Denver Public Art

The Lowry Foundation is committed to enriching the quality of life in Lowry and in Denver by creating a sense of community for the neighborhood and building community pride through honoring the past and looking toward the future. To this end, the Foundation owns and maintains thirteen pieces of Denver public art dotted throughout the Lowry neighborhood. These pieces enrich the lives of everyone in the community and add to Lowry’s strong sense of place.

Aspens and Moon

“Aspens and Moon” is located in Tailwind Park at 5th Ave. and Alton Way (Tailwind Park). Created by Denver artist, Reven Swanson, “Aspens and Moon” is part of her “Dancing Moon” series, an extension of the artist’s figurative sculpture work. Three aspen trees and a stained glass moon are constructed out of tensioned steel and painted with bright colors. A breeze brings them to life, fluttering and spinning in a dance, creating interest and movement to the hillside.

Growing up in rural Colorado, as a young girl, Reven built forts in ditches, swung on the backs of wild horses, and chased lizards with her sister, Channing.  It was a childhood experience that ran closely with the rhythms of the natural world.  In an expression of that relationship, “Aspens and Moon” reminds us of peering through a colorful canopy.  For Ms. Swanson, installing public art is like “leaving pieces of sunshine wherever she goes”.  

 

Dawn

“Dawn” is located at 6th Ave Parkway & Roslyn in the median. It was created by Amy Laugesen in 2002 as part of the touring public art exhibition titled “New Urbanism” sponsored by the Museum of Outdoor Arts and the Lowry Foundation.   As you cross Quebec going east, you are greeted by a trio of horses in the island, two running east and one west. They are created out of concrete and steel.  The artwork symbolizes the constant motion of the rising and setting of the sun that brings for the “Dawn” of a new day.  

In December of 2005, The Laugesen Family gifted Dawn to the Lowry community in loving memory of Sonja De Vries.  The artist also dedicates this sculpture to her father, Richard W. Laugesen.  

 

 

Historic Murals

“Historic Murals” is located on the back wall of Safeway at 2nd Ave. and Roslyn. Created by Steven Altman in 2006 it is composed of two large flight-themed murals and adds historic feeling to the area. One showcases a plane from the Army Air Corps era at Lowry and the other is from when the base was Army Air Force after 1948.

Natural Balance

“Natural Balance” is located on the east side of the Great Lawn at Lowry Blvd & Yosemite Street. It was created by Michael Clapper and installed in 2010 overlooking the Great Lawn looking toward the west and the mountains. It is a tall, metal sculpture that looks both to Lowry’s military past and the future.

Mr. Clapper’s approach to public work is to forge metaphors and from the particular parameters indicative of a given site.  The Great Lawn Park is encompassed within the greater Lowry residential complex, it gives the essence of being a balance between man and nature.  Sitting atop a tall stele of soft blue Dolamitic limestone, a series of three steel cross rods.  Facing downward, cupped copper elements on each end of the rods allude to the metaphor of shelter or homes within the Lowry Community.  With both groupings of the cupped elements representing shelter and community, but being perched on opposite ends, it is the hope to convey a message of balance whenever we encroach upon nature to create our own communities.

 

Pilot and Navigator

“Pilot and Navigator” is located at Lowry Blvd & Rosemary. Created by Charles Sturrock in 2004, its position in front of the Pinnacol Assurance building ensures it catches the eye of all that pass by. A beautiful metal mobile that moves with the slightest wind.

Prairie Wings

“Prairie Wings” is located in Bayaud park on the west end at Quebec & Bayaud St. and was created by Mike Mancarella. Installed in 2006, the piece looks like part of a wing with holes in it pointing towards the sky. This piece is particularly impressive at night, as it is lit.

This piece is situated on land that was once an active runway during World War II.  It is a pair of wings built to scale of a B-25.  This piece is a metaphor for the Lowry area.  Each wing is in various forms of deconstruction referencing the transition from a flight training facility to a thriving neighborhood.

 

Sundial

“Sundial” is located at 6th Ave and Uinta at the west end of the Great Lawn. Design and placement was by Jesse Clark, and Mike Mancarella fabricated the piece. A soaring, aluminum-clad spear carves its way into the sky. Created in a sundial circle with water running by and showing the time of day (standard time) it is an artistic piece that showcases the eastern entry to the Great Lawn. A gift from the LRA to the community of Lowry, “Sundial” is easily visible from all over Lowry, particularly when you travel east on 6th Avenue.

Wind Catcher

“Wind Catcher” is located on the Parade Grounds in front of Grand Lowry lofts at 2nd Ave & Roslyn St. and consists of three metal mobile wind catchers designed by Erick Johnson. This piece is dedicated to Maggie Sperling one of the founders of the Lowry Foundation.

Flight Ride Series 1

The Flight Ride Series with RTD Arts-N-Transit combines art and protection. Developed by the Lowry Foundation in partnership with RTD and DURA, these are transit shelters combined with art pieces.

Flight Ride Series 1 is at Quebec and 1st Avenue. This sculptural form relates to the historical use of the Lowry Airfield and aircraft airfoil, and mimics the fuselage of an aircraft.

Flight Ride Series 2

Flight Ride Series 2, the RTD stop at Lowry Blvd. and Uinta was created by Erick Johnson installed in 2003. This piece is located next to the senior center on the north side of the street, this metal transit shelter helps travelers going west.

Flight Ride Series 3

Flight Ride Series 3, the RTD stop at Lowry Blvd and Yosemite was created by Mike Mancarella and installed in 2003. A variety of small planes fly from underneath the curved roof of the metal shelter. This piece is located just east of Yosemite on the Community College of Aurora’s north side.

Mr. Mancarella wanted to create a functional sculpture to perform not only as a shelter but to reference Lowry’s rich history as an aviation training center.  Solid walls on three sides with a clear ceiling overhead so as not to obstruct the blue Colorado sky.  Suspended from the ceiling and silhouetted against the sky, groups of B-25s sore above, a sight you may have seen over 70 years ago.  

 

The Lowry Reading Garden

The Lowry Reading Garden is located at 4th Ave. and Spruce Street, just east of the Steam Plant. Opened in 2003 and designed by Design Workshop, it is a small, hidden gem of a park with art pieces, engraved book spines, overhead metal leafs and seating areas placed around the park. The art pieces, created by artist Fred Myer, were donated by the Lewis and Jane Borden family and decorate the small park along with book spines purchased by residents to honor family and friends.