Andrew was hired by the University of Colorado – Denver to photograph the M.arch student’s design-build project in Bluff, Utah. Our good friend Mark Olsen is finishing up the house along with his final semester at the school and he was able to give me a good tour and outlook on the program that I could attend in the Fall.
Mark and his wife Merrill were wonderful hosts, showing us things and eats that we were happy to adopt. Merrill is a Grade A+ cook and I stole her Moroccan chicken recipe and enjoyed a chocolate souffle or two while at their cozy apartment. The weather was wonderfully chilly, but sunny [true Denver style] so we were able to walk around the city everyday.
As for the arts, we visited the MCA Denver by David Adjaye: a London-based architect whose work I was familiar with but never had a chance to experience. The artwork was strong on the contemporary spectrum with an exhibit by David Robleto. He crafted real life objects from rare artifacts revolving around the common theme of death and war.
A Ghost Nurse Still Needs to Care, 2004
The upstairs gallery had a live event/exhibit. Volunteers were skinning a sheep and creating workable yarn from the wool. The spinners were making objects throughout the day using the yarn. Shawls, a gigantic woven rug and socks were some of the items being spun and knitted by the women in the gallery. I like the direction contemporary art is taking with textiles/knits. It’s an area that hasn’t been fully explored and has a lot of potential.
Sheep-to-shawl with artist Allison Smith
We chose to visit the Denver Museum of Art as well. The Daniel Libeskind addition was dramatic as usual, but much sloppier than his earlier commissions. The interior spaces were not well thought out and the exterior details were sad. It doesn’t help that its neighbor is Michael Graves’ Denver Public Library.
Sharp nose, questionable programming of spaces
Michael Graves: giving people something to discuss since 1964!
We ate at a good sushi restaurant in Washington Park that Michael recommended and a great brunch place in LoDo called Snooze. La Crema was the best espresso and the Great Divide Brewing tour was a highlight. Our friend David came down from Frisco for a day to meet us downtown for lunch and beers. Cherry Creek was not our type of neighborhood, but we did spot out possible living locales and might be in the market over the next few months after my short-list to University of Washington is settled. Denver, could we call you home?
You don’t have to answer that yet.