A colorful, high-flying Denver art installation is debuting this week as part of a summer-long display that encourages urban Denverites to look up.<\/p>\n
\u201cSkynets Over Downtown,\u201d an aerial art installation from Poetic Kinetics and Colorado-based artist Patrick Shearn<\/a>, features sculptures that respond to \u201cnatural wind patterns, creating a dynamic experience that is constantly changing,\u201d according to city agency Denver Arts & Venues.<\/p>\n The project, announced in February, will take flight at a trio of sites this summer, starting with the Friday, June 19-Saturday, June 20, opening of an installation that floats above the fountain at Denver Union Station (1701 Wynkoop St.), dubbed \u201cSun Splash.\u201d\n<\/p>\n The next one, \u201cQuaking Gold,\u201d opens at Glenarm Plaza at 16th Street (500 16th St.) on June 25, followed by \u201cSkyline Drift,\u201d which will be complete mid-July at Skyline Park at 17th Street (1127 17th St.).\n<\/p>\n The \u201cmajor aerial art installation,\u201d<\/a> as the city calls it, is led by the Department of Transportation & Infrastructure and Denver Arts & Venues, along with the Downtown Denver Partnership, Denver Downtown Development Authority (DDDA) and other city agencies. Hearn was paid $625,000 for the project, according to the Denver Department of Finance.<\/p>\n The kinetic sculptures are expected to be a major draw for Denverites and visitors to downtown, said Michael Chavez, the city\u2019s curator of public art \u2014 and not just folks who stumble upon them in tourism-heavy spots such as Denver Union Station.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople are going to make this a destination experience,\u201d he said. \u201cIf they have a friend coming into town, they\u2019re going to say, \u2018You\u2019ve got to see this.\u2019 It\u2019s a one-and-done, once-in-a-lifetime installation, and it\u2019s going to be a shot in the arm for downtown.\u201d<\/p>\n A similar project last summer by artist Shearn in El Paso County\u2019s Green Mountain Falls attracted more than 100,000 visitors and boosted sales tax revenue by 36% year-over-year during its four-month run, according to the Denver Downtown Development Authority, which is helping pay for the artwork in Denver. That 6,000 square-foot sculpture, \u201cOff the Beaten Path,\u201d was suspended over Green Mountain Falls\u2019 Gazebo Lake and was created to look like \u201cluminous brushstrokes dancing across the sky,\u201d according to the artist\u2019s website<\/a>.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n Chavez watched the installation of \u201cSun Splash\u201d over the Union Station fountain on Thursday and was surprised by how immersive it felt, with all five senses being engaged simultaneously, he said. The next sculpture will rise over Glenarm Plaza on Monday, June 25, he said, when 16th Street is temporarily shut down for the day.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t overemphasize the amount of collaboration that\u2019s gone into this from city agencies,\u201d Chavez said. \u201cIt\u2019s way more complicated than it looks and could have taken at least two years to put together. Instead, it\u2019s taken six months.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the kind of art that stops you in your tracks and inspires delight and curiosity,\u201d said Gretchen Hollrah, executive director of Denver Arts & Venues, in a statement. \u201cThe Skynets transform familiar public spaces into something unexpected, and they demonstrate what\u2019s possible when partners across the city come together around a shared vision.\u201d<\/p>\n The sculptures are expected to be on display through October, and a handful of events are planned throughout the summer to complement them, Chavez said.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a Colorado native artist, it is an honor and a thrill to create magic and whimsy in Denver,\u201d Shearn said in a statement. \u201cMy creative practice is to reveal, in a beautiful way, what nature is doing that we all take for granted.\u201d<\/p>\n