2016: Making Place Happen with People

NPS Five Points Denver - Graham speaking

NPS Five Points Denver - Graham speaking

Since going full-time for Graham Projects I’ve had the honor of investigating, activating, and improving numerous public places in Baltimore and beyond. 2016 was a great year for making place happen with inspiring people. I am thankful.

  • At the invitation of the Waterfront Partnership, Melvin Thomas and I made a 103’ long Harbor Hopscotch.
  • My New Public Sites – Five Points Denver walking tours and immersive map installation went gangbusters at RedLine’s 48 Hours of Socially Engaged Art Summit. Along the way, I was honored to share the megaphone and learn from half a dozen local speakers.
  • With support from BikeMore and Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, my home street Auchentoroly Terrace got a temporary Footprints Crosswalk to help pedestrians better connect with the Druid Hill Park Farmers Market.
  • Working with an inspiring network of cultural organizers across Baltimore, I helped lead Citizen Artist Baltimore get-out-the-vote vote efforts. Bigly surprises aside, we informed local candidates of the values of our city’s diverse arts and cultural communities and educated voters on the importance of local races and ballot initiatives.
  • I was honored to be invited by Baltimore Heritage to join their board of historic and cultural preservation advocates. I’m excited to be working with them on saving Baltimore’s most meaningful places.
  • I had a fun time making water loop while redesigning Dance & Bmore’s website. May I do the same for you?
  • The Public Art for Central Avenue Streetscape project continues. Falon Mihalic and I are busy closing in on our final design for a 25’ tall, pedestrian-empowering Periscope. Stay tuned for the full announcement and renderings…

48 Hours of Five Points Engagement

NPS Five Points Denver - Graham speaking

NPS Five Points Denver - Graham speaking

Taking place within and around RedLine‘s 48 Hours of Socially Engaged Art and Conversation, the New Public Sites – Five Points Denver walking tours and immersive gallery map installation provided a range of opportunities for learning about and activating the power of public space within a truly beautiful, challenging and inspirational neighborhood. New Public Sites is indebted to RedLine, participants, and all of the guest speakers who through their time, space and energies made our roving spaces of radical pedestrian action possible.

Click here to see photos of the tours and gallery installation!

The project was informed by a range of interviewees and guest speakers. Interviewees included Tyrone Beverly, Beverly Grant, Lyz Riley, PJ DAmico, George Perez, Hadiya Evans, Julie Rubsam, Nikki Pike, and Celia Herrera. Guest speakers who generously donated time and energy sharing their Five Points experiences and projects included Centro Humanitario organizers Nancy Rosas and Judith Marquez, Blair-Caldwell Librarian Terry Nelson, long-term resident and RTD Title-VI Specialist Shontel Lewis, Five Points Fermentation owner Asia Dorsey, and The Temple Director Adam Gordon. I would also like to thank the entire RedLine staff for their hard work making these space of collective participation possible; including Louise Martorano, Libby Barbee, Whit Sibley, Geoffrey Shamos, Robin Gallite, and Misha Fraser.

– Graham

NPS Five Points Denver

NPS Five Points Denver

NPS Five Points Denver

New Public Sites – Five Points Denver

Walking tours and map installation

Welton Wander: Wednesday, August 10, 11am-12:30pm

RiNo Drift: Thursday, August 11, 6-7:30pm

Meet at RedLine contemporary art center, 2350 Arapahoe St, Denver, CO 80205

Denver’s Five Points neighborhood is a hotbed of creativity and construction taking place among powerful sites of heritage. Learn how regular people have helped shape the history, design and current uses of public spaces around Five Points during two New Public Sites walking tours led by public artist Graham Coreil-Allen.

The New Public Sites (NPS) tours are free and open to the public as part of RedLine’s 48 Hours of Socially Engaged Art and Conversation summit. The first tour will take place on Wednesday, August 10 from 11am-12:30pm, and focus on sites of heritage and change around Welton Street. Stops will include Lawson Park, Cousins Plaza, speculative/construction sites, and the Five Points intersection itself. The second tour will take place on Thursday, August 11 from 6-7:30pm, and will investigate the positive and negative impacts of urban planning and development around the RiNo arts district. Sites will include Broadway’s triangular spaces, Sustainability Park, and The Temple.

During the tours, Coreil-Allen will recite poetic terms and definitions identifying specific types of public sites and experiences unique to Five Points. Along the way, he will also invite neighborhood experts, such as residents, workers and other stakeholders, to help identify, interpret, and activate their own public spaces. The tours will culminate with participants contributing found objects, wax rubbings and poetic writings to an immersive map installation at RedLine.

RedLine is a non-profit contemporary art center in Denver, Colorado. RedLine’s vision is to empower every person to create social change through art. Each year RedLine hosts “48 Hours of Socially Engaged Art & Conversation,” a creative summit addressing socially engaged art through talks, films, performances and participatory art. For more information about RedLine, please visit www.redlineart.org.

Click here to download the full press release.

Five Points Denver