Why the MCA Denver is So Awesome to Me
We just went to one of the best ongoing events in Denver, Mixed Taste, and I’ve got to tell you about the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, which puts it on, because they’ve most definitely changed my life.
Mixed Taste is one of the best events because of the participants and the premise, the participants being really brilliant and funny and creative people, and the premise being that two of those people each give individual, unrelated talks separated by an intermission with a great comedian, then the speakers sit for questions with an expert moderator before the event closes with a poem written live during the event by a local poet.
It’s also cool because Kelly gets to see her designs up on the big screen in real life (she’ll tell you about it here on LinkedIn).
Kel worked at the museum from 2016 to 2022, and since she started its programming has filled up much of my social calendar. In a time when we lament the loss of “third spaces” where people gather together in community, the MCA has created TWO of those spaces, and they are constantly doing something either at the museum itself downtown or at the Holiday Theater in North Denver. They even offer a monthly Penny Saturday with one-cent admission to make sure it’s affordable for anyone to attend.
I was so inspired by Mixed Taste speakers Kambui Olujimi and Karen Roybal, who displayed such depth of thought and passionate storytelling about dance marathons and the Pueblo Revolt in 1680, Janae Burris, a comedian/actor who has made me laugh every time I’ve seen her on a stage, and poet James Brunt, who wrote an absolutely amazing poem with impressive rhythmic interplay in just about an hour and a half. If you can make any of the last events of the season, I highly recommend it.
Here are a few more reasons I sincerely appreciate MCA Denver:
Kelly got top-notch branding training
The MCA does a ton of events so Kelly got to create a ton of brands, and each one was created alongside and critiqued by really smart people. Plus, these people had usually spent a lot of time thinking about communication, both visual, written, and more, so everyone combined to push projects to very cool places.
The range of design projects was pretty staggering, too, and frequently as we walk around the museum these days Kelly will point to something, like the video boards behind the front desk, and say, “I did that.”
I could go on, but I’ll just say that Kelly is very grateful for her experience working at the museum, and I can very clearly see why….
The art is ever-changing and always interesting
MCA Denver is not a collecting museum, so instead of seeing the same thing over and over you get to see new art each time, which I think makes a whole lot of sense for a contemporary art museum by allowing for lots of different types of art and a greater range of artists represented (not to mention many more fun art openings).
Currently it is home to The Future is Present, The Harbinger is Home, an exhibition imported from New Orleans featuring a variety of works from 19 different artists, which presents a great opportunity to compare and contrast and experience a lot of art.
I also have a ton of favorites from over the years. Here are a few:
Movements Toward Freedom brought in works from many different artists and set up countless events to let people interact with the art & museum, and we at Kind & Funny got very immersed in them while designing the digital catalogue.
Cleon Peterson’s Shadow of Men saw the whole museum impressively wrapped in art.
Jason Moran’s Bathing the Room with Blues was an eye-opening experience for me of seeing sound as visual art.
Nathan Carter’s Ladies and Gentlemen, Meet the Dramastics felt like an explosion of creative force, and I loved it.
Tara Donovan’s epic Fieldwork cannot be done justice in this small blog space. It was awesome.
There are so many more, too. And even if the exhibit is too out there for you, there’s plenty more to do at the museum because …
The rooftop cafe is Denver’s ideal conversation spot
In my senior-year college dorm we had a loveseat-sized old green couch. It was just comfortable enough to fall asleep on, but not so comfortable that you’d sleep soundly, so naps on the couch tended to produce crazy dreams. We called it, because we were not genius artists, “The Dream Couch.”
I say this to say that the MCA Denver rooftop bar and cafe somehow creates the optimal conditions for fantastic conversations. I’m sure it’s partly due to the people I encounter there, but it’s also the views, the vibes, and the experience you get if you take the time to see art before rewarding yourself with a drink on the roof.
It’s also a great spot to hear music, dance to a silent disco, and sit outside by yourself to enjoy the views and reflect.
If you’re lucky, you can also catch events like hip-hop karaoke, too:
The people are pretty fantastic
I’ll say it again, there are too few places where a physical community of people who don’t know each other get together and spend quality time these days. I always know I’m going to have a good conversation if I go to something the MCA does, whether it’s with someone at the event or afterwards when I’m talking about what I saw.
People who work or worked at the museum, attend it, participate in events, sit on the board, or are connected to the people who do any of those things are some of my absolute favorite people in Denver. They think deeply, do cool things that inspire me, and care about their neighbors in our city. We’ve been fortunate enough to be part of that community and make some lifelong friends along the way.
MCA Denver is always working hard to make sure that there are thoughtful, interesting, human-centered events to attend and cool places to go, and I’m grateful to them for making my life better.
Want to go to the museum with me? jed@kindandfunny.com.