ARLIS/NA 2008 Conference

Denver has been in the news the past year or so. Perhaps you heard about Denver last winter and how Denver International Airport was closed, more than once, due to mountains of snow. We don’t expect that to be the case next May, and in fact we were firm in scheduling the conference a little later than usual to avoid March and April snow showers.

And perhaps you have heard about the Denver Art Museum’s new Hamilton Building, the first completed project in the United States by renowned architect Daniel Libeskind. The building has clearly changed Denver’s architectural landscape in a dramatic way, and the architectural critics have weighed in—some more crankily than others—but we’re planning to host a reception there and trust that you’ll form your own opinions.

Denver has come a long way since its beginnings as a modern city 150 years ago, and curiously, its story starts about 60 miles north of Atlanta. Among the fortune seekers drawn to Colorado by the Pikes Peak Gold Rush of the late 1850s was the William Green Russell party from Auraria, Georgia, which found gold flake on the South Platte River near Cherry Creek. Their settlement, Auraria, quickly found competition for political dominance from Denver City, established later that same year on the other side of Cherry Creek. In 1859, the first president of the Denver Town company proclaimed victory over Auraria in a letter: “Them Southern desperados from Georgia that located their city on the west side of Cherry Creek have reached the end of their rope. They have lied about our town-site and traduced its obvious merits wherever they had a chance to wag a tongue or write a letter. But their doom is sealed already and Denver is the city of the present and the future.” Soon, in return for a barrel of whisky to be shared by all, the tent and log cabin city on both sides of the creek officially became Denver.

The turn of the century brought respectability, and the wealth of the mountains was poured into parks, fountains, grand theatres, statues, tree-lined streets and elaborate mansions. Denver became the most elegant city within a 1,000-mile radius and became known as the “Queen City of the Plains.” The Greek Theatre in Civic Center park, shown here, was one of the manifestations of Mayor Robert Speer’s “City Beautiful” initiative.

Today, the metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and Denver’s easily walkable downtown is centered around the 16th Street Mall designed by I.M. Pei, a mile-long pedestrian promenade lined with outdoor cafes, shops, fountains and open plazas. Our conference hotel, the Grand Hyatt, is a block from the mall, where free shuttles leave either end as frequently as every 90 seconds, allowing visitors to ride to various downtown attractions such as Larimer Square and Lower Downtown.

“LoDo”, as Lower Downtown is known, is a 26 square block historic district with great restaurants, coffee shops, live music, art galleries, bars and brewpubs—many housed in preserved Victorian buildings. It’s also the home of the Tattered Cover, one of the nation’s largest independent bookstores, and Coors Field, home of the Colorado Rockies baseball team. Sit in the row of purple seats at Coors Field, and you’ll be located exactly one mile high. At Denver’s altitude of 5280 feet, baseballs go up to 11% farther. So do cocktails. Alcoholic drinks pack more of a punch at high altitude than at sea level. And, while we’re on the subject, befitting a town whose first permanent building was a saloon, Denver brews more beer than any other city, with 80 different beers brewed daily.

The south end of the 16th Street Mall is bordered by Civic Center Park, the Denver Public Library designed by Michael Graves, and the Denver Art Museum, whose original building, not shown here, was designed by Gio Ponti. The Art Museum features the world’s premier collection of Native American art, in addition to important Contemporary and Latin American collections. Currently under construction and slated for completion this fall is a new Museum of Contemporary Art, designed by David Adjaye. Other museums worth viewing are The Laboratory of Art and Ideas in Belmar, a mixed-use New Urbanist development, the Black American West Museum and Cultural Center, and the Museo de las Americas, the only museum in the Rocky Mountain Region focusing on the art, history, and culture of Latinos in the Americas from ancient times to the present.

Other cultural attractions include the Denver Performing Arts Complex, offering 10 performance venues seating 10,000 people for symphony, opera, ballet and theatre.

The new Ellie Caulkins Opera House is recognized as one of the finest acoustical venues in the world.

In its Old West days, Denver had a performance of Macbeth before it had a school or a hospital. That performance took place in a saloon.

You’ll notice public art from the time you arrive at Denver International Airport; look for work downtown by Donald Lipski, Ed Ruscha, Bernar Venet, Jonathan Borofsky and Fernando Botero. Shown here are works by Lonnie Hanzon and Lawrence Argent.

One of the glories of Denver is its public park system, the largest in the country. With 200 parks and 650 miles of bike and pedestrian trails connecting the city’s neighborhoods, its possible for pedestrians and cyclists to enjoy nature and avoid automobile traffic all along Cherry Creek, shown on the left, to Confluence park, where Cherry Creek meets the South Platte River. It’s even possible to raft and kayak right through the heart of the city.

Two miles east of downtown, City Park is the largest green space in Denver, and includes the Denver Zoo and the Museum of Nature and Science. The view to the west from the park encompasses 200 named mountain peaks in a panorama that is 140 miles long.

In their wisdom, early city leaders also acquired park land further afield, including Winter Park ski area, Lookout Mountain, which is the site of Buffalo Bill’s grave, and Genesee with its buffalo herd. The most famous of the parks is Red Rocks Amphitheatre, cradled by 300 foot high boulders that create a natural acoustical wonder. We hope to get you out and about on tours that showcase our unique cultural attractions and scenic beauty.

Our program co-chairs, Jeanne Brown and Mary Graham, are eager to review your program proposals. The conference theme is one that reflects our meeting place: “ARLIS/NA at Altitude.” You should not feel constrained by the theme in any way in making your proposals. Mary and Jeanne will be looking for a broad range of timely and important sessions that will be of interest to the membership. The proposal form is available on the Denver conference web site and the deadline for proposals is June 15. We also respectfully request that you complete your evaluation form for the Atlanta conference, since we will depend on your feedback in planning the Denver conference. Print forms are available at the hospitality desk, but we encourage you to submit the form online through the Atlanta conference web page.

So, come to Denver, where the sun shines 300 days a year, where the sky is bluer because it’s high and dry, and where, within a one mile radius, there are three sports stadiums, the country’s second largest performing arts complex, an assortment of art and history museums, a mint producing 10 billion coins a year, a river offering whitewater rafting, the country’s only downtown amusement park, a world class aquarium, and more than 300 restaurants, brewpubs and music clubs.

We hope to see you there!

* Images from the Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau.