Vail Symposium presents Denver art tour

VAIL, Colorado – To celebrate the Biennial the Vail Symposium is presenting Art of the Americas, a private art tour, Thursday.

Last month, Denver played host to the Biennial of the Americas, a celebration of intellectual, artistic and political progress of the Western Hemisphere. The four themes of the 2010 Biennial were sustainability, innovation, community and the arts. The exhibits focused on elements of these four themes and were set up at venues around Denver. The event was touted as a success, and many of the exhibits are still welcoming visitors.

“I have wanted to do a tour like this for some time,” said Vail Symposium advisory council member Susan Mackin Dolan. “This unique private art tour provides a wonderful opportunity to see a world-class pre-Columbian art collection housed in one of Lodo’s most interesting contemporary homes , as well as private tours of temporary exhibitions at the Denver Art Museum and the Museo de las Americas. Even our lunch comes with a tour of a private folk art collection.”

The Vail Symposium’s Art of the Americas Tour includes stops at some of the Biennial exhibits, as well as a chance to explore the art collection at the Mayers’ Red House, which, according to The New York Times, is one of the top private collections in the world.

In 1999, world-renowned art collectors Frederick, who passed away in 2007, and Jan Mayer built a house in downtown Denver designed as a synergy between museum and home. The house is known as the Red House, named for the sandstone on the exterior. Inside, the main floor showcases the many private collections the Mayers amassed in nearly 50 years. They are noted for their collection of pre-Columbian artifacts and Spanish Colonial paintings, and in conjunction with the Denver Art Museum formed the Mayer Center, which provides opportunities for research and hosts annual symposia on the subject of New World artifacts.

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For the biennial, the Denver Art Museum hosted the photography of Edward Ranney, whose photographs of Latin American landscapes capture how the Incan and Mayan cultures viewed their environment. The museum paired the exhibit with some pieces from its renowned New World collection.

Another stop on the art tour, and part of the Biennial, will be the Liberadores/Liberator Exhibition at the Museo de Las Americas. This exhibit captures the influence of liberators in creating the New World. The project brought together artists, historians, activists and diplomats from Mexico and Central and South America to celebrate and acknowledge the influence of liberators in the history of the Americas.

The tour will culminate at the studio of artist Tony Ortega, whose show at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Boulder was featured in the biennial.

The tour will depart from Vail at 8 a.m. and return around 5:30 p.m. Transportation, snacks and lunch will be provided.

The Vail Symposium is a grassroots, nonprofit organization that has been an integral part of the life and history of Vail since 1971. The Symposium’s mission is to provide educational programs for the Vail Valley community that are thought-provoking, diverse and affordable. For details on departure location and for more information, visit http://www.vailsymposium.org or call 970-476-0954.

Evan Fairmont is program coordinator of Vail Symposium.