A hundred volunteers gathered at the 38th Street underpass on Saturday to paint a mural that connects the east and west sides of RiNo, adding to other artworks covering the neighborhood’s streets and helping to create what the art district hopes is a unique sense of place.
The RiNo Art District and Blue Moon Brewing Company combined their resources to commission the mural by Pat Milbery with So-Gnar, contributing to a growing trend of beautification murals in Denver that have departed from the historically political-fueled art form.
“It’s making things that would otherwise be an eyesore look better,” Blue Moon head brewmaster John Legnard said of murals. Later adding, “(RiNo is) a good neighborhood, it just needs a refresher.”
The underpass is dark and can be dangerous for pedestrians and bikers, which have increased in number recently since the addition of a nearby light rail stop, a Blue Moon spokeswoman said.
RiNo Art District creative director and co-founder Tracy Weil said one of the district’s board members was hit while riding a bike in the underpass. This spurred the district to seek a matching grant from the city totaling $20,000 to add light to the area.
Blue Moon also pitched in $20,000, which is helping cover both the light fixture and complementing mural. The light fixture, which is being created by artist group Knomad, should be up in the coming months.The brewery has sponsored “more than a lot” of public art, Legnard said. Its new location has two murals inside. A wall next to its parking lot has a mural designed by Anthony Benedetto, Kaitlyn Tucek and Scott Albrecht that was painted by Max Kauffman.
The mural runs along one wall leading up to the underpass on both the east and west side. Milbery couldn’t paint in the underpass itself because it’s owned by the railroad instead of the city of Denver. Eventually, Milbery will be painting the wall on the other side as well.
The piece is a mix of blues and some orange to align with Blue Moon’s colors, although the brewery’s logo is not featured. Milbery said it also brings in Colorado’s blue skies. The mural is layered with geometric shapes that mirror those found on the original 1920’s sidewalk railing in the underpass.
Milbery said he wanted to create a feel-good, timeless piece that opens people’s imaginations and hearts. With a changing neighborhood, he said it was time to update the space between two sides of the art district.
“It really does contribute to the neighborhood’s energy,” Milbery said, adding that it gives the area character.
Cristina Kreps, an associate professor of anthropology at the University of Denver, said murals historically have been created by communities as a way to assert an identity or to represent a historical event.
“Historically, they were considered really a democratic form of art because it’s usually out there in the public realm,” Kreps said. “You don’t have to go to a gallery or museum. It’s for everybody to value and appreciate.”
She said businesses-sponsored murals are a shift from an artist going out in the middle of the night to spray paint.
University of Colorado Boulder associate professor and artist Alvin Gregorio said murals in Denver tend to focus on beautification, a departure from the root of the art form as a political outlet for marginalized communities.
He said it’s likely the difference is that Denver doesn’t have the same strife or density as other major cities like Los Angeles or New York.
Kreps also remarked on the lack of political pieces, adding that Denver is a fairly wealthy area compared to much of the country and doesn’t have the same level of slums as many other major cities.
“In really big cities, you can go through these neighborhoods that are so distressed and you see a lot of graffiti where people are so frustrated and angry, they just write it on the wall.”
She clarified that Denver still has people who are frustrated and angry but may use other means of expression. She also said Denver has a strong emphasis on private property and graffiti clean-up, meaning people are either afraid of arrest or their work is quickly taken down.
Both said business-sponsored murals may not have the same level of political speech but they did not condemn them. Instead, both said it is a way to support local artists.
“A lot of artists wouldn’t be surviving today if it wasn’t for people with money supporting them,” Kreps said.