It took a while, but Denver finally seems to be buying into the Biennial.
Hatched amid a crippling recession and operating at a fundamental disadvantage — few understood what a Biennial was — the July-long celebration of the Western Hemisphere found potential supporters “rightfully skeptical,” said Erin Trapp, director of the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs.
“Now,” said Trapp, “they understand what I’m talking about. It seems to have penetrated. They’re not always aware of the details, but they know the Biennial is important in our effort to revitalize Civic Center.”
For those who still wonder what a biennial is, it is an arts and cultural exhibition held every two years.
At last count, 41 “cultural partners” have committed to performances or exhibits celebrating the Biennial of the Americas, ranging from the Mexican National Music Conservatory to the Denver Museum of Miniatures, Dolls and Toys.
A long list of experts, former heads of state and assorted dignitaries will address pressing issues such as trade, poverty, health and security at roundtable discussions and other speaking events.
Activities at venues throughout the metro area revolve around themes of innovation, sustainability, community and the arts.
On the walls of the event’s 18th-floor downtown headquarters, rectangles representing a calendar of July are crammed with color-coded scribblings as organizers have added art exhibits, cultural displays and other events.
“Nothing compares to the breadth and pure excitement of this,” said Donna Mullen Good, the event’s president of operations and finance. “Nothing.”
At the Denver Museum of Miniatures, Dolls and Toys, director Wendy Littlepage got wind of the Biennial while attending another cultural event and liked the concept.
The facility near City Park has long embraced dolls and toys as “cultural ambassadors,” so when some grants became available for exhibits, Little page signed on to do a display of dolls from the Americas.
“At first, I think there was a lot of, ‘What the heck is this?’ ” Littlepage said. “In some ways, thinking of ‘the Americas’ is challenging to people, especially with all the border issues these days.
“Divisions can cause tensions. I thought that just thinking about everyone in this hemisphere as one group of people, with lot of diversity, was a neat idea.”
A massive renovation of the once moribund McNichols Building at Civic Center park is on track, organizers say, and fundraising efforts have passed $2 million toward the operations budget of $2.75 million.
Some foundations have committed last-minute funding, Mullen Good said, but those won’t become official until June board meetings.
“We’re feeling not complacent, but reasonably happy with where we find ourselves,” she said. “We’re OK. Nobody sits around complaining about bills — which doesn’t mean we don’t need a few more good friends to step to the plate.”
Just a few blocks from the Biennial’s high-rise headquarters, the McNichols building remains comfortably on schedule to become a focal point of the celebration — and, afterward, a revitalized public space.
Through July, artists, interactive children’s displays and speakers will fill the refurbished building.
Plans for a phased build-out, budgeted for $15 million to $20 million, remain a work in progress but could include a restaurant and retail space and some private tenants to provide a revenue stream that would make the facility self-supporting.
As for the Biennial, organizers are awaiting word on any last-minute luminaries who might drop in. But Mullen Good already sees the lineup as an impressive mix of art, culture and issues.
“This is taking us out of the realm of a vacation stop to understand the full richness of the Americas,” she said. “We hope people will not only see the beauty and richness of the cultures, but the economic opportunities as well.”
Kevin Simpson: 303-954-1739 or ksimpson@denverpost.com
Look who’s coming
Some of the luminaries who will participate in Biennial of the Americas roundtable events:
• Laura Albornoz, Chile’s former minister of Women’s Affairs
• Francisco Villagrán de Leon, Guatemala’s ambassador to the United States
• Harriet Fulbright, president of the William and Harriet Fulbright Center
• Jimmy Jean-Louis, actor on NBC’s “Heroes” and founder of Hollywood Unites for Haiti
• Rigoberta Menchú Tum, 1992 Nobel Peace Laureate from Guatemala
• Hilda L. Solis, U.S. secretary of labor
• Gary Doer, Canadian ambassador to the U.S.
• Dr. Jose Ángel Cordova Villalobos, Mexican Ministry of Health
• Vilma Martinez, U.S. ambassador to Argentina
• Alejandro Toledo, former president of Peru
• Carlos Mesa, former president of Bolivia
• Fernando Henrique Cardoso, former president of Brazil
• Ray LaHood, U.S. secretary of transportation
• Vicente Fox, former president of Mexico
• Federico Peña, ex-Denver mayor and U.S. secretary of energy and transportation departments
How to attend
Tickets for the roundtable events, as well as the central art exhibit, “The Nature of Things,” at the McNichols Building and other events around the metro area can be purchased online starting today at .
