This article is a part of Denverite's Street Week: Tennyson series. We're exploring the area by way of the history, people, carp-filled lakes and weird houses that define it. Read more Tennyson stories here.
Just outside Berkeley's Smiley Branch Library, reddish, oxidized steel slab panels depict a dandelion being blown away by wind. Attached to each panel are aluminum pipes that can be chimed using a mallet from the library's front desk.
The structure titled "A Life Cycle Story," is one of the three public art installations that sit along Tennyson Street.
"That's the kind of thing we try to do, is try to stretch the boundary of what public art can do, what it can be, and what kind of experiences people can have with it," said Michael Chavez, public art manager at Denver Arts & Venues.
Denver Public Art manages more than 400 pieces of art across the city. Chavez and his team are responsible for facilitating the process of public art, selecting artists, successfully installing the artwork and maintaining each in perpetuity.
There are three pieces of public art that sit on or near Tennyson Street, one of which was donated to the city.
A bit of history: Initially created within the power of an executive order in 1988, Mayor Federico Peña established Denver's Public Art Program. Part of the order meant that whenever the city implements a capital improvement project of $1 million or more, 1% of the construction budget must be set aside for public art within a mile radius. The order was later enacted into law by Denver City Council in 1991.
Maureen Hearty's "A Life Cycle Story" and Kevin Curry's "Face the Sun" are a result of new capital improvements.
"Tennyson Street is a hub for a lot of interesting businesses and a lot of creative outlets," Chavez said.
"Face the Sun" is a public sculpture made of steel, acrylic and LED lights with the words, "Face the sun and the shadows fall behind you." Installed in 2012, the sculpture sits on the corner of 41st and Tennyson and was part of the 2007 Better Denver Bond Project.
"A Life Cycle Story" was installed in 2021 as part of renovations done to Denver's Smiley Branch Library. Located on the south side of the building, the six steels panels document the life cycle of a dandelion. Inspired to resemble a fold-out book, library visitors can borrow a hand mallet to "play" the aluminum pipes that link each panel. Hearty even created a short illustrated story book titled "Dandelion Love" to be paired with the final project.
The installation of the Cesar Chavez bust by Emanuel Martinez was a little different.
"When renovations were done to that park it was under $1 million dollars and therefore didn't qualify for the public art ordinance," Chavez said. "But there was a community effort to raise funds to commission the sculpture of Cesar Chavez that was ultimately purchased, installed and subsequently donated to the City."
This effort was organized by Dr. Ramon Del Castillo, a now-retired professor of Chicano Studies at MSU Denver. Installed in 2015 to help commemorate Cesar Chavez Day, the bust was later donated to the city by the César E. Chávez Peace and Justice Committee of Denver, the same group who led the effort in getting the park named after the leader of human and civil rights for farm workers.
"I think it's a really cool story how that came to be," Chavez said. "Without it, it looked like the park was unfinished. We were really excited when the community wanted to donate it to the park."
Read all the stories from Street Week: Tennyson here. (And dip into the Street Week archives with 2021's Morrison Road and 2020's Bruce Randolph.)
