Museum of Outdoor Arts (MOA) is an extended family for many creatives

I’m pictured with a painting in the Madden Gallery at one of MOA’s signature Winter Solstice parties.

This article just published by Art & Object with no annoying paywall or annoying pop-up ads provides an overview of the many-faceted Museum of Outdoor Arts, (MOA) and its move to a newly constructed headquarters at Majorie Park.

The Museum of Outdoor Arts (MOA) is one of metro Denver’s most creative communities. I happened upon MOA in the mid-’80s when I took a watercolor painting workshop at the museum.

While I only dabbled in visual arts, I continued to publish feature articles about the arts in Denver. Eventually, I met MOA co-founder and CEO while on assignment for a magazine. We were fast friends, and MOA became for me as for so many an extended creative family.

I attended many openings and Winter Solstice soirees and other artful events produced by MOA. From time to time, I wrote for MOA exhibition catalogs or signage or reported on their exhibits. Years ago, MOA included me in their podcast series on 15 creatives in Denver. We enjoy a symbiotic relationship, and the MOA culture is collaborative.

When my longtime publisher Art & Object recruited me to curate the online Denver Art Showcase, I started with a long list of artists I wanted to invite into our vFair. When I realized that half a dozen artists were people I’d met through MOA, I approached MOA as a partner in the event.

After all, the timing was ideal: MOA is moving to a new location where they no longer will have indoor gallery space, so MOA saw the value of an online event. MOA knew well the high costs and many hassles of mounting art exhibitions, having produced more than 300 shows. MOA has vision, and they’ve always been ahead of the tech curve, so the museum is an ideal partner for our armchair art fair. My gratitude goes out to MOA!

Read more about MOA here at this link.

Denver’s RiNo Art District named Street Art Capital of the U.S.

Denver’s RiNo Art District is home to more than 200 murals, and the outdoor collection adds more each year.

Denver’s RiNo Art District is proof of the powerful impact of public art. The art district’s mural project draws visitors to an industrial corridor once less desirable, but now hip and happening. The murals not only beautiful the buildings in the art district, but also support the growth and expansion of businesses. The mural project supports artists, as well tis the RiNo Art District tagline: “Where art is made.”

RiNo Art District: Where art is made

Reporting this story, I learned the difference between street art and graffiti: Street artists have permission. Graffiti artists do not. In the case of RiNo, both sorts of artists are at work. Graffiti artists are known to tag murals. “That’s the street talking to the street,” said Tracy Weil, the RiNo co-founder and director who admits he’s put up both murals and graffiti.

More about RiNo Art District’s olinnovative, creative and wildly successful mural collection in my article published by Art & Object:

Click here — no pay wall and no advertisements.

Denver’s Museum of Contemporary Art celebrates 25th anniversary

Nora Abrams directs the Museum of Contemporary Arts and led MCA Denver through COVID-19 lockdown.

On Friday the 13^th of March 2020 – three days before Colorado sank into quarantine — Denver’s  Museum of Contemporary Arts closed its doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As post-lockdown reemergence unfolds, MCA Denver prepares to celebrate a silver anniversary in 2022.

Museum director Nora Burnett Abrams celebrates the silver linings forged by tumultuous events of 2020 and the first half of 2021. When I met with Abrams, I caught her contagious enthusiasm for the museum’s newest direction: a flourishing online presence that extended MCA Denver far beyond the bricks and mortar museum.

Here’s a link to “Curating Community,” my feature about MCA Denver in the new issue of Colorado Expression magazine

Denver says “yes” to RiNo Art District

RiNo Art District is Denver ranks as one of the leading art districts in the nation.

My feature for Colorado Expression magazine shares the area’s history and tips for making the most of your visit to this colorful and creative area of the Mile High City with lots of street art, tasty restaurants, hopping breweries, and much more. Even three hours of free, covered parking!

One point stuck with me when touring RiNo Art District with Tracy Weil, an artist who co-founded the district and serves as president/creative director. He said he prefers to think of the development as “empowerment” rather than “gentrification.”

RiNo even includes a tiny house village for people who are homeless, proving the district has not only art but also heart.

“La Musidora” musical rocking chairs rock outdoor furniture

 

Photo Courtesy of Denver Art Museum: Artists Ignacio Cadena and Héctor Esrawe

You’ll never look at lawn chairs the same again once you get a glimpse at “La Musidora,” a kinetic design installation outside Denver Art Museum. Created by a famous pair of Mexican designers, the musical rocking chairs feature traditional weaving by Mexican artisans. What’s more, the chairs make music! Each includes a chime activated when the chairs rock. “La Musidora” allows people to sit face-to-face, thanks to a traditional Mexican chair design.

Read more about “La Musidora” at this link to Art & Object.

Rock on!