Community Announcements
Celebrate MLK, Jr. on Jan. 16
Join tens of thousands of your closest friends to commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr.’s 88th birthday. This year’s MLK Marade (parade/march) is Monday, Jan. 16. Participants gather at the Martin Luther King, Jr. statue and I Have A Dream Memorial in the southwest part of City Park, just west of Park Hill, beginning at 9 a.m. At about 10:30 a.m., participants begin marching down Colfax Avenue toward downtown. The marade culminates at Civic Center Park with a rally commemorating the life of the slain civil rights leader. The total distance equals 5K. The marade is the largest Martin Luther King Jr. march and rally in the United States. It is free and everyone is welcome.
Volunteer With Ronald McDonald
Volunteers are needed to help welcome guests and support family members in various ways at the Ronald McDonald Family Rooms at the Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children at Presbyterian/St. Luke’s Hospital. For a new parent of a sick premature infant or a family member with an acutely ill or injured child, the hospital experience can seem overwhelming. The Ronald McDonald Family Rooms offer parents and extended family members a place to rest and regroup, moments away from their infant or child. Volunteers are trained and offer a warm and nurturing environment, designed to support family members who need a break, a cup of coffee or a snack. Volunteers are asked to make a once-a-week commitment for a minimum of six months. Four-hour shifts are available, every day of the week. Go to www.ronaldhouse.org and look under ”How You Can Help.” You can also contact Ann Kusic at 720-382-7205 or akusic@ronaldhouse.org.
The Art Of Letter Writing
Warm Cookies of the Revolution, an organization promoting civic action, will be hosting a Letter Writing Evening on Thursday, Jan. 12 at 6 p.m. at the McNichols Building at 144 W. Colfax Ave. Volunteers will speak for five minutes on an issue of importance to them and why writing letters may be helpful on that issue. Come write a letter to someone you love, or hate, or even to yourself. Check out inspiring and strange and beautiful letters from history, hear from people working on crucial issues about how a letter can help a cause, and find out how to go one step beyond letter writing as well. For more information, visit:
https://www.facebook.com/events/261253474277778
Calling All Artists
Denver Arts & Venues is seeking proposals for four new pieces of art that will become part of the Denver Public Art collection. Proposal submissions are being accepted through Jan. 16 (two pieces at Carla Madison Recreation Center at Colfax and York) and Jan. 23 (Paco Sanchez Park and Denver Zoo/City Park). The budget for a Carla Madison Portrait is $7,000 and is open only to Colorado artists. Also planned for the Carla Madison Recreation Center is a public art project with a budget of $45,000. The selection panel seeks a unique, one-of-a-kind artwork. The budget for the Paco Sanchez Park project is approximately $18,000 and is envisioned as a public art project that should speak to the legacy of Paco Sanchez, and the native residents of the Villa Park neighborhood west of downtown. The Denver Zoo/City Park Project has a budget of $285,000. The commission is for the exterior façade of a building on Denver Zoo’s property on the southeastern side of the Zoo, adjacent to City Park and facing Duck Lake. The panel is particularly interested in artworks that explore the interplay between the built and natural environment that celebrate the Denver Zoo and City Park. For more information, including full RFQs, visit artsandvenuesdenver.com/public-art/artist-information/opportunities/.
Find The Best Preschool
The Denver Preschool Program hosts its free annual Preschool Showcase on Saturday, Jan. 14, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Preschool Showcase is an opportunity for families to learn more about the variety of preschool options and resources available in Denver, including meeting with representatives from the more than 250 participating preschools. Furthermore, families can receive information on how to sign up for tuition support available through the Denver Preschool Program. The event includes Spanish translators on-site. The Preschool Showcase is in Park Hill at the Dahlia Campus for Health and Well-Being, 3401 Eudora St. Once enrolled through the chosen school, families who live in the City and County of Denver with a 4-year-old child can sign up for tuition support through the Denver Preschool Program. Tuition credits are awarded on a sliding scale, which takes into account a family’s income, household size and the quality rating of the chosen program. For more information, visit www.dpp.org/showcase or call 303-595-4377.
Food For Thought
The City and County of Denver has completed its initial draft of the Denver Food Vision, a policy document intended to guide the development of the city’s food system. The document is open for public review and comment from now through Jan. 31. The Denver Food Vision includes priorities, strategies and goals to provide direction related to land use, public investment and public-private partnerships. The vision focuses on multiple ways food makes Denver more inclusive, healthy, vibrant and resilient. Priorities include encouraging community food production and sharing, improving access to healthy food options and ensuring healthy food is affordable for everyone. The City and County of Denver will present key highlights of the draft vision and collect feedback at public meetings on Thursday, Jan. 12 from 3 to 4:30 p.m. at Mile High United Way, 711 Park Avenue West. A second meeting will also take place on Thursday, Jan. 12, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at Commons on Champa, downtown at 1245 Champa St. Feedback can also be submitted via an online survey, or by emailing questions or comments to DenverFoodPlan@denvergov.org. Comments will be collected through Jan. 31.
Art Of The Broken Heart
Art Gym Denver presents a new exhibition, Broken Hearts. Featured during the month of February, which is typically known for love, Broken Hearts takes an unorthodox approach by featuring artists whose work showcases the ideas and notions of what it’s like experiencing a broken heart. Each artist featured helps challenge the notion of love by presenting their personal ideals, feelings, and emotions of what it’s like to have a broken heart and conveys it through illustration, painting, photography, mixed media and video installation. Broken Hearts showcases the art of Lindsay Arnold, Joe Blablazo, Earl Chuvarskey, Benjamin Wright Coleman, Susan and Norman Dillon, Michael Dowling, Cherish Marquez, Donna Martin, Christine Massey, Louis Recchia, Colleen Tully and Faith Williams. The exhibition will be on display from February 2-25, and is free and open to the public. The Art Gym Gallery and Café is at 1460 Leyden St. and is open Tuesday – Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Visit www.ArtGymDenver.com for more information.
The Cost Of Oil
Over the past couple years the price of oil has gone from over $100 per barrel to, at times, less than $30 per barrel. This has had profound effects all over the world. Join the group Active Minds to explore the causes and consequences (positive and negative) of this dynamic. Topics covered include the role of China, the impact on fracking and the oil sector in the U.S., as well as the role of OPEC in addressing the fluctuating price of this commodity so crucial to the global economy. This program is Tuesday, Jan. 10, from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. at the Tattered Cover, 2526 E. Colfax. There is no cost. For info, call 303-322-7727.
The Nuremberg Trials
Seventy years after the world brought charges against individuals for their actions in World War II, crimes against humanity are still part of the fabric of the world in which we live (ISIS, Syria, etc). Join the group Active Minds to look back at the series of trials known as the Nuremberg Trials and trace its impact on the creation of the International Criminal Court and how the world views war crimes. The forum will discuss how this legacy applies to events in the modern world as well as the current challenges of implementing this area of international law. The program is Thursday, Jan. 12, from 6:45 to 7:45 p.m. at the Sam Gary Library, 2961 Roslyn St. It is free and no RSVP is needed.