COME TO LIFE / A Day of Denver Arts & Culture A DAY OF DENVER ARTS & CULTURE DAY 1 Explore Denver’s street-art scene, which covers buildings and other unexpected canvasses throughout neighbor-hoods like River North (RiNo) , the Highlands , South Broadway and East Colfax . More and more of the city’s neighborhoods are emerging with their own distinct characters and signature events like First Friday art walks, hipster flea markets, modern bazaars, craft coffee bars, artist studios, small music venues and only-in-Denver boutiques. Visit COLORADO.com/ ArtHoods . Thanks to a voter-approved mandate in 1998, much of Denver’s coolest art isn’t in museums. One percent of any capital improvement project over $1 million in the city is set aside for the creation of public artwork. The result is a wealth of exquisite — and often enormous — open-air pieces all over Denver. For a sample, head downtown to the Colo-rado Convention Center on 14th Avenue and California Street to see “I See What You Mean” by Lawrence Argent, a 40-foot-tall sculpture otherwise known as “The Big Blue Bear” (4) . This benign ursine presence peers curiously into the center, providing visitors with an essential Denver photo opportunity. Just a short walk away at the Denver Performing Arts Complex, two 50-foot-tall figures frolic near Speer Boulevard as part of Jonathan Borofsky’s “The Dancers.” A few blocks away, the jagged edges of the Daniel Libeskind-designed Hamilton Building, part of the Denver Art Museum , jut out over 13th Avenue. The museum houses Western art, contempo-rary masterworks and blockbuster traveling exhibitions like 2017’s Star Wars TM and the Power of Costume (1) . In fall 2017, you can visit the new location of the Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art (3) in the former studio of Vance Kirkland, one of Colora-do’s most distinguished painters. In 2016, the studio was picked up from its original location a few blocks away and deposited in the art-rich Golden Triangle area. Across the street, the Clyfford Still Museum (2) , dedicated to the legacy of one of the most import-ant painters of the 20th century, is one of only five one-artist museums in the nation. The Kirkland Museum is another! Take the afternoon to explore the hub of Den-ver’s creative community, the Art District on Santa Fe , where more than 40 galleries compose the largest concentration of art galleries in Colorado and make it a Certified Colorado Creative District. Stop in at the Museo de las Americas (5) , a unique museum highlight-ing both traditional and contemporary Latino art and culture. 1 COLORADO 2 3 4 CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: CLYFFORD STILL MUSEUM, REBECCA STUMPF; STAR WARS TM & THE POWER OF COSTUME, DENVER ART MUSEUM; BLUE BEAR, VISIT DENVER; MUSEO DE LAS AMERICAS, BETH SCHNEIDER; KIRKLAND MUSEUM OF FINE & DECORATIVE ART, BETH SCHNEIDER. Called “a bibliophile’s paradise” by the New York Times , this multilevel bookstore, housed in the lovingly restored Morey Mercantile Building, holds thousands of volumes covering every topic under the sun, with a particularly notable selection of Denver-and Colorado-centric books. Tattered Cover’s café is an excellent spot for a quick, cheap breakfast, serving strong coffee, fresh pastries and tempt-ing breakfast sandwiches. Just around the corner you’ll find one of the crown jewels of Denver’s art scene, the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver , a David Adjaye-designed structure whose sleekness contrasts with the classic red brick typical to LoDo. Inside, five galleries showcase a constantly refreshed series of exhibits devoted to innovation and creativity. Go in with an open mind and you’ll be rewarded in ways you can’t imagine. At the museum’s serene rooftop garden and café, high above the hustle and bus-tle of downtown, you’ll be able to relax and reflect on what you’ve seen. On your way out, browse the eclectic books, music and clothing at the Shop MCA on the first level. 5 STAY & PLAY OPTIONS Aurora (page 196), Arvada , Brighton (page 198), Castle Rock (page 199), Centennial (page 199), Commerce City , Denver (page 201), Englewood (page 202), Evergreen (page 203), Glendale , Golden (page 205), Greenwood Village (page 206), Highlands Ranch (page 207), Lakewood (page 207), Littleton (page 208), Morrison (page 210), Roxbor-ough (page 211), Sedalia (page 212), Wheat Ridge (page 214) DAY 2 Continue your artsy adventure with a morning stop at Tattered Cover ’s historic LoDo location. 108 / COLORADO.COM
Colorado Official State Vacation Guide 2017: Page 108
