Last week's Art Walk in Aurora took place less than 48 hours after Aurora Code Officer Rodney Morales lost his life mere blocks away. Only hours before, a suspect had been arrested in the Montbello neighborhood in Denver.
But the tragedy and drama did not keep members of the community and visitors indoors.
Instead, they perused the canvases, the jewelry and the sculptures on display at the East Ends Applied Arts gallery. They crowded in the lobby of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Library. They took in the selection of crafted signs at The Other Side Arts. They braved the first tinge of winter weather and ferried between the different galleries along East Colfax Avenue in pedicabs.
Clearly, Friday's event stood as a sign of the area's growing prominence as an arts resource in the metro area, as artists, residents and visitors converged to share input and expressions. More subtly, the turnout was a collaborative commentary on the events of last week. Gallery owners, artists and event attendants that I spoke to cited an overwhelming concern for community. Many saw attendance at the art walk as a first step in recovery.
Encouraging the arts on the funky strip of East Colfax seemed to take an added significance Friday night, as the locals clung even more tightly to their cultural treasures in the immediate wake of tragedy.
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