The non-profit arts advocacy group Americans for the Arts identified four dozen projects across the country for individual awards at its meeting in Philadelphia last weekend. The group mostly represents bureaucrats in the world of public arts administration and the politicians who help pass legislation to pay for all of it.
On the list were two pieces in Colorado.
The first was a permanent outdoor installation by Roberto Behar and Rosario Marquardt entitled “All Together Now” Commissioned by Sage Hospitality and installed at 14th and Curtis streets next to the new Curtis Hotel, it is an outdoor sign made of oversized building blocks spelling out the title. The two artists, who are from Argentina but live in Miami, also did “The Peace Project,” made of hundreds of colored straps hung from the ceiling of the raw space being used by the Museum of Contemporary Art/Denver while a new museum was being constructed.
Also singled out for an award was a temporary exhibit installed in Vail. Created by Denver artist Patrick Marold, “The Windmill Project” (pictured) was on view above the seventh hole at the Vail Golf Course during the spring of 2007. Taking up the theme of the environment, it was comprised of some 2,700 elements, each made of a ten foot tall transparent tube housing a light that was powered by wind energy caught by a whirling three-point prong.
Though “Windmill” has been gone for more than a year, Marold is still here, and a selection of his latest work will go on view later this summer at Artyard Contemporary Sculpture (1251 South Pearl Street, 303-777-3219). -- Michael Paglia
