Community Announcements

Forums Help Denver Decide

Ballots will be mailed to all Denver voters on Oct. 15. Whether mailed, returned in person or dropped off at a collection site, completed ballots must be in the hands of election officials by Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 6. Denver Decides, a consortium of the League of Women Voters of Denver, Inter-Neighborhood Cooperation and Denver 8 TV, is hosting a series of forums to highlight candidate and ballot issues. The forums can be viewed live on Denver 8 TV, and can also be viewed on the Channel 8 website, along with taped candidate introductions. The gubernatorial forum featuring Democratic Jared Polis and Republican Walker Stapleton is Thursday, Sept. 27 at 6:30 p.m. A District 1 congressional forum featuring Democrat Diana DeGette and Republican Casper Stockholm is Tuesday, Oct. 2 at 6:30 p.m. An INC forum highlighting initiatives on the ballot will be televised Saturday, Oct. 13 at 10 a.m. A full schedule for additional planned legislative forums can be reviewed at denver8.tv.

Combatting Gun Violence

The League of Women Voters of Denver is hosting a forum, “What Can Be Done about Gun Violence?” on Monday, Sept. 17, beginning at 5:30 p.m. at Montview Boulevard Presbyterian Church, 1980 Dahlia St. Tom Mauser, who lost his son in the Columbine High School shootings in 1999 and has worked against gun violence ever since, will present. Mary Blegen from Colorado Ceasefire, an organization working for freedom from gun violence, will discuss Extreme Risk Protection Orders, which enable courts to temporarily prohibit a person from having guns if law enforcement or immediate family members show that he or she poses a significant danger to him or herself or others. There is no cost, and no RSVP is required.

CO Mental Health Update

Andrew Romanoff, the president and CEO of the nonprofit group Mental Health Colorado, will be the guest speaker at an adult education session in Park Hill called “Colorado Mental Health Update: Guns and Suicide” on Sunday, Sept. 30. The forum begins at 9:30 a.m. at Montview Boulevard Presbyterian Church, at 1980 Dahlia St. Mental Health Colorado is backing a November ballot measure, “Caring 4 Denver,” that calls for investing in mental health and substance use services, including prevention and treatment. The event is free and open to the public. A question-and-answer segment will be part of the presentation. For more info, check out caring4denver.com.

Cleaning Up The Planet

Colorado State Historian Patricia Limerick will reflect on the paradoxical land use history that the Stapleton neighborhood shares with the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge, once a Superfund site. Limerick will speak on Thursday Sept. 6 at 6 p.m. at the Stapleton MCA Event Center, 8371 Northfield Blvd. The presentation is free and open to the public. The 27-square mile wildlife refuge is just north of Park Hill (and Stapleton) and is a model in western land reclamation.

Limerick’s presentation concludes a series of programs hosted by Friends of the Front Range Wildlife Refuges, which supports the refuge’s mission of connecting it to the community. For more information, contact Kip Cheroutes at lxc.strategies@gmail.com, or visit www.ffrwr.org.

Hands On Bluff Lake

A new season of field trips at Bluff Lake Nature Center also means new need for environmental educators. Bluff Lake, which is a short jog east of Park Hill, is seeking volunteers who are interested in introducing groups of schoolchildren to the natural world through hands-on exploration in topics including wetland ecology, habitat diversity, urban wildlife, food chains and life cycles. Students range from early childhood to 6th grade, and primarily attend Denver and Aurora Public Schools. For more information, check out blufflake.org/volunteer/. Interested and want to apply? Email your resume and availability to Maggie Willden at maggie@blufflake.org.

Sept. 8 Powwow At DAM

The Denver Art Museum’s 29th Annual Friendship Powwow & American Indian Cultural Celebration is Saturday, Sept. 8, with American Indian dancers, drum groups, booths, hands-on activities and more. All powwow activities and general museum admission that day are free, and everyone is welcome. The celebration runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The DAM’s Friendship Powwow is a celebration of the vitality of American Indian cultures. This year the Powwow is at Martin Plaza, between 12th and 13th avenues at Bannock at the Denver Art Museum downtown.

Art Drop Denver

Denver Arts & Venues calls for local artists to delight and surprise Denver residents, during World Art Drop Day on Tuesday, Sept. 4. The annual happening was conceived by Utah’s Jake Parker with the goal of connecting people to one another, and generating random bonds between strangers through the act of creating and giving. Participation is simple: first, artists commit to participate by filling out the online form (available via the link artsandvenuesdenver.com) and creating a small, piece or two to share on Art Drop Day. On Tuesday, Sept. 4, they hide their art around town. Next, they drop hints and clues on social media so people can find the hidden works, and finally the artists watch and wait for someone to discover their creations. The public can participate in the search for art by following #artdropday and #artdropdenver on social media, and on the Art Drop Denver Facebook group.

