Amy Haimerl of Westword wrote to say that she and Kenny Be have updated the Literary Map of Denver. It’s available online on the Westword website. This is great stuff and well worth perusing. Here’s a quote from “On The Road” to tide you over:
Carlo and I went through rickety streets in the Denver night. The air was soft, the stars so fine, the promise of every cobbled alley so great, that I thought I was in a dream…
He read me his poetry. It was called “Denver Doldrums.†Carlo woke up in the morning and heard the “vulgar pigeons†yakking in the street outside his cell; he saw the “sad nightingales†nodding on the branches and they reminded him of his mother. A gray shroud fell over the city.
I counted minutes and subtracted miles. Just ahead, over the rolling wheat fields all golden beneath the distant snows of Estes, I’d be seeing old Denver at last.
— Jack Kerouac, On The Road
The Denver Public Library is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the publication of “On The Road” with an exhibition and various events over the course of the winter. As part of the exhibit, they will be presenting one of the original 120 foot teletype scrolls on which Kerouac wrote the novel. More information is available on the DPL website.
Update 4 January:
Westword has a fun read on the city of Denver in literature, cleverly called Paint the Town Read.
Denver boosters (and I’ve been known to be one of them) like to talk about 300 days of sunshine. Today is not one of those days, and it looks like tomorrow won’t be either. Could end up with 18 inches or more once this thing is over sometime tomorrow. Appropriate for the solstice.
Update (Saturday, 23 December): Well, it ended up being about 24 inches of snow, and it pretty much brought the city to a standstill. I’ve uploaded a set of photos to Flickr.
Neo is coming to town!
Next year will be exciting for those interested in art in Denver. Besides the opening of the David Adjaye building for the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver (sometime next year, rumor has it), there is also going to be a terrific lecture series at the DAM. Here’s the list:
Jan. 18, Ed Ruscha
Feb. 15, Eric Fischl
March 15, Betty Woodman
April 19, Fang Lijun
May 17, Enrique MartÃnez Celaya
July 19, Jennifer Steinkamp
Sept. 20, Neo Rauch
Oct. 19, George Condo
Nov. 15, Matthew Ritchie
Dec. 13, Gottfried Helnwein
More info is available in Kyle MacMillan’s column in the Post.
Last night Jill and I went to the new Watercourse location on 17th (comfort food for vegetarians, yum) and saw the artwork of this guy, Ravi Zupa, on the walls.
As yet another example of the interconnectedness of all things (serendipity), it turns out that Jill had been looking at his work earlier in the day. Of course, Jill is awfully hooked in to what’s happening in art and music, but still. This guy is seriously talented; he does paintings and videos (which are hilarious) – I took this image from a music video for Rubber Traits, which is the best video with dogs in it I’ve seen in a long time. Check it out at his site: partsandlaborunion.com
Local designer and friend Jenny Thomas has a post on worldchanging.com today about greenprint denver, which is mayor hickenlooper’s approach to sustainable development in the city. Jenny seems pretty positive about the project, saying that Denver may be “poised to become a leader in energy efficiency.” Here’s hoping.
Also, the Denver infill blog has information on the latest developments in Highland and over in River North. According to the site, the Denargo market project will have over 2,000 residential units.
Big happenings in the neighborhood; after waiting numerous years, folks on our side of the freeway will be able to walk downtown without being brushed back by buses. This morning I saw a nice note on the subject on denverinfill.com. The description below comes from the HUNI (Highland United Neighborhoods, Inc.) newsletter.
From 10 a.m. to noon on December 16, 2006, Denver residents and business owners will celebrate the completion of the Highland Pedestrian Bridge with a bridge lighting ceremony and other festivities. The celebration will honor years of tireless effort by local residents, business owners, and City Council members who have worked long and hard to make this day a reality. Expected to attend the commemoration is Mayor Hickenlooper, along with many past and present Denver City Council representatives who have contributed to the project’s completion.
The Highland Pedestrian Bridge is the last in a series of three bridges that connects Highland, via 16th Street, to Civic Center Park. Business owners on both sides of the bridge are eager to participate in the festivities and have agreed to light their storefronts and decorate buildings in the area. Everyone is hoping for a large turnout from the community, so come on down on December 16 and walk across the
bridge with your neighbors.
The bridge lighting is the first of two events to celebrate the spirit of unity the bridge has come to represent.The second is in its planning phase and is likely to occur in early to mid spring.The concept is a “spring stroll,†where residents from Denver and surrounding areas are encouraged to take full advantage of the completed pedestrian bridge network. For more information or to get involved, please contact Kathryn Orion at 303.458.8960 or e-mail her at Kathryn.orion@ci.denver.co.us.
Amy Haimerl of Westword wrote to say that she and Kenny Be have updated the Literary Map of Denver. It’s available online on the Westword website. This is great stuff and well worth perusing. Here’s a quote from “On The Road” to tide you over:
