The Player

I'm a movie guy (just look at my blog and podcast listed over in the sidebar). So, when I hear the words "The Player" I think of the 1992 Robert Altman film. However, when you're in the LoDo area of downtown Denver, The Player is the name of the sculpture that sits outside of Coors Field.

Though the statue is of no player in particular, it does serve as a bit of a tribute to one of baseball's most important figures, Branch Rickey. A quote of his is featured on the statue's base. 

The statue was erected by the Rotary Club of Denver in June of 2005, 10 years after the opening of Coors Field. It was created by artist George Lundeen.

The player stands in front of the home plate entrance of Coors Field, at the intersection of 20th and Blake. Coors Field is at 2001 Blake St in Denver.

Historic Englewood Post Office and Mural

Probably most folks wouldn't consider a post office to be a destination when visiting a place. However, if you are someone interested in history, you might want to stop by for a quick look at the historic post office in Englewood. It's not like going to an amusement park or something...but there are a few interesting things to see.

The post office was built in 1938 as a New Deal construction project. Up until then, Englewood's mail came through Denver, but the suburb was growing rapidly and in need of its own services. It was the first federal building constructed in Englewood. A big groundbreaking event took place in 1937, complete with speeches and a performance by the Englewood High School Marching Band.

Beyond the classic architecture of the building itself, the most unique feature of the post office is the mural in the lobby. Once upon a time, many post offices had murals but they are tough to find now. Very few still exist, and even fewer exist in their original locations. 

The mural was created by Boardman Robinson, who is considered by many to be the founder of the American mural movement. This is his only post office mural and one of only three of his murals that still reside in their original locations. The mural is called Colorado Stock Sale. It was completed in 1940 and is actually based on the artist's second idea for the piece. The sketches submitted for the first were deemed too "frivolous."

The US Postal Service decided to close the Englewood post office in 2010, but the outcry from the community caused a quick change of plans. Eventually, the building ended up on the National Registry of Historic places.

This historic structure, and its historic mural, are located at 3330 S Broadway in downtown Englewood.

Giant Mushrooms

I love finding strange and unusual things around the city of Denver. Strange and unusual definitely describes the giant mushrooms that can be found in Englewood's Romans Park. The park was named for E.P. "Packy" Romans, who served as Englewood's director of parks and recreation from 1948 to 1966. It contains playground equipment and tennis courts...you know, the sort of things you find in many parks. What you don't find in many parks is huge fake mushrooms!

The six mushrooms appear to be just creative park benches. They were painted solid concrete gray until just a few years ago when they were painted with several unique themes. In fact, one of the images on Google Street View appears to show one of the mushrooms being prepped for its makeover. Now the mushrooms sport images of flying saucers, sea creatures, and one is even made to look like a giant turtle.

Of course, the mushrooms aren't the only thing to see in the park. The playground featuring giant leaves and bugs that the kids can climb on was refurbished in recent years, as well.

Romans Park is located at 1849 E Floyd Ave in Englewood, just a few blocks west of University.

Sports Art

Aurora is a big place! The only cities with more people in the state are Denver and Colorado Springs. With so many people, there's always a lot of activity going on in Aurora, and for many families that means sports. With so many different sports going on each weekend, Aurora decided to create a huge park devoted to providing space for all these activities. It's called Aurora Sports Park, go figure! However, in a cool stroke of genius, the city of Aurora chose to bring together both the sports and arts communities, as there are several unique sports-themed art installations on the grounds. 

First, just a little ways inside of the main entrance to the park, is a piece called Trophy. It was created in 2002 by artist Rafe Ropek. Made of painted steel, it includes abstract versions of various types of balls. If you look close you'll find a baseball, soccer ball, and a football.

Next, we have a piece called Ball Caddy. It was created by artist Don Mitchell in 2002. It's made of painted steel and aluminum and depicts a child pulling a cart full of soccer balls.

Finally, nestled among the baseball fields we have Glove Two. This concrete sculpture was created by Rik Sargent. I'm sure many teams have used this feature for team photos.

Aurora Sports Park is located at 18601 E Sports Park Drive in Aurora. The main entrance, though is off of Colfax at Dunkirk...about half a mile east of Tower Rd.

Denver Art Museum - Martin Building Level 5

Let's keep going with our look at the exhibits in the Denver Art Museum's Martin Building. We're on Level 5, which is devoted to Asian art. The collection features over 850 items, spanning over 5,000 years of history. This is one of my favorite levels of the Martin Building. Perhaps it reminds me of my love for Asian cinema, especially all those Shaw Brothers martial arts movies.

Denver Art Museum - Martin Building Level 4

The last week for me has been filled by a major project at home. Putting in new carpet is exhausting. So, I got a bit distracted from our floor-by-floor look at the Denver Art Museum's newly re-opened Martin Building. So, now let's jump back in with a look at Level 4.

This floor features the Latin American Art and Art of the Ancient Americas Galleries. With more than 1,000 rare works and artifacts, ths is one of the most comprehensive collections of Latin American art in the US. The works span a time frame of over 3,500 years.

The art on this level offers some unique contrasts, as it features both ancient artifacts as well as a great deal of religiously themed items that came after Europeans brought their cultures and beliefs to the region.

Denver Art Museum - Martin Building Level 3

Today we climb the stairs of the Martin Building up to Level 3. Seriously, we do climb the stairs, because even now with two new elevators added during the renovations, the elevators in this museum take too long! Hey, with people getting off and on up and down seven floors it's gonna be that way. Anyhow, Level 3 brings us to the Indigenous Arts of North America Galleries.

One of the things that has always appealed to my family about the Denver Art Museum is that even though art is the focus, it is also very much a history museum. The gallery on Level 3 is a great example of this as it displays objects from more than 250 indigenous nations across the US and Canada.

Here is a small sample. See you again on Level 4!

Denver Art Museum - Martin Building Level 2

My family and I have found that a good way to tackle the seven stories of the Denver Art Museum's Martin Building is to start at the top and work your way down. But, rather than confuse everybody, we're going to do the opposite for this series of posts. Since Level 1 is pretty much an entry level, we begin here on level 2.

Level 2 features two main exhibit areas. The first is devoted to the Northwest Coast and Alaska Native Gallery. Then, shifting gears in a big way, you can make your way to the Design Galleries features unique chairs, tables, and other household items. They don't necessarily appear comfortable to sit on, but they are cool to look at.

Enjoy a few pics I grabbed and come back next time as we go up to Level 3.