When it was still Orange Cat Studios in 2008, the city painted over art for fear it contained messages geared to disturbing the Democratic National Convention; former owner Sean Rice wound up settling with the city.
And now the new owners of the space at 2625 Larimer Street -- Justin Anthony, Lisa Vedovelli and Sudhir Kudva -- are discovering that teenage kids wielding cans of spray paint can be just as relentless.
Anthony's solution: put up a couple of really impressive murals. "In theory, if this works out well, we'll get tagged significantly less," he says. "Some of these kids have some respect."
It also helps that Pabst Blue Ribbon is footing the bill to hire local artists like Andrew Hoffman, Jolt of Guerilla Garden, Sam Turner, Keenan Hock, Mike Graves and So-Gnar to paint those murals. And they'll do it live tonight, while Ginger Perry and DJ Fluid provide tunes inside.
Hoffman and Jolt will be recreating a previous Hoffman design, though they'll both have additional art at the show -- some of it even featuring everyone's favorite emblematically hipster beer. Hoffman's design had previously been reproduced on billboards nationwide after he won a contest sponsored by PBR at Illiterate Gallery in 2010. "In the Denver art scene, I'm better known for doing oil paintings, so it was cool to see my work blown up," Hoffman says.
The other four artists will be working on a mural together, and if So-Gnar's website is any indication, they have plenty of experience advertising PBR.
The Matchbox already boasts a beer garden mural by neighborhood graffiti artist Tristan Minton, and the two new ones go up starting at 8 p.m. tonight. The event is free, but you must be 21 to get in.
