Bars|You likely don’t know the Deco Lounge, but you should. Before Dec. 31 would be nice. Before we start, don’t give me your “But-it’s-in-Colorado-Springs” whine. Nor do I want to hear the “But-it’s-a- museum-bar” complaint. I don’t care. The Deco Lounge (30 W. Dale St., 719-634-5581) is part of the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, which is currently home to Andy Warhol’s “Dream America,” an epic-beautiful exhibit of more than 100 screen prints that serves as much as a guilty pop-art outing as it does a history lesson on art and politics in the ’50s and ’60s.
Much of the 1967 Marilyn Monroe portfolio is there. So are Mao and Mick Jagger – and the shoes. Campbell’s Soup represents, and so does John F. Kennedy, alongside and separate from Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. The exhibit is an oasis for any pop-art junkie – and the Deco Lounge is the literal oasis after the more figurative oasis.
The Deco Lounge is a simple, spacious bar that’s not 100 percent deco but pretty nonetheless. A massive Dale Chihuly chandelier dominates the room (the museum recently hosted a popular exhibit of Chihuly’s work), and the bar area is attractive and lively at the right hours. It’s worth noting the bar’s hours – 5-11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays (when the galleries are open until 10 p.m.) and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sundays – mainly because they’re sporadic. But the key here is that you can enjoy happy hour or dine and still have plenty of time with the art.
Adding to the draw at the Deco: live jazz. Brazilian jazz band Mistura Bela plays the space on Saturday. And look for it to feature others on various dates (including Thursday, Nov. 4, 11, 12, 16, 17, 23, 30).
“Everybody has their own America, and then they have pieces of a fantasy America that they think is out there but they can’t see,” Warhol said in 1985. And while many Denverites have their own ideas about what fantasy Colorado Springs is (stiff, holier-than- thou, etc.), it’s good to know this museum – and its exhibits and the Deco – don’t fit the mold.
Staff writer Ricardo Baca can be reached at 303-820-1394 or rbaca@denverpost.com.
Funky: John Waters will speak at the museum on Nov. 10 – following the documentary “Divine Trash.” Tickets for the doc ($5-$7) and the lecture ($24-$28) are available via csfineartscenter.com.
Skunky: The crowds at the Deco can be pretty thin.
