Weather Disruption
I’d planned to blog about “Hotel Usher” at Chao Studios Artspace and the new mural at the Terry R. Harris Judicial Complex, but on Thursday the weather was cruddy enough to get “Hotel Usher” cancelled and deter me from attending the opening reception for the mural. I’ll see the play tonight and write about it then, in time for people who might want to see Saturday’s final performance. Meanwhile, here’s a little info on the mural:It’s huge - 70 feet wide by 30 feet high — and will be visible from outside the building. The artist is Boulder’s Ken Bernstein, a skilled trompe l'oeil painter and mosaic artist who has several works in Colorado.
You can’t tell from this tiny jpeg, but the children’s shirts are decorated with Colorado landmarks and historical figures ranging from William Jackson Palmer to Our Lady of Guadalupe church.
It didn’t cost taxpayers anything: The El Pomar Foundation foot — footed? feet? — the $72,500 bill.
The mural will be on public display starting today during regular judicial complex hours, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays-Fridays. The address is 270 S. Tejon Street, across the street from the Pioneers Museum.
You can see more of Bernstein’s work here.
posted by Mark Arnest at 10:04 PM
2 Comments:
There seems to be an discontinuity of the design elements with this mural. The images of the history contained on the Children's clothes is way to subtle. I must also question the choice of the child iconic image, and the obvious cater to cover all races.
The Architect should have had a much stronger voice in the decision on the aesthetics of the mural.
There should have been more of a marriage between the existing design elements of the court house and the mural.
But this mural is perfect for conservative Colorado Springs, and in this aspect it is a success.
Without seeing the mural, I can't agree or disagree about the discontinuity of scale - you're probably right, but hugeness has a way of changing things, and the historical figures are about life-sized. But at first glance it's beset by the the same problem found in "Follow the Setting Sun," the sculpture in front of the Pioneers Museum: No middle ground to take you from small (albeit life-sized) elements to large ones.
But I couldn't agree more about the basic imagery.
I've emailed both architects - DLR Group here and Anderson Mason Dale in Denver - for comments. I'll let you know what they say (if anything). Of course, for all I know, you ARE one of the architects! ;-)
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