Martin Plaza at the Civic Center Cultural
Complex is home to several museums
and the Michael Graves-designed Denver
Public Library, seen in the background
Next, we boarded a bus to LoDo or lower downtown. Once a seedy Every city has its hidden gems and in the case of Denver
warehouse district adjacent to the city’s rail yard, it has been transformed art institutions, that jewel would be Kirkland Museum of Fine &
into a hip arts and entertainment neighbourhood centering around Decorative Art at Pearl Street and 13th Avenue, several blocks east
Larimer Square. Our objective was the Museum of Contemporary Art/ of the gold-domed Colorado State Capitol. Housed in the former art
Denver which opened in 2007. A US$16 million building design by British academy and studio of well-known local artist Vance Kirkland (1904-
architect David Adjaye, it is often described as an antidote to the angular 1981), this rambling repository of modernist decorative arts is an
and aggressive Denver Art Museum. The Museum of Contemporary Art/ eclectic hodgepodge of paintings, sculptures, art glass, ceramics and
Denver presents a rather reserved steel and glass exterior, giving way, as furniture.
a Denver Post writer put it, to the “nuanced exuberance of the interior.” Most visitors are smitten by the handsome Capitol building
It is a subtle and quiet space but a fine one for exhibits we viewed, and some stop there to pose for photos on the front steps at a bronze
including a video installation by Taiwanese artist Yu-Cheng Chou and marker calling out the precise elevation at 1,609 m. Incidentally, that’s
photography by South African Trevor Appleson. how Denver gained its popular nickname as the Mile High City.
Just minutes away, at the Visual Arts Center on Wazee Street, we There are many more museums and attractions – the splendid
poured over an exhibit of prints and objects by famous environmental Museum of Nature & Science, Colorado History Museum and the Denver
artists – and ‘wrap stars’ – Christo and Jeanne-Claude. We had a look, Zoo come quickly to mind – and there’s Denver Botanic Gardens, rated
too, at an exhibit of abstract mobiles next door at Robischon Gallery, among the top five public gardens in the country. For the young of all
Denver’s flagship contemporary art venue. ages, there’s Elitch Gardens Theme Park with more than 50 thrill rides
Yearning for some fresh air and open space after a mind-boggling and the Downtown Aquarium, which features a world-class exhibit of
day of museum visits, we strolled down to grassy Commons Park – one more than 15,000 marine critters. Shoppers can more than meet their
of Denver’s most popular green spaces and recreation grounds – on the quota at stores and boutiques along shady 16th Street mall, a mile-
banks of the South Platte River. From there, we hiked upstream a bit to long pedestrian promenade in the city centre or at several downtown
Confluence Park, where Cherry Creek flows into the Platte, to check out malls such as Tabor Center and Denver Pavilions. The latter complex
the city’s kayak slalom course. Settings like this leave little doubt why is also home to an active nightlife scene with sports bars, a jazz club,
Denver is so widely popular for its outdoor appeal. cineplex and a retro bowling alley.
MEN’S FOLIO 182
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