Serving as backdrops to the artifacts are blown-up photos and original artworks from the DAM's Petrie collection the two institutions traded ideas and lists back and forth for months to come up with the pairings. They also show the start of Colorado's stash of historic objects a tag on one basket indicates it was part of the Wetherill collection, a donation to the brand-new state that was already capturing its past when the Colorado Historical Society was founded in 1879. They start with intricate baskets and pots from Mesa Verde, which show that "thousands of years ago, there was beautiful art," says Turner.
It marks a partnership with the Denver Art Museum: Fifty iconic works from the DAM's Petrie Institute of Western American Art are displayed alongside more than a hundred historic artifacts that together help tell at least some of the story of the West.īackstory, which officially opens March 18, occupies an 8,500-square-foot gallery on the fourth floor of History Colorado it's divided into more than fifty displays arranged in chronological order. "Stories using our collection."īackstory doesn't just draw from History Colorado's collection, though. "We're serious about telling Colorado's story," says Steve Turner, who was head of the State Historical Fund and Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation when he was named executive director of History Colorado last June.
This is the first exhibit conceived by History Colorado since a major turnover in management almost two years ago, a change designed not just to get the state organization's budget in line, but also to return it to focusing on Colorado history and showcasing its own massive collection rather than bringing in pre-packaged touring shows such as Toys or 1968. The story of the West is not a single black-and-white story, and Backstory, which fills in much of the shading of that story, also marks the start of a new chapter for History Colorado. "There's so much entrepreneurship."Īnd so much wonder, and so much heartache. "The story of the West is the quintessential story of the American way," said geologist turned brewpub owner turned governor John Hickenlooper in welcoming Backstory: Western American Art in Context to the History Colorado Center last night.
0 kommentar(er)
