Yesterday we were in recovery and reorganization mode, having gotten a great night’s sleep in a bed that wasn’t moving, and we took our time to get to the point where we left the hotel to walk around Denver.
The town is packed for the Brewers’ Association convention, and the Auto Show. Bet they both have major parties and late nights. Thankfully, we didn’t hear any of the festivities. But it was fun to walk down to the Convention Center and take a closer look at its mascot, a huge blue bear:
This guy shows up later in miniature form all over town. Have to admit he is memorable, and certainly gives you the sense that something worth watching is going on inside. Puts the Javits Center in New York to shame, which actually is fairly easy to do.
Next we walked over to the Denver Art Museum, enjoying the sights along the way on a beautiful spring day. The guard didn’t want the children playing on the sculpture outside the museum. I think the sculptor would have loved seeing them there.
Going to the museum was like being with an old friend. You may find some of these images familiar if you are a really really close follower of our travels, but I just couldn’t help myself when I saw them again. Let’s start with the general collection, which includes the Pre-Columbians. (Those guys didn’t know how good they had it.) And this selection ends with a particularly modern concept, in the classical mode. Made us laugh:
The Western art galleries tell the story of Manifest Destiny, and it’s easy to see how it affected the Americans who rushed west to own their share of the dream. Unfortunately, the dream then had to die for those who were already there. Some of these paintings were the images we saw on our train trip, which was a bit eerie.
Then there is the incredible Indian art. I particularly love the Navajo artist who wove a QR code into four tapestries. Each one leads to a video of a sacred mountain in the Navajo culture. But everything in those galleries was beautiful. Just imagine how much was lost, and you gain an extra appreciation of all that has been preserved. And it is wonderful to learn that the knowledge of some of these crafts – which are really works of art – is carrying over into the current generation.
We couldn’t go without seeing that wonderful piece, “Fox Games,” again. The guard said that while this is not part of the permanent collection, they have no immediate plans to have it leave its space, as there would be a major uprising among patrons and fox fans. We just love it.
Even the gift shops are special here. Kudos to Denver for supporting such a lovely museum.
We ended our day having dinner with the wonderful Krista, who was the faithful guardian of our car all winter. How lucky we were to meet her, and how nice to get to know her better. Come visit us in New York, Krista!