By Livy Snyder
Abstract:
Located in downtown Denver, the Dodge Building remained unoccupied for more than a year, taunting artists who were being pushed out of central spaces through gentrification.1 As such, it served as an ideal backdrop for a site-specific exhibition that was as deviant as it was quick. Over the course of a month, artists staged artworks outside the Dodge Building in an effort to reclaim space and visibility in a city increasingly defined by its own erasure of cultural opportunity–—like the shuttering of artist-run galleries and long-standing DIY spaces, such as Rhinoceropolis, and the scarcity of affordable venues for experimental or non-commercial work.2 The artworks were created, staged, and photographed, some left at the side of the building to fade away in public space.
Built over a century ago as a car dealership for the James Dodge Motor Company, the Dodge Building at 1278 Lincoln Street is a relic of Denver’s early 20th-century Automobile Row—also known as Miracle Mile. Designed by architect Thielman Robert Wieger, the building is adorned with Tudor Gothic features including stained-glass windows, a large fireplace, framed oak paneling, ornate light fixtures, and a vaulted, stenciled ceiling. It later housed the Colorado Ballet for more than two decades. Now home to the offices of the newspaper Westword, at the time of the exhibition, the Dodge Building stood vacant—its ornamental interior inaccessible and its presence looming.
Each artwork was made from cheap, ephemeral materials—from Coleman Mummery’s sculpture made of orange peels to Sam Jorgensen’s collage made of dead leaves or Sharifa Moore’s thread to Genevieve Beaver’s creatures made of clay, stuff easily overlooked or discarded. These compositions underscored the exhibition’s message: no matter how quiet, fragile, or quick, these gestures of defiance can help restore a sense of agency.
Artists who contributed to Quickie included Genevieve Beaver, Colby Deal, Sam Jorgensen, Coleman Mummery, Sharifa Lafon, Kat Phenna, Matt Plain, and Livy Onalee Snyder.
Artworks by Coleman Mummery
Artwork by Sam Jorgensen
Artwork by Kat Phenna
Artwork by Colby Deal
Artwork by Genevieve Beaver
Artwork by Sharifa Lafon
Endnotes
1Mapping Displacement and Gentrification in Denver, Urban Displacement Project, https://www.urbandisplacement.org/maps/denver-gentrification-and-displacement/
2Kyle Cooke, “Study: Denver-area arts and culture organizations lost a decade of growth in 2020,” November 4, 2021, https://www.rmpbs.org/blogs/news/cbca-study-arts-culture-colorado-pandemic-economy
Bio
Livy Onalee Snyder earned her Masters degree from the University of Chicago in 2021. Her writing has appeared in Metal Music Studies, Sixty Inches From Center, Ruckus, TiltWest, Signal, and more. Currently, she works at punctum books, edits for Sixty Inches From Center, serves on the board of the International Metal Music Society, and hosts a show on WHPK 88.5 FM Chicago.