Creative Expression in a "Second-Tier" City

National Media Discusses Denver Arts Scene

By Jenny Shank, 8-30-06

	Photo courtesy of DenverArtMuseum.org.

Forget the "Mile High City," "Queen of the Plains," or "Paris on the Platte"--Paul Goldberger, architecture critic for The New Yorker has offered up a new slogan for Denver: A "Second-Tier City." In the August 28th issue, Goldberger discusses Daniel Libeskind's addition to the Denver Art Museum, and his review is mixed. He praises the building for the boldness of its design and the innovation of the complex of condos and a hotel that the architect also built ("Such success is a reminder of the fact that second-tier American cities have often proved more willing to take architectural risks than supposedly sophisticated cities like New York."), but decries the odd angles that it provides as surfaces for hanging art. Goldberger writes, "The task of making surfaces that you can actually hang paintings on has gone, instead, to Daniel Kohl, the museum’s installation designer…To the extent that Libeskind’s building is workable as a museum, it is Kohl who has made it so."

In other Denver arts news, last night The News Hour on PBS profiled Denver's PHAMAly theater troupe, a group of actors with physical or mental handicaps who have been performing on Denver stages for 17 years now. The group's shows are so polished that they are reviewed by local theater critics and seen as much more than a novelty act.

Like this story? Get more! Sign up for our free newsletters.