Body of Evidence at DAVA

Check out the body of Evidence on Thursday, Sept. 20, at the Downtown Aurora Visual Arts (DAVA). The exhibit features artwork created by youth during special summer classes. Evidence opens to the public that day from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. with film screenings, a giant dinosaur sculpture, and a “crime” scene investigation.  The exhibit runs through Nov. 21 at DAVA, located at 1405 Florence St., one block south of East Colfax Avenue. Inspired by paleontology, forensics and human life, DAVA students explored traces of life, from fossils to fingerprints. Middle and high school job training students followed forensic evidence to reconstruct a body in sculpture and solve a “crime” by creating their own forensics lab. Younger students recreated a Jurassic period diorama with a 12-foot-long Diplodocus sculpture. Computer art lab students used moving image to reveal social concerns. The resulting short films tell powerful stories using different formats: digital animation, stop motion, live action film and documentary. All of DAVA’s exhibits are free and open to the public from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday.  For more information, email gallery@davarts.org.

Pattern Art Downtown

Patternality opens Sept. 13 at the Republic Plaza, the Mile High City’s tallest skyscraper, and runs through Nov. 15. The art exhibit features multiple artists’ variations of the theme of “pattern” in abstract, non-objective ways, from reflective and amorphous to definitive and geometric. The public is invited to a free opening reception on Thursday, Sept. 13 from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the lobby and concourse levels at Republic Plaza downtown. The works include work in a variety of media, paintings, prints, photography, mixed media and feature contemporary repetitive designs and imagery, with definitive personalities, in both muted and flamboyant colors, showing reflective markings as well as active dynamic compositions. For more information, check out ArtsBrookfield.com.

Help Blueprint Denver

The Denver Office of Economic Development (OED) is soliciting feedback on the city’s draft 2019 Action Plan for Affordable Housing, which outlines specific work informed by Housing an Inclusive Denver, the city’s five-year comprehensive housing plan. The 2019 draft action plan can be reviewed via denvergov.org and public comment is available via the online survey at the site through Sept. 14. Final changes to the plan will be considered later this fall. The purpose of the 2019 Action Plan is to guide the city’s investments and policy priorities in support of Housing an Inclusive Denver over the coming year. The document outlines: Current housing and demographic conditions to drive prioritization of housing resources in 2019; an overview of 2019 resources available for investment in development, preservation and programs; and projected investments based on current pipeline of projects and programs.

Grafitti Be Gone

Help Denver Partners Against Graffiti spruce up Colfax during Denver’s annual Graffiti Brush Off & Litter Cleanup Campaign on Saturday, Sept. 15 from 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. followed by a free lunch. The campaign is seeking 200 volunteers of all ages to help pick up litter and paint out graffiti vandalism along the East Colfax Ave. corridor. Volunteers meet at 8 a.m. on the front lawn of East High School, at Colfax and Detroit. Call 311 to register.

Denver’s Future Is Now

Check out the city of Denver’s draft Denverite Blueprint plan that is designed to help guide the city’s growth, development, parks, mobility options and more over the next 20 years. The draft plans are available for review and feedback at http://www.denvergov.org/content/denvergov/en/denveright.html

Celebration At Montview

Montview Boulevard Presbyterian kicks off a new semester on Sunday Sept. 9 with Celebration Sunday, with services at 8:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. Education programs resume for children, youth and adults at 9:30 a.m. and a pizza and ice cream social at noon. Everyone is welcome. Montview is a progressive Presbyterian church at 1980 Dahlia St.

Helping Hungry Kids

Unity on the Avenue is holding a Hearts of Hope Silent Auction to benefit the organization Colorado Feeding Kids. The goal is to provide 400,000 meals to meet a growing demand for food support. The nonprofit has been providing non-perishable meals to Colorado children and families through food banks and schools and to disaster areas around the world for the past 10 years. As the group notes, one in five children in Colorado don’t know when they will receive their next meal. In addition, one in eight Colorado seniors and families face food insecurity; seniors often having to choose between food and their medicine. The Hearts of Hope Silent Auction will be Friday, Oct. 19 from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at 4670 East 17th Avenue Parkway. Additional information and tickets are at CoFeedingkids.org. Unity on the Avenue Spiritual Center is a non-denominational Christian organization that has been in Park Hill for more than 50 years. Its website is unityontheavenue.org.