Museum of Outdoor Arts - Down Englewood Parkway

A few posts back we took a look at some of the pieces that adorn the courtyard at Englewood City Center as a part of the Museum of Outdoor Arts. Well, there's actually much more to see if you head east down Englewood Parkway from the courtyard. Let's take a look.

Marzocco Lions

Three Gossips by Harry Marinsky

Stargazer by Madeline Wiener

Marble on my Mind by Madelin Wiener

Porcellino
Note: A duplicate of this statue can be found in front of one of the office buildings at the museum's display in Greenwood Village.

Museum of Outdoor Arts - Englewood Station

We've taken a look at the Museum of Outdoor Arts in some previous posts, but there's a lot more of this museum to experience. It exists in several different locations around the Denver area, and, despite its name, it does include some indoor galleries. Though, with the world being what it is right now, the indoor portions of the museum are currently closed. However, a visit to the museum's downtown Englewood location still gives you the opportunity to see many interesting pieces that are out in the open. Here's a look at a few of the pieces you can experience.

Resistance by Leslie Temple

I'm afraid I don't have the title or artist of this piece, but we'll just call it what I'm sure most kids call it...Giant Watermelons.

Bagatelle by Barbara Baer

Duo by Lin Emery. This sculpture changes its look every few seconds as it moves with the wind.

Bathroon People by Andy Miller

Mujer Del Lago by Tom Ware

Brooklyn Bridge by Red Grooms

Two Open Treapezoids: Excentric V by George Rickey

Horizon by Amy Laugesen

These pieces can all be viewed in the courtyard of the Museum of Outdoor Arts at 1000 Englewood Parkway in Englewood.

Reinke Brothers

Halloween is just a few weeks away! At this time of year, there's no better place to visit than Reinke Brothers, right in the heart of downtown Littleton. To say this is the ultimate stop for ghoulish gear in the Denver area is a big understatement.

The history of Reinke Brothers spans over 50 years. It begins with the store's namesakes creating their own makeshift haunted houses and charging neighborhood kids pennies to ride through in a shopping cart they caught while fishing. The first official Reinke Brothers haunted house took up residence at Englewood's Cinderella City mall in 1984. However, as long as I've been in Colorado, the brothers' have been a fixture of downtown Littleton, in a store with a haunted house facade.

If you think the outside of the building is wild, wait until you see the inside. There are thousands of costumes for sale, from floor to ceiling. The store also features a wide variety of horror props, and supplies for performers such as jugglers, magicians and clowns.

The store also continues to celebrate where it all began. A portion of the store contains the Reinke Brothers Haunted Mansion, which seeks to terrify Denver area residents each fall. Even when it's not Halloween season, the store features many large and scary figures, some of which may even start to talk to you when you aren't expecting it.

Even if you find the building too scary to enter, you can still enjoy the outside of the store, which features a few slightly macabre murals...and one of John Lennon. Go figure.

You can find Reinke Brothers at 5663 S Prince Street in downtown Littleton. As their sign says "It's not just a store, it's an adventure."

The Giant Leaf in Lone Tree

The city of Lone Tree is a Denver suburb that has seen a lot of growth in recent years. Not all that long ago, it was just a cluster of houses nestled near Interstate 25 on the south side of the metro area. However, in recent years, a large complex of business properties, shopping, entertainment venues, and, of course, more homes, have sprung up. A large complex for Charles Schwab and the massive Sky Ridge Medical Center are two of the most prominent features of the town. With so much more infrastructure springing up, the city decided it wise to create a pedestrian bridge spanning the very busy Lincoln Avenue. The bridge opened to pedestrians and cyclists in 2018.

This section of Lincoln Avenue has been a part of my daily commute for several years now, so I got to see this bridge go up gradually. During its construction, some odd-shaped bits of metal showed up by the side of the road. Eventually, these items were put into place on the south side of the bridge. Soon it became clear that these were, in fact, the pieces of a large metal sculpture of a leaf.

The leaf is humongous, to say the least, and certainly makes an impression on travelers exiting I-25 and heading west into Lone Tree's business district. It towers over everything else on the block. In fact, I often see a hawk who likes to perch on the top of the sculpture, as I'm sure it provides a nice view when trying to spot breakfast scurrying around in the nearby fields.

The north side of the bridge also has a unique feature. There you will find an impressive ramp structure that seems to have been designed specifically with cyclists in mind. The bridge does provide access to the trail system that winds through Lone Tree and is a favorite for both hikers and cyclists.

The Lone Tree Pedestrian Bridge was awarded a 2019 American Architecture Award. You'll find the bridge spanning Lincoln Avenue, just east of Yosemite Street.

Under the Bridge

On a recent visit to downtown Castle Rock, south of Denver, I happened upon some slightly hidden bits of artwork. In Festival Park, you will find a trail that takes you underneath Perry St. There on the underside of the bridge, you will find some silhouettes depicting various outdoor activities. 

The opposite side features a number of tiles painted with various images and messages from the children of Castle Rock. Of course, those kiddos are twentysomethings now, as many of the tiles seem to have been dated in the year 2000.

Both of these displays could stand to have someone give them a bit of a cleaning, but it's still fun to find these hidden bits of artistic expression. Festival Park is located at 300 2nd Street in downtown Castle Rock, Colorado.

Cowboy's Day Off

If you love public art displays, especially ones with a western feel, Golden is the spot to visit.  Many corners in downtown Golden feature art displays.  One of the most dramatic is Cowboy's Day Off, which can be found on the northwest corner of 11th Street and Washington Avenue.

Created by artist Michael Hamby, this piece depicts a cowboy pulling a fish out of the water.  This particular sculpture has occasionally had need of repairs.  Apparently, people think it's a good idea to swing from the cowboy's fishing rod.  People are dumb sometimes.

Howdy Folks!

Lookout Mountain, overlooking the city of Golden, Colorado, is the final resting place of famous wild west showman Buffalo Bill Cody.  As a result, Cody has become a symbol of Golden and the town loves to celebrate him.  This includes the city's annual Buffalo Bill Days celebration and an iconic statue of Cody in the heart of downtown Golden.

The statue, titled Howdy Folks, was created by artist Jeffery Burnham Rudolph.  It depicts Cody walking down the street carrying a child on his shoulders.  Of the many sculptures that can be found in downtown Golden, it is probably the most iconic.  You can find the statue in the median on Washington Avenue between 10th Street and the Clear Creek Bridge.  It's right across from the Golden Visitors & Information Center.

9/11 Memorial - Broomfield

In addition to the small memorial to the USS Indianapolis at Community Park in Broomfield, you will also find a much larger memorial devoted to the victims of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.  It is located on the northeast side of the pond inside the park.  It was dedicated on September 11, 2006.

The memorial features three large sculptures that depict familiar images that were burned into our memories in the days following the attacks.  The display also features three walls that depict the three locations impacted that day: New York City, The Pentagon, and Shanksville, Pennsylvania.  Lists of the victims' names appear on the back of each wall.

I was actually in the air on the morning of September 11, 2001; returning to the US from Singapore.  My flight ended up landing in Vancouver, BC, Canada and a three-day adventure of trying to get back to Denver began.  It was a challenging day...not being able to contact my family to let them know I was alright, but my story is nothing compared to what many experienced that day.  Hats off to the people of Broomfield for this lovely place of remembrance here in the Denver metro area.