The
Colorado Convention Center has added eight new pieces to its permanent art collection.
The pieces, created by established and emerging local artists, include a 95-by-95-foot mural by
Mindy Bray titled
The Heavy is the Root of the Light. It covers an entire wall behind a two-story escalator.
Another piece by
Sandra Fettingis titled
I Know You Know That I Know is 160 feet long and spans an entire hallway in the convention center.
"Convention centers are also learning centers where people come to be engaged and broaden their knowledge, so it’s appropriate that art be an important part of the building’s environment," says Kent Rice, Executive Director of
Denver Arts & Venues, which oversees the convention center.
The new art adds to downtown Denver’s growing reputation as an art center, as well as a symbol for the Colorado Convention Center.
Visit Denver has incorporated one of the convention center's older artworks -- the 40-foot tall Blue Bear -- into an icon for the city and the lead element in the its advertising campaign.
"The first thing you see coming into the convention center is the Blue Bear, and now as you walk through the 2 million-square-foot building, you will continue to encounter art everywhere you go," says Richard Scharf, President and CEO of Visit Denver.
Other artworks that have been installed in the convention center include:
The additions are the result of a public-private partnership between the City and County of Denver and the convention center's management firm, SMG, which commissioned the $235,000 project. Denver-based art consulting firm
NINE dot ARTS was hired to select and install the new work.
Contact Confluence Denver Development News Editor Margaret Jackson with tips and leads for future stories at margaret@confluence-denver.com.
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