Some Of My Favourite Things!

…a hearty breakfast…
…a reunion with friends..
…a pleasant walk…
…a little free library…
…a flower-filled garden…
…some public art

I was in Denver today and had made arrangements to see my friends Bill and Andrea. I had known Bill back in the mid 80s (I think!) when he was a medical student and before he’d met and married Andrea. We’ve seen each other a handful of times in the last few years. Today we met half way between their home in Colorado Springs and Denver. I took the Light Rail (tram) south down to almost the end of the line and they drove north to meet me. We had a delicious brunch and then went for a short walk around Willow Creek Park and along a short section of the 7-mile Willow Creek Trail. Although we were in the suburbs it felt a lot more like a rural area. There are miles and miles of these paths all over Denver and I used to enjoy walking and cycling along them when I lived there. It was a lot greener than I expected in Denver - anything green in this semi-desert state is irrigated. Those roses must be difficult to grow, but they looked lovely. I always love the Little Free Libraries that are popular in the US. I sure wish they’d take off more in the U.K.!

It was soon time for me to say goodbye and head back to downtown. I had to make a connection on the Light Rail, and did that at Alameda Station, which I knew had some interesting pieces of art to look at. See both Extra photos.

The first collage is a large street mural by New Zealand artist Aaron Glasson. It’s roughly 25 x 300 ft (7.5 x 91 metres) and it took him 31 days to complete. The brief of the commission was to include themes of sustainability, transportation, innovation, design, history, energy, technology, and community.

The second collage shows two sculptures at the station. The first is the pair of figures made out of pigmented concrete, steel and bronze - 'Hand Up' by designer Scott Donahue (1998). The statues show diversity and history throughout the world. Each figure is made up of different patterned sections and makes a composite of many people from various cultures races and times…Each part has its own label in bronze that indicates the date in history and location in longitude and latitude.

The other statue in the collage is ‘Four Chromatic Gates’ by Austrian artist Herbert Bayer and installed in 2021. This is actually the second piece of art by Bayer in Denver.  The first (Articulated Wall) was installed in 1985 just before his death. Bayer was a master of the German Bauhaus movement and after fleeing Nazi Europe, lived in Aspen Colorado from 1946-1974. This is a ‘life-size’ version of an original ‘maquette’ or small wooden model.

Denver’s transit system has a great deal of public art on display. Maybe this should be a project in coming weeks and months on my layovers there - an art ride!