Boom With a View

While other galleries found their exterior art suddenly wiped off the map, Boom: A Nomadic Gallery wasn't about to wait around. This mobile arts ambassador kept on the move through the Democratic National Convention.

"Boom went great — except when we got chased out of City Park for the yoga festival," says Lauri Lynnxe Murphy, the artist/former gallery owner (and MasterMind winner) who piloted Boom on its sophomore voyage, renting a 26-foot truck and filling it with pieces by a dozen local artists. "We actually made it into the Huffington Post. We got great press and great response. It's too bad the city couldn't take advantage of that."

The police checked out Boom, too — but only because the truck had parked close to the Tattered Cover, "about ten minutes before Nancy Pelosi walked by," Murphy says. "We got sniffed by bomb dogs."

Boom's first outing was for the grand opening of the Denver Art Museum's Hamilton Building in October 2006. This second run started with appearances outside the initial Dialog: City events at Robischon Gallery and the Supreme Court, and culminated with a semi-permanent spot outside the Manifest Hope show, making fans with its low-fuss approach to art along the way.

And Boom isn't about to go bust. "Now we're talking about wanting to go cross-country, get our art outside of Denver," Murphy says. "I don't know what the next excursion might be. It might not be in a truck; it could even be in a backpack."

Have Denver art, will carry on.