8 SEPTEMBER 28-OCTOBER 4, 2023 westword.com WESTWORD | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | The Mural Majority DETOUR IS BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS FOR DENVER’S COMMUNITY OF STREET ARTISTS. BY EMILY FERGUSON Throughout history, there have been distinct art movements: Impressionism, Expression- ism, Modernism, Minimalism, etc. Every “-ism” began with a group of like-minded artists who fashioned their ensembles from shared art theories (or fi nancial motiva- tions, in the case of Surrealism). While the Impressionists huddled at the Café Guerbois in Paris, and the Abstract Expressionists conspired on more ways to confuse people at New York’s Cedar Tavern, many Denver artists have sparked inspiration in alleys and parking lots, sharing skills with spray cans in hand. And as the Mile High City establishes itself as a street-art hub, these artists are creating an exciting movement of their own, fi lling the city with murals that align with a community-oriented ethos. Thomas Evans is all about community. The artist, who goes by Detour, doesn’t just promote community in his street art; he at- tributes his success to it. And that success has been big: Evans is now a certifi ed Denver legend known for his colorful, instantly recognizable murals, which often portray advocates and activists who have made an impact on the city. “I try to do as much as I can in the commu- nity because I want to try to build it as much as I can,” Evans says. “That is my motivating factor when it comes to why I do what I do.” With community so fundamental to his work, it’s no surprise that Evans was given the largest space to paint for Denver Walls, the international mural festival spearheaded by fellow muralist Ally Grimm, aka A.L. Grime, and the RiNo Art District. The fes- tival, which began September 22 and ends October 3, will see creatives from around the world joining the city’s innovative own to paint walls around RiNo. “It was really important to me that we made sure that the biggest space went to a local,” Grimm says. “He’s painting the entire top deck of the Source Hotel’s parking lot. It’s a fl oor mural, which is different. But when you look on Google Maps or you fl y a drone on the right-hand side of RiNo, it’s very bland, so this will be literally the only pop of color when you look at it from a bird’s-eye view. ... It’s just such a unique installation, something really unlike what we have exist- ing here. [Detour] absolutely deserves it, and honestly, it was such a challenging space, and he just is so intelligent and wise, I was like, ‘If anyone can fi gure this out, it is this man.’” People have been looking up to Evans since he became a full-time artist in 2014, after moving here in 2006 to attend the University of Colorado Denver, where he graduated with a master’s degree in business. His community focus infl uences each and every work he’s created, including the Denver Nuggets mural he painted as the team was on its way to the NBA championship. Fans still stop by the mural on Colfax Avenue and Race Street to take pictures, and Evans says he’s tagged in Instagram posts “all the time.” He didn’t paint it because he was paid to by the team; in fact, he wasn’t paid by anyone to paint the mural. As with his earlier Nikola Jokic mural in RiNo, Evans simply wanted to represent Denver’s pride in the Nuggets and happened to have access to the wall. (He’d previously painted George Floyd there, as well as a Denver nurse.) When the New York Times highlighted Evans and the mural, he was careful to share the spotlight with the local artistic community. Even with all the national attention — he has 100K followers on Instagram alone — Evans remains humble about his Nuggets mural, as well as the rest of his work. “To have that mural go viral in a way and be shared was super fun, but a lot of this comes from other individuals who take interest in documenting it and sharing it,” he explains. “Julian Donaldson did a lot of the footage and photography while I was doing that mural, so if it wasn’t for him, I don’t think it would have a lot of the attention for that. ... That’s one of the reasons why artwork gets so much attention. It’s that the arts communities are supporting each other.” That recognition, as well as past work with Tamara and Damani Leech, now presi- dent of the Denver Broncos, led to a dream project for Evans: painting a mural at Mile High Stadium. The piece depicts Broncos Hall of Famers and is located outside the team store at Empower Field. “I wanted to talk with [Leech] about doing murals and then get them to beef up the project and get them in the idea of doing more murals when they took on that project,” Evans says. “And now we have quite a few of us in there painting murals the past couple of weeks, and then hopefully, they’ll want to add more later in the season and next year.” While juggling passion projects and com- missions — including a tentative one with TNT and the Denver Nuggets — Evans has a long-term job in the works, and it’s his biggest yet. Last year he signed a contract for an installation at Denver International Airport, “It’s Not What You Take, It’s What You Bring Back.” The piece is still in the “design phase,” Evans says, and he’s now working with both the airport and the city on approvals; it could be two more years before the piece is installed. “Because I do a lot of 2-D work that’s community-based, I wanted to really create a piece that was also community-based and to do it in a way that it’s a landmark at DIA, iconic at DIA — that you can just point at it and know exactly what it is,” Evans says. Of course, it will also be a community effort: The massive sculpture will be con- structed from upcycled suitcases that Evans is accepting through a donation application. “It’s not something that’s casted or molded — it’s actual upcycled luggage from friends or family, neighbors, community around Colorado. So there’s a story behind a lot of the pieces on the actual piece,” Evans explains. “That’s a way where I can actually bring that community signature into my 3-D work. That was a way of me fi guring out how to do that in a cool way that was meaningful, thoughtful, intentional.” The suitcases will be painted in colors that represent the sunrise and sunset and used to construct a CULTURE continued on page 10 KEEP UP ON DENVER ARTS AND CULTURE AT WESTWORD.COM/ARTS Detour’s art has the city jumping for joy. COURTESY OF THOMAS EVANS
