
Murphy has a track record with Clark County's public art program. He previously completed the six-foot-by-27-foot Valley of Harmony mural at the county's Winchester-Dondero Cultural Center in December 2023, a project that similarly relied on workshops and interviews with local residents.
Vinyl Wraps Grew Out of a Youth Empowerment Program
Inside the center, permanent vinyl installations now line the restroom stall doors as part of the Walnut Empowerment Art! project, led by local artist Bethsabee Nieves under a $2,000 contract. Nieves worked with youth participating in the Walnut Community Center's summer program, leading workshops focused on empowerment and self-expression that generated colorful digital artwork later transformed into the printed vinyl wraps, which were installed in November 2025.
Nieves brings her own history with Clark County's arts programming to the project. She previously served as a juror for the 3rd Annual Plein Air Invitational at Wetlands Park in May 2025 and worked as a guest instructor for community art and poetry workshops that March, according to county announcements. The Walnut installation is the latest entry in Clark County's Empowerment Art! initiative, an annual effort pairing local artists with youth program participants to transform recreation center restrooms, following earlier installations at the Hollywood, Parkdale, Paradise and Desert Breeze recreation centers.
From a Trailer to a 50,000-Square-Foot Hub
The art now hangs in a facility with its own history of growth. Walnut Recreation Center opened in 1998 as a triple-wide trailer known as the Walnut-Cecile Community Center before Clark County invested $10 million in federal Community Development Block Grant funds in 2002 to build a permanent 41,000-square-foot recreation center on the site. Today the facility at 3075 N. Walnut Road has grown to more than 50,000 square feet and serves roughly 10,000 patrons a month across lower northeast Las Vegas, North Las Vegas and Nellis Air Force Base.
McCurdy represents District D, which includes Sunrise Manor and northeast Las Vegas, and began his second term on the Board of County Commissioners in January 2025. County officials say the new artwork is meant to create welcoming public spaces for residents of all ages while fostering community pride and encouraging creative expression, part of a broader county commitment to investing in public art across its recreation facilities.
