Best T-Rex Art -- Official 2002 | Art on the HighwayBarb McKee and Carolyn Braaksma | Best of Denver® | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Denver | Westword
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Best T-Rex Art -- Official

Art on the Highway
Barb McKee and Carolyn Braaksma

Residents who've watched their neighborhoods get eaten alive by the T-Rex highway-widening project will soon get a concrete consolation prize: Art on the Highway. Local artists Barb McKee and Carolyn Braaksma, whose experience on massive public-art programs inspired them to form a company called Surface Strategy, convinced T-Rex planners to include images on the giant sound and retaining walls going up alongside I-25 -- and then won the job of creating them. About 675,000 square feet will be textured with the artists' work, stylized designs ranging from native birds and grasses to tepees and modern city maps.

Best T-Rex Art -- Official

Art on the Highway
Barb McKee and Carolyn Braaksma

Residents who've watched their neighborhoods get eaten alive by the T-Rex highway-widening project will soon get a concrete consolation prize: Art on the Highway. Local artists Barb McKee and Carolyn Braaksma, whose experience on massive public-art programs inspired them to form a company called Surface Strategy, convinced T-Rex planners to include images on the giant sound and retaining walls going up alongside I-25 -- and then won the job of creating them. About 675,000 square feet will be textured with the artists' work, stylized designs ranging from native birds and grasses to tepees and modern city maps.

Best T-Rex Art -- Unofficial

ListenUp

Thanks to T-Rex, last year ListenUp was forced to leave one of its longtime homes, a building on South Logan Street, and move its offices to East Evans. To let customers know about the relocation, Walt Stinson, the owner of this venerable home-electronics store, had the rear of the Logan building (the part visible from I-25) covered with a giant mural featuring an especially groovy and nasty-looking dinosaur tearing up the interstate. It was his commentary on T-Rex and on his forced move. And the image rang true for motorists stuck in construction-enhanced traffic jams, too.

Best T-Rex Art -- Unofficial

ListenUp

Thanks to T-Rex, last year ListenUp was forced to leave one of its longtime homes, a building on South Logan Street, and move its offices to East Evans. To let customers know about the relocation, Walt Stinson, the owner of this venerable home-electronics store, had the rear of the Logan building (the part visible from I-25) covered with a giant mural featuring an especially groovy and nasty-looking dinosaur tearing up the interstate. It was his commentary on T-Rex and on his forced move. And the image rang true for motorists stuck in construction-enhanced traffic jams, too.

Best Place to Watch Drug Deals on Your Lunch Hour

Civic Center Park

Anchored at either end by the Denver City and County Building and the Colorado State Capitol, Civic Center Park is home to the People's Fair, the Taste of Colorado and Colorado Avalanche Stanley Cup celebrations. It's also home to scores of drug dealers who ply their wares 24/7 behind the pillars of the Greek Theater. Anyone curious about who's buying weed, opium and crack in Denver these days is advised to pack a picnic lunch, head down to the park on a sunny day and take up an observation post on a concrete bench close to the flower gardens. The action's usually heaviest around lunchtime, when the men in neckties come in search of a midday hit.

Best Place to Watch Drug Deals on Your Lunch Hour

Civic Center Park

Anchored at either end by the Denver City and County Building and the Colorado State Capitol, Civic Center Park is home to the People's Fair, the Taste of Colorado and Colorado Avalanche Stanley Cup celebrations. It's also home to scores of drug dealers who ply their wares 24/7 behind the pillars of the Greek Theater. Anyone curious about who's buying weed, opium and crack in Denver these days is advised to pack a picnic lunch, head down to the park on a sunny day and take up an observation post on a concrete bench close to the flower gardens. The action's usually heaviest around lunchtime, when the men in neckties come in search of a midday hit.

Best Divine Save on the Western Slope

Cornerstones of Law and Liberty Plaza and the Ten Commandments
Grand Junction City Hall

A monument of the Ten Commandments has stood proudly in front of Grand Junction City Hall for over forty years, but last year a group that saw it as a violation of the separation between church and state demanded its removal in a lawsuit. Grand Junction's elected officials countered by creating a "Cornerstones of Law and Liberty Plaza" featuring a section of the Bill of Rights, the preamble to the U.S. Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the Mayflower Compact and the Magna Carta. The ploy worked: Last month, the protesters dropped their lawsuit, thereby guaranteeing that the commandments shalt not be removed.

Best Divine Save on the Western Slope

Cornerstones of Law and Liberty Plaza and the Ten Commandments
Grand Junction City Hall

A monument of the Ten Commandments has stood proudly in front of Grand Junction City Hall for over forty years, but last year a group that saw it as a violation of the separation between church and state demanded its removal in a lawsuit. Grand Junction's elected officials countered by creating a "Cornerstones of Law and Liberty Plaza" featuring a section of the Bill of Rights, the preamble to the U.S. Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the Mayflower Compact and the Magna Carta. The ploy worked: Last month, the protesters dropped their lawsuit, thereby guaranteeing that the commandments shalt not be removed.

Best Church Advertisement

Top Ten Reasons Why Liberals Hate the Holidays

In December, the following advertisement for the Denver Bible Church appeared in a Denver daily newspaper listing the "Top Ten Reasons Why Liberals Hate the Holidays."

10. Thanksgiving is mass murder for turkeys.

9. Too many SUVs traveling to grandma's house.

8. College bowl games encourage competition.

7. Millions of Christmas trees are cut down.

6. The Pilgrims thought up Thanksgiving, not the Indians.

5. Christmas lights waste electricity.

4. People are giving thanks to WHO?

3. Winter lull in global warming hype.

2. Daycare centers are closed.

1. Christmas celebrates a birth, not an abortion.

Best Church Advertisement

Top Ten Reasons Why Liberals Hate the Holidays

In December, the following advertisement for the Denver Bible Church appeared in a Denver daily newspaper listing the "Top Ten Reasons Why Liberals Hate the Holidays."

10. Thanksgiving is mass murder for turkeys.

9. Too many SUVs traveling to grandma's house.

8. College bowl games encourage competition.

7. Millions of Christmas trees are cut down.

6. The Pilgrims thought up Thanksgiving, not the Indians.

5. Christmas lights waste electricity.

4. People are giving thanks to WHO?

3. Winter lull in global warming hype.

2. Daycare centers are closed.

1. Christmas celebrates a birth, not an abortion.

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