Trine Bumiller “Wood Water Rock”

Wood Water Rock is made up of 18 separate wood panels painted in oils. The long rectangular panels are mounted both vertically and horizontally in a random pattern on the curved wall outside the amphitheater, incorporating the white space of the background wall into the overall design. The paintings combine various abstract images based on themes from Colorado’s landscape- the mountains and plains and the geology and vegetation of both. The images are related through colors and patterns of repetition- lines, dots, colors and forms. They form a montage of natural qualities of Colorado, in details and perspectives that express the iconic and the universal.

Paleontologist Kirk Johnson and artist Jan Vriesen “Ancient Colorado Paintings”

Kirk Johnson and Jan Vriesen created a series of fourteen large paintings that depict extinct Colorado landscapes from the last 500 million years. The Ancient Colorado paintings provide Convention Center visitors and the citizens of Denver and Colorado with evocative images of the evolution of our state through time.

The Ancient Colorado paintings are displayed, from oldest to most recent, in the central hallway of the Colorado Convention Center. The paintings are accompanied by interpretive panels and a printed prehistoric guide allowing viewers to connect the images with Colorado landscapes and parks. Many of the parks are within an easy drive from downtown Denver. This installation inspires and encourages visitors to leave the building and explore the region.

Over the past 500 million years, Colorado has seen an incredible array of environments ranging from deep seas to alpine glaciers, to tropical rainforests, to sandy deserts. This artistic collaboration brings these ancient landscapes to life.

William Matthews “Colorado Pioneers”

William Matthews created six large scale watercolor paintings depicting early pioneer figures of Colorado. Included in these thematic portraits are a Mining figure, a Mother and Child, a Native American Indian, a Cowboy and a Mountain Man. The paintings convey the various people and cultures that have informed Colorado's rich history.

John McEnroe “Model State: A Local Cosmology”

This artwork consists of three wall mounted constructions, each measuring 16’x 24’x 8’ (dimensions variable). The materials are polyester resin and fiberglass coating; over hand modeled and cast forms. Fiberglass tubing and metal brackets are also used. All elements are painted entirely in flat black. All three pieces are located in generally the same area on the 14th St. side lobby, exhibition level. One of the pieces hangs dramatically over a stairwell and the other two flanks the main entrance to the vast convention hall.

The construction of each piece is similar to that of a snap-apart spree system found in toy model car kits. Instead of car parts, there are objects that are relevant to the state of Colorado. Some objects in the piece refer to the land (no mountains though). Some refer to industry, the people, our history and prehistory, other art works, and some objects are less identifiable. The system of tubing, elbows and “T’s” that connect the objects together, in composition, are both physical and metaphorical. Through the use of physical connections, the notion of connectedness and interdependence is brought to bare among the disparate facets of Colorado.

To bring some cohesion to the many different aspects of our state, each of the three pieces has a title and a theme. The first is Marking the Land. It focuses on the way people, animals, industry and others have marked the landscape. The second is Survival. And third is Artifacts. This is the most abstracted of the three because its objects mimic some of the icons in our state.

Some of the parts are readily identifiable, such as a man with a shovel seen in Marking the Land. There are other objects which suggest things seen in our local collective memory. For example, one form in Artifacts could either be a snow fence or a railroad trellis. There really is no end to the possible objects to include, so I decided to consolidate several forms into one in an effort to broaden the scope and add interest to the work. In the context of connectedness, these objects live a life within a model kit as well as standing alone. It is my hope that Model State is a successful mingling of pride, history and contemporary issues.

Jim Green “Laughing Escalator”

Visitors descending an escalator from the exhibit hall level encounter an unexpected serenade of laughter mysteriously rising from beneath their feet. Recorded laughs come up through the small cracks between steps, with a different voice heard every eight feet of the ride. Inside the escalator, a 4-channel sound system broadcast a call and response volley of laughter between the speakers. The resulting open-air mix of sound create a continually changing pattern of rhythms constructed from laughter. A variety of clear, wholesome voices are used.  A permanent installation of the Laughing Escalator provides a unique asset to the facility and an attraction for the conventioneer.