11 MAY 9-15, 2024 westword.com WESTWORD | CONTENTS | LETTERS | NEWS | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | CAFE | MUSIC | Chelsea Lewinski and Sandra Fettingis. “It’s been a lot of energy and a lot of my time,” Haven says. “Going down there, meet- ing the artists, giving out the spots. But I’m thankful that I’m put in a position where I can give these artists an opportunity and give back. For one, it defi nitely brightens up the area. A lot of those areas are like dark tunnels, and at night you have some vagrants traveling on it sometimes. So it makes it more inviting to have color and stuff there. Also, the people just enjoy it. We’ve gotten such good feedback painting down there.” According to Quesada, the goal was to “record and quantify the impact of tagging in the area” while also adding art along a busy trail that sees nearly 1,000,000 users a year. “Murals add fun, interest, and help cre- ate another reason for people to go down and visit the trail,” Quesada tells Westword. “The Cherry Creek Trail is a gem of the city, and adding art helps to enhance this com- munity asset and increase activation along the corridor. We initiated this pilot project in an effort to clean up the trail walls and bring vibrancy to this area.” Restoring the trail’s emphasis on art was a driving force for the department. “We want to continue to provide that opportunity to see and experience art daily, at no cost to residents,” Quesada adds. Haven hopes people in the street-art com- munity will be more respectful of these new murals. But if they do get tagged, he and the other artists plan to come out and fi x them as soon as possible. “These spaces are im- portant,” he says. “The artists get to express themselves and the public gets to enjoy the art, and we want to keep it that way.” Haven started expressing himself early. “I got into art originally when I was really little, through my grandma,” he recalls. “Me and her would draw cartoons like Garfi eld and try to do realism pictures of people, and then it just kind of developed from there. I took art classes when I was in school and got into graffi ti and kind of merged graffi ti and regular art to do more street-art-type murals.” One of his signatures is the Pyramid character. “They just kind of developed organically over time,” he says. “When I was in graffi ti, I would mostly do letters, and I kind of wanted to fi nd a character and just develop it over time. And he evolved into what he is today.” Haven’s partnership with the city began when he put his iconic pyramid art on some electrical boxes. He was then pegged to do a mural installation at the Denver Skatepark last summer, which led to Parks & Rec notic- ing his work. “Staff reached out to him to gauge his interest on adding a few pieces to the trail,” Quesada says. “They asked me to curate some artists,” he remembers. “There wasn’t any funding available by the city, so everything would be out of the artists’ pockets, and they also donated their time and supplies to paint.” But the artists were willing — it’s a great opportunity to have their work seen, plus they didn’t have to go through the giant call, he says, “where [the city] has to interview people and get drafts of their work, and the process that goes with that.” Quesada tells Westword that the art is intended to bring “creativity and beauty” to everyday places. “With proper funding and community support, this program could grow in the future,” she says. Haven hopes to be part of those future plans. “My goal — my long-term goal — would be for [the trail] to be one of the largest outside galleries in the world,” he says. “If we can paint that whole thing or a great portion of it, I think it can be.” At the end of the day, Haven thinks the city should be utilizing the trail’s walls instead of letting them sit empty or tagged with illegal graffi ti. “It’s just a plus all around,” he concludes. “People love to see new art, and it’s just an amazing place for artists to paint. It’s an op- portunity I’m hoping to continue.” Email the author at [email protected]. Clockwise from top left: Chris Haven with one of his pyramid paintings; artist Tristan McGregor honors manga creator Akira Toriyama (young and old), who died on March 1; @brooklynnbk’s “Monochromatic Muse” keeps an eye on things; Haven gives Winnie the Pooh the pyramid treatment. EVAN SEMÓN EVAN SEMÓN
