Art, Parking & Traffic

I got a chance to attend a very small affair at the new Museum of Contemporary Art space on 15th and heard about the great new plans that have gone into the museum. I’ll save a great deal of those tidbits for the Museum itself to roll out but did want to share a few neighborhood tidbits.

The first ties into art. They have an artist who works in an almost Comic Book/Sin City sphere who has created some video pieces for display. They are going to be positioned in such a way that they will be visible from outside the Museum through one of the few window openings. Of course since traffic at that corner is such a nightmare you probably don’t want to be rubbernecking to take a peek. This is where the second tidbit comes in.

The Museum is pursuing a traffic light at this intersection to try and help pedestrians from risking life and limb to visit. And for those of you who walk to Pepsi Center from Riverfront know that area can truly be a scary crossing. Like Frogger on acid, one false move and SPLAT. The time frame for this to become reality is probably a year. The city is in support but as we all know anything goes. If you are later stopped at the light here perhaps you will get to peek in the window and see some art.

The last piece, and a HUGE bit of news for downtown is an update on the parking in the new building across the street from the Museum. This building is projected to contain 1600 parking spaces, of which 600 are for public use. With the McLoughlins parking lot disappearing soon to make way for the Cosmopolitan Club spaces are in high demand for downtown visitors. Of course there is always public transportation (good) as a solution too.

Either way. Plans are moving along and more of Denver is growing. There was some talk of the desire to see a revival of the small art gallery in the CPV area, which I would love. But that might be a little bit harder to do now that real estate values have reached the heights they have. One speaker talked about the phenomenon of (1) Art comes in, (2) place becomes cool/hip, (3) People want to live there, (4) Real estate values rises, (5) Art gets pushed out in areas from Soho to Denver. Guess that is why the city tries to solidify areas with investments in such things as Museums, public art, and community foundations as areas grow. That might not, however, help the struggling art studio afford its rent.

And maybe to some extent that is okay. While I want to see the preservation of the art culture in existing areas these migrating studios also act as pioneers and cultivators in up and coming areas. Perhaps they do more for the development of new communities than any city program can as they open their doors, draw their crowds, and promote local restaurants and shops to open around them. Look where they are setting up shop now and ten years from now you might have the hippest part of town to live in. It just takes time, heart, and dedication. They have it.