Experiencing Art in Denver, Colorado

Being a photographer new to the Denver area, I felt it was completely necessary to go to the First Friday Art Walk in the Santa Fe district in downtown Denver, CO. So I arranged to meet with my friend Pam Tanino and we ventured to the area.

While I am a photographer, this was my first real meeting with the art world. I have a dear friend who owns and runs an art gallery in Florida, but having only had exposure to that one gallery I didn't realize just how expansive art can be. I have never experienced so many different mediums of art in what seemed like blocks and blocks of galleries. The streets were crowded with people and the folks living in the neighborhood were hanging out the windows checking out the scene and partying on their balconies.

By many mediums of art, I mean MANY. We had the pleasure of experiencing live music on the street, good cuisine, and all things art! It has always amazed me what some people consider art, but after listening to people critique and getting different interpretations I have come to the conclusion that art is truly in the eyes of the beholder and I can now appreciate that. This also helps me in knowing that no matter what I shoot, there will always be somebody out there who appreciates and welcomes MY visions into their world.

My friend Pam is also an artist who is a master at the fiber arts with her sewing and bead work, she is amazing. I have several friends and acquaintances who are photographers like me, my husband is an artist in his own right as a motorcycle painter and master color matcher. I know face painters, jewelry makers, musicians, floral designers, painters and some who are all around “artistes” with a full plate of beautiful and visually stunning expressionism. Some people it seems that no matter what they touch, it turns to something magical.

Now moving on….Before we even got to the galleries themselves, we ran into some really cool graffiti art.

I have to first say that we did not get to finish our excursion all the way down Santa Fe St. There are so many galleries and so much to see, that it is difficult to get it all in within a three hour span; although if you have a whole day, you will have much more luck getting through it all. The part of the trek we did make, we saw some awe inspiring art and I am going to talk about just a few of my favorites.

The first gallery that comes to my mind in thinking about my journey, is the Reed Photo Art Gallery www.reedphotoart.com (go figure…I’m a photographer). This gallery was visually stunning with every type of photography you can imagine. Allot of the work within the gallery was by an artist by the name of John Fielder, who for the most part did stunning photos of Colorado landscapes and natural wildlife. After seeing his work, I am a fan.

The painter and artist that sticks out in my mind the most was a woman by the name of Brianna Martray who did what I interpret as sort of abstract art with brilliant colors. She definitely had an eye for mixing color palettes. I would describe her work as striking with the mixes of reds, yellows and oranges to the beautiful blues and greens that mingled brilliantly together. Her work was so bright that it instantly caught your eye the minute you walked into the room.

Another gallery that caught my attention was “the Event gallery” or 910Arts www.910Arts.com . They had a great mixture of mediums from photographs, to impressive paintings, fabulous wood working and pottery and they had the most awesome table being shown that I have ever seen. I so wanted to take that table home but had to settle for pictures of it instead.

The artist mentioned above (Brianna Martray) was also within the walls of this gallery along with a photographer named Anthony Camera that had a unique quality to his work. He had a mini studio set up with a frame hanging from the ceiling and a cloud filled backdrop, and he shot people posing within this frame. That was something I had never seen before and found truly unique.

We found this artist that was completely the master of the art of tiles. I mean he had furniture and vases made of this stuff. It was a sight to behold.

We found fiber art that looked like almost life sized, but beautifully colored voo doo dolls.

There was exquisite glass work.

The list goes on and on. You can view a complete slideshow of the First Friday Art Walk pictures I took of this wonderful journey and all of its “eye candy”.

For anyone who has ever had an appreciation for art or even for those who just want to experience something different, I highly recommend going to the First Friday Art Walk any chance they get. It is truly an eye opening experience and one that may just inspire you to take that first step forward in that artistic expression that you have always had an interest in.

Photos by Noreen Berman and Pamela Tanino