Join artists Ramon Bonilla and Brenton Weyi online for Untitled: Creative Fusions from the comfort of your home on Friday, July 31, at 7 pm on our YouTube or Facebook pages.
The event will be livestreamed from the museum with recorded videos from collaborators sprinkled in. Focusing on the Norman Rockwell: Imagining Freedom exhibition, the night will feature local Denver creatives addressing the theme of "Re:viewing." Interact with performers, learn a new artmaking practice, and connect with the creative community as we revisit stories of freedom and equality.
Here are six not-to-miss moments to look out for on July 31:
1. Happy Hour
Start the night off with a drink by watching chef Andrea Murdoch from Denver's Four Directions Cuisine demo how to make a refreshingly unique cocktail (or mocktail). Here is the list of ingredients you’ll need ahead of time:
Summer in the Rockies
- 1.5 oz. Button's Blue, a blue corn-based whisky that uses grain from the Ute tribe here in Colorado
- 6 oz. club soda
- 5 oz. lilac simple syrup
Substitute recipe for lilac simple syrup:
- 3 cups water
- 2 cups organic cane sugar
- 2 cups wild-foraged lilac or violet flowers
Prickly Pear Mocktail
- 2 oz. prickly pear juice
- 1 oz. cacao juice
- 1/4 lime
- 6 oz. club soda
Optional: you can add gin or vodka to make it a cocktail.
2. The Other
Brenton Weyi would like to personally invite you to get involved with his storytelling project, The Other. Designed to build a bridge of empathy between strangers, the artist asks participants to share a story about "an experience that changed or transformed your worldview." Those who submit a story will then in turn receive a story back from an anonymous stranger. Weyi will choose a handful of these stories to read aloud during the event on July 31. Share your story by responding to the prompt by Wednesday, July 29, to contribute!
3. A Model for Representation and Reasoning Regarding the (United) State of Being Racist and its Dismantlement
Explore a site-specific work by Ramon Bonilla that visualizes data related to the racial issues, global pandemic, and economic crisis primarily through the use of rigid lines and angles. Through the superimposition of these data models, the mural will present a tridimensional environment of racial and ethnical disparity echoing the national protests demanding the end of systematic racism. The mural will be displayed on the museum's first floor atrium from July 27 to August 8. You'll be able to learn more about Ramon's tape mural through a live Q&A where you can ask him questions in real time through the YouTube or Facebook chat feature.
4. The Storytellers
Listen live to Brenton Weyi's a capella and storytelling group The Storytellers for a rich experience of vocal music and storytelling. Learn the story of one of the members, Alejandro Fuentes, who is the first DACA recipient to become an undocumented educator in the history of the United States. The group is known to interact with the audience in creative ways, so be sure to share a story or a prompt through the Facebook or YouTube chat feature to experience an unexpected tale.
5. What is Freedom?
Go on a journey with visual artist Adri Norris as she shares a video highlighting the major inspirations for her creative practice and explores the meaning of freedom for Black women throughout history, and how that meaning progresses and becomes more nuanced over generations.
6. Verses for Humanity
Brenton Weyi and Angela Steiner, a pianist and music director, are set to perform a completely improvised music and storytelling experience. Steiner will improv on the keys while Weyi weaves words, interpreting his thoughts and responses based on the prompts viewers share through the Facebook or YouTube chat. Exercise your creative mind by sharing a prompt to become a part of this interactive musical experience.
Untitled: Creative Fusions at Home will be broadcast live through Facebook and YouTube on Friday, July 31, at 7 pm.
