Good Neighbors

The Yearling by Donald Lipski

“A bad neighbor is a misfortune, as much as a good one is a great blessing.”  Hesiod had it right and Denver listened.  The Denver Public Library and The Denver Art Museum sit proudly beside one another welcoming locals and tourists to partake.  Both are great spots for a little reading, a little looking, a little learning, a little solitude, a little thinking and an ‘end-of-the-day-latte-wrap-up’, followed by a stroll through the gift shop - a perfect day.  This ideal arrangement goes even further by blurring the lines between the institutions with large sculptures in the surrounding public plaza.  Who can resist over-sized, outdoor sculptures?  Not me - there is something magical about art that is so accessible and indestructible.  Kids also love the sculptures - what’s could be better than a giant, colorful climber that your parents actually want to stop and stare at?  Here’s a little tour of the art and artists you’ll find outside the library:

The Yearling by  Donald Lipski
According to Lipski, this 21 ft. red steel chair with a statue of a horse was actually rejected by the Manhattan elementary school that commissioned it.  Lipski’s intent was to get the children thinking, but the school board wanted no part of that.  They couldn’t get their minds around the work and asked him to remove the horse on the seat.  He declined, saying, “It just lost all its magic.” The rejected red chair sat in Central Park for a year before arriving at the Denver Library in 1998.  The sculpture was donated to the city by an organization called “Nuts, Bolts and Thingamajigs”,  The Foundation of the Fabricators and Manufacturers Association.  Their mission is to inspire the next generation of manufacturers, inventors and entrepreneurs “one tinkerer at a time” and to attract young people to careers that require hands-on skills.  I can just imagine an ambitious kid attempting to weld a giant coffee table in their bedroom....

Lao Tzu by Mark di Suvero
Because two giant steel sculpture from N.Y. are better than one, the Denver Library has another large, bright orange, steel sculpture.  Actually Lao Tzu arrived on the scene first and was also purchased by the NBT, the library and additional donors for the plaza between the library and the museum.  Mark di Suvero created this work in his Long Island studio and it was also trucked across the country.  The sculpture is named Lao Tzu after the Chinese monk and philosopher from the 6th Century (I had a little trouble with the resemblance...) and it was painted orange to provide the greatest contrast against the bright blue Colorado sky.  Di Suvero is a renowed American sculpture who has won the Heinz Award for Arts and Humanities for his “sweeping contributions to America’s cultural landscape through a daring body of sculpture and an enduring commitment to broaden public venues for the visual arts."  

Public art is a gift to any city.  It’s existence humanizes urban landscapes and stimulates the imagination of it’s viewers.  Denver (along with many other cities) actually has a Public Art Program that mandates any project over $1 million set aside 1% for the creation and installation of public art.  This policy has led to 150 new works of art during the last 20 years.  Take a free guided tour of Denver’s public art or a self-guided ‘phonecast’ that includes maps and interviews with the artists - just make sure you get a designated driver first!