10 JULY 9-15, 2026 westword.com WESTWORD | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | Sky’s the Limit CITY-FUNDED ARTS PROJECTS HAVE DENVER ON THE RISE, BUT SOME PLANS ARE CRASHING DOWN. BY KRISTEN FIORE The colors of “Sun Splash,” the new aerial art installation hanging over the splash pad outside Union Station, blew in the wind with a sound like crashing waves. Below, children screamed with glee as they ran through sprinklers. Adults paused to take photos of the 2,750-square-foot structure made of 16,249 pieces of kite fabric that refl ects its colors in the fractured light of the puddles beneath it. Birds sang. Music could be heard from a nearby restaurant. But suddenly, a new sound entered the scene. “Fuck you, bitch!” The repeated excla- mation was yelled by one man to another, both standing in the splash pad with water spraying at their ankles as they cursed at each other. A mom quickly wrapped her daughter in a towel, and they scurried away. A third man interjected from across the pond: “Shut the fuck up! There are children here!” A boy ran in circles around the two men fi ghting in the splash pad, either oblivious or beyond caring. A perfectly idyllic day in downtown Denver. Loud quarrels aside, these idyllic days are the goal of the Denver Downtown Develop- ment Authority, which collects a portion of taxes generated in the city’s Central Business District and then reinvests those funds into economic development in the area. The DDA began accepting applications last year for “major projects that will rede- fi ne the downtown experience and attract new residents, businesses and visitors.” It’s one of the city’s latest efforts in revitalizing downtown Denver. Last year, a revamped 16th Street was unveiled in October after a three-and-a-half-year $175 million renova- tion project that beautifi ed the area with public art and dropped the “Mall” from its name. Days earlier, the DDA acquired the Denver Pavilions mall on 16th Street for $37 million. “Downtown Denver is a hub for com- munity gathering, helping to shape Den- ver’s identity and cultural fabric,” says Nick Marion, Denver Department of Finance marketing & communications specialist. “A vibrant arts and culture scene attracts citywide residents, tourists, boosts local businesses and creates jobs in key downtown employment sectors. Cultural amenities enrich the urban experience, making down- town a more attractive place to live, work and visit. Furthermore, arts and cultural investments provide valuable educational opportunities, fostering lifelong learning and youth engagement. By investing in arts and culture, downtown Denver will position itself as a neighborhood where innovation and creativity thrive.” Hoping to bring more people into down- town, the DDA awarded $166 million in investments across 13 different projects pertaining to restaurants, parks, art and other attractions in 2025. On June 24, it ap- proved another package of such investments, setting aside around $50 million for efforts including a job creation fund, money to go toward establishing a regional innovation and entrepreneurship hub at Independence Plaza, a new mural at the Denver Pavilions and support for the Community Arts Sta- bilization Trust (CAST), which works to create affordable living and working spaces for artists. Last month, the fi rst two installations of “Skynets,” a summer aerial art series “de- signed to drive immediate foot traffi c, visi- tation and joy into the city’s urban core” at three public locations created by Colorado- based artist Patrick Shearn and his studio Poetic Kinetics, were unveiled. “Sun Splash” at Union Station and “Quak- ing Gold” at Glenarm Plaza are up now, while the third, “Skyline Drift,” is set to open at Skyline Park sometime this month. Shearn maps out each piece of kite fabric with pixels in a computer program for his Skynets installations, enabling him to create massive gradients while being very specifi c about where colors land in the overall shape. He says the art is inspired by the murmura- tion of birds, particularly the mesmerizing way that hundreds of starlings move together in the sky. “It’s beautiful and magical, and something happens to me, like taking a breath that’s too big for my lungs to hold,” Shearn says. “It’s a distinctive awareness of awe. And I was thinking, ‘How could I create that same sen- sation in somebody viewing my work?’ So I started experimenting with this concept in a desire to mimic and recreate murmuration.” The result is a hypnotic fl ow of colors in the sky that move and refl ect differently depending on the lighting and weather. Shearn invites people to take pictures and videos of his installations, but also wants you to “spend some time not looking through your screen.” “It is immersive, they are large. You can look into them and see color play, see the dra- matic motion of the wind,” he says. “They’re meant to be experienced and explored. Come when it’s windy, when it’s breezy and when it’s still, because they’re all really different in different weather conditions.” Shearn, whose studio is based in Black Forest, got his start in the fi lm industry work- ing on fi lms like “Jurassic Park” and creating installations featured at outdoor festivals, like Coachella and Burning Man. Last sum- mer, his “Off the Beaten Path” installation above Gazebo Lake in Green Mountain Falls went viral, drawing a high of 1,000 visitors per day to a town of 700 residents. Over the lifecycle of the installation, the small town just north of Colorado Springs saw a total of 100,000 visitors, Marion says. “The installation also contributed to a 36% year-over-year increase in sales tax revenue [in Green Mountain Falls],” Marion adds. “The city has seen a lot of momentum and positive reactions to the aerial art in- stallations in our downtown, and we look forward to future applications from artists and creatives that demonstrate potential to drive foot traffi c, visitation and joy into our urban core.” The sky’s the limit for some of Denver’s city-funded arts projects, like Skynets. CAST, a San Francisco-based arts nonprofi t that expanded to Colorado last year, has also been a rising star in Denver’s cultural landscape, thanks in part to a DDA grant. But other arts ef- CULTURE continued on page 12 KEEP UP ON DENVER ARTS AND CULTURE AT WESTWORD.COM/ARTS “Sun Splash” is a 2,750-square-foot aerial art installation at Union Station. PHOTO BY MICHAEL CHAVEZ
