INSIDE LAS VEGAS' ARTHAVEN

UNDRGRND Magazine | August 26, 2021 | by Sean Golonka

Go to any local art event in Las Vegas, and there’s a good chance you’ll run into Dax Miller. The 41 year old from Santa Rosa, California runs ArtHaven, a support group of creatives who help Vegas artists by attending their events and offering free services such as photography, videography, and social media exposure.

“‘Show up. Love. Support,’ is the mantra,” Miller says.

But the man behind ArtHaven (also known as “The Artist Haven”) hasn’t always had such deep ties to the Vegas art scene. He moved to Southern Nevada in 2012 to take a job at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where he still works in the research division. 

A couple years after that, Miller offered his best friend, Jordan, who lived in Maryland, a place to stay at his home in Vegas. It was here when Miller started a business to help his friend kickstart his art career.

“That's sort of like the seed of what it was,” Miller says. “I was trying to help my best friend out.”

Miller believed in Jordan as an artist, and he didn’t want his friend to have to worry about the business side of the come up. So he stepped in to fill that role.

“I personally believe that if you find success in your artwork, you'll find success in life,” Miller says. “In the very beginning, I didn't know any artists. I was just helping my friend. I paid the business license fee, and now I have this business. But how am I actually going to help artists?”
Miller started attending more conventions and shows throughout the city, asking artists what they wanted and how he could help them. For many, that was simply taking pictures and videos and promoting them on social media. 

Over time, his photography improved and Miller found more ways to produce content to show off people’s art. He connected with more creators and inevitably ingrained himself into the Vegas art community.

“The ArtHaven Instagram is a progression. It is the story,” he says of the account’s impressive documentation.

Miller’s ArtHaven has foundations beyond a desire to help one friend, though. Miller says he grew up surrounded by oil paintings made by his grandmother, something that gave him a soft spot for art and that he now considers a privilege looking back as an adult.

He also has a unique set of views on art that are reflected in his passion and love for the local community of creators.

“It's this weird paradox as an artist because that's a piece of you, like you created this thing, it's uniquely yours,” Miller says. “It's very personal, but then when you let it go, that's when it becomes art. And you're vulnerable because you’re letting a piece of yourself go, but also immortal because nobody can ever take that away from you.”

That’s part of the reason he remains so vigilant and focused on the original goal of ArtHaven as a volunteer outlet to aid artists on the rise. Miller spends hours of his week immersed in the city’s art community, but he’s not alone on that front. He notes others that also push the 702 community forward: Tuesday Blend, the CMXX crew, Industry Supporting Industry, DJ Crykit, and more.

“Show up. Love. Support,” he says. “The mission, it's never really changed.”