The fun begins at 6 p.m. with various odes to the color red, from red-beer pours courtesy of the Denver Beer Company and a red cocktail by Colt & Gray to appropriately colored cupcakes from Happy Cakes and doughnuts from Voodoo Doughnuts. At seven, a group reading of original haikus inspired by “National Velvet” and written by Denverites will follow; sculptor John McEnroe, who clearly has a sense of humor about the controversy over his work, will be judging the entries. Imagine the metaphors!
“We're looking for creative ways to get people to engage with the program's existing artworks to help celebrate our 25th anniversary,” says Michael Chavez of Denver Public Art. “We thought 'National Velvet' was a good one because of its visibility and its great location for convening a group of people. This is our way of embracing the fact that people do have strong opinions about the piece. “It seems like the people who are opposed are the ones who are very vocal about it, and often, you don’t hear from people who really do like a piece like that. This offers an opportunity to let people express their feelings either way and get beyond whether somebody likes or dislikes something and have a deeper conversation.”
Come down to the Highland Bridge, located at 16th and Platte streets, from 6 to 8 p.m. to participate; admission is free, but advance registration at eventbrite.com is requested. Get more information on Facebook.
Thu., Aug. 28, 6-8 p.m., 2014
