In a city shaped by reinvention and spectacle, three women are working to return Las Vegas to something far more sacred—its cultural soul. In collaboration with MVP Speaks and hosted by the visionary Sonya Edwards of World Gem Art Gallery, Christina Monique Flores Escobar brought together artists from across the Las Vegas Valley for the first-ever Diaspora Spirit Guide and Culture Art Show. This two-day event was more than an exhibit; it was a collective act of remembering, reclaiming, and resisting the cultural erasure brought on by gentrification.

Featuring over 13 artists from across the diaspora, the show was a vibrant display of styles and traditions. From pieces rooted in generational trauma and ancestral healing to abstract visions, speculative fantasy, and Afro-Indigenous storytelling, the work on display transcended genre while remaining grounded in heritage. Dragons, spirits, symbols, and silhouettes all pointed to a shared truth: though the diaspora may be diverse in medium and message, it remains united by a deep connection to ancestry, memory, and community.

In addition to the visual art, the event featured performances and over 20 vendors, further amplifying the diaspora’s diversity and creative spirit. Performers from a range of backgrounds took the stage, weaving their own unique expressions into the broader narrative of culture and identity. At the same time, vendors offered a variety of goods that reflected the richness of the global community.

The World Gem Art Gallery—founded and curated by Sonya Edwards—served as the perfect host. A longstanding advocate for cultural expression through art and gemstones, Edwards saw in Christina and MVP’s vision a kindred mission. Together, these three women built more than an exhibit. They cultivated a space of belonging in a city where rapid development too often sidelines the very voices that made its culture unique. As gentrification tightens its grip on Las Vegas’ creative corridors, this event stood as a bold declaration: the roots are still here, and they are growing.

While the art community in Las Vegas has faced displacement and dilution, the Diaspora Spirit Guide and Culture Art Show served as a reminder of what is still possible. It reminded attendees that art does not need to conform to fit into elite institutions or commercial spaces—it can, and must, emerge from the people, for the people. It can be messy, powerful, spiritual, and political all at once.

Looking ahead, Christina Monique Flores Escobar and MVP Speaks hope to expand the exhibit, bringing in even more voices from across the diaspora. This first iteration may have lasted just two days, but its resonance will echo long after the gallery lights dim. It planted a seed that promises to bloom into a wider, deeper movement to return art in Las Vegas to its community roots, with the ancestors watching, guiding, and protecting every brushstroke, verse, and vision.