Where Sound Meets Light

“Ancient Echoes” Beneath Rita Deanin Abbey’s “Wall of Creation”

By Laura Henkel

Sunlight pours through Rita Deanin Abbey’s monumental "Wall of Creation," scattering blues, golds and desert tones across the gallery walls. As the first notes of music rise into the room, the glass-like surface seems almost to breathe, with color shifting gently with rhythm and light responding to sound.

There are moments in art when the boundaries between disciplines quietly dissolve.

Inside the luminous galleries of the Rita Deanin Abbey Art Museum, one such moment unfolds beneath Abbey’s sweeping installation. Originally commissioned for Temple Beth Sholom in Las Vegas, "Wall of Creation" is a 20-by-40-foot mural made of polyester resin and fiberglass. Its arc of color and Hebrew scripture radiates across the gallery like a celestial horizon, carrying both spiritual history and artistic brilliance. In a city celebrated for spectacle, the Rita Deanin Abbey Art Museum offers something rarer: a contemplative space where art, architecture and reflection converge.

During "Ancient Echoes: Baroque & Modern Resonance," audiences gathered beneath this extraordinary work to experience a rare dialogue between visual and musical expression. Curated by Dr. Alexandria Le, artistic director of RDA Performs, the program explored how historic sound worlds and contemporary voices intersect. The program was created in collaboration with the UNLV Early Music Ensemble, directed by Jonathan Rhodes, and NEXTET, directed by Jennifer Bellor, whose contributions shaped the evening’s distinctive sound.

The evening featured an exceptional ensemble of musicians: Jonathan Rhodes on harpsichord; Bryan Conger on clarinet; Richard Kravchak on Baroque oboe; Ka-Wai Yu on Baroque cello; Ryan Bond on vibraphone; Megan Kearny on saxophone; and Ana Angel Ortiz, Baroque soprano. Works by George Frideric Handel, Domenico Gabrielli, Louis Couperin, UNLV composer Jennifer Bellor and Antonio Vivaldi unfolded in luminous succession, while improvisational passages by Bryan Conger threaded through the program like echoes drifting through a cathedral.

As the music rose into the canopy of color, Abbey’s installation seemed to respond — an unspoken reminder that her artistic vision was never confined to a single medium. Painting, sculpture, enamel and resin each form part of a larger creative universe.

That spirit continues through the museum’s performance series, where each program is thoughtfully paired with a different gallery space, creating a distinct sensory experience for audiences. The season concludes May 2, 2026, with "Desert Sounds: Rain Spell," held in the museum’s main gallery and inspired by Abbey’s own desert poetry and landscape imagery.

Those wishing to attend the final performance or explore the museum’s exhibitions, performances and cultural programs can learn more at rdamuseum.org. Details about the concert series are available at rdamuseum.org.

Beneath the glow of "Wall of Creation," music becomes light, light becomes movement and for a moment, the audience is suspended somewhere between the two, where sound and light briefly become the same language.