An inspiring new public art project is relying on participation from the community as Golden’s Urban Renewal Authority (GURA) plans for a large mosaic banner to be displayed on the CoorsTek building along Washington Ave.
The goal of the community mural is to create a mosaic using photos from residents, business owners or workers who would like to submit pictures of themselves, family, friends and events in Golden. The city’s well-known local artist, Jesse Crock, donated a painting of the North and South Table Mountains which will be used as the template for the vinyl banner.
“We want to give everyone coming in downtown Golden or just passing through on Washington more of an entrance,” said Elyse Dinnocenzo, planning intern at GURA who is managing the project.
Mark Heller, former executive director of GURA, is credited for the idea but was unable to get the project moving before departing from his position, she said.
To make the mural a considerable size, around 5,000 to 10,000 photos are needed but the actual size of the banner has not been determined yet.
“It’s going to somewhat determine on the number of submissions we get,” Dinnocenzo said.
Controversial images will not be added to the mural including photos showing nudity, drug paraphernalia, profanity and political or religious imagery. Any form of advertising will also not be accepted. This doesn’t mean that local churches and businesses should not submit photos, Dinnocenzo said. “We just don’t want people to submit anything with a watermark or a picture of their sign,” she said. “It would be great if we could get church groups to submit photos of community projects or community gatherings, we just don’t want any hardline symbolism.” Religious symbols could be unintentionally manipulated by the software that will be used to tone and crop photos and the community project aims to be inclusive for all residents, regardless of creed.
A little over 400 photos have been submitted, said Alyssa Graves, owner of Art on the Brix. Graves, who’s painting studio has been a major contributor to the city of Golden, will be overseeing photo submissions for the project and reported that at least a couple thousand is needed to get the project started.
“It only takes a couple minutes to look through your favorite photographs of great memories to submit and become an amazing part of Golden’s history,” she said. “This artwork will be around for decades.”
To submit photos for the community mural, email photos to GoldenPortrait@artonthebrix.com. Photos are limited to 10 pictures per person and must in the JPEG format between 1.5MG and 12MG in size although 4MG to 10MG is preferred.
The deadline for submissions is Saturday, May 31 with the project scheduled for completion by mid-June. For questions about the mural, email Dinnocenzo at elyse@gura.com.
