The art exhibition, Hidden Elements: Water & the Environment (Oct. 29 – Nov. 3) held at the Experience Gallery in the Denver Performing Arts Center, culminated in a Friday celebration and extravaganza! The show's Nov. 1 celebration, visited by 100 attendees, saw performances by Bryn Brody (writer and Interdisciplinary Studies Program alumna) and musical talents Brooke Delgado, Evan Reeves, and JJ Brown. Delgado and Reeves wrote an original song about water for the event, performing it publicly for the first time at the exhibit celebration.
Co-curated by Dr. Lorna Hutchison (Interdisciplinary Studies Program, and the Department of English, CU Denver) and Jeff Lambson (Director of Emmanuel Art Gallery, CU Denver), Hidden Elements featured art by CU Denver students, staff, faculty, and the extended community. Through a variety of media, these artists depicted water in its various forms, revealing or suggesting its otherwise hidden presence in nature and the environments. Artists rendered water as precious and vital to life, and as something to which we have inherited custodianship. In this way, water became the center of a respectful and creative tribute.
Artists in the show included: Caroline Bowden, Katie Caron, Joshua Espinoza, Jess Garrett, Lorna Hutchison, Steven James, Rian Kerrane, Lynn Mandziuk (Lynnzos), Tamás Pethes, Roderick Schubert, Kelsey Seldin, Paul Wedlake, and Travis Vermilye.
Interpretations ranged from painted strokes on pottery, to photographs, maps, serigraphs, and paintings of sea, sand, land, and sky, to a concept of “wearable water,” to a video of what the sea throws back at us, to cast iron sculpture, and the beads of Turtle Island.
The artists, co-curators, and Emmanuel Gallery staff welcomed over 400 visitors during the exhibition’s Experience Gallery run. Co-curators Hutchison and Lambson wish to thank the Interdisciplinary Studies Program, Emmanuel Art Gallery (and its staff!), CLAS, and CAM, as well as the artists and performers, for their generous contributions.
