Seeking Art
Gratitude Challenge - Week 27 - Favorite Spots in Your City
Denver is a vibrant city, brimming with artistic talent as it assumes its place as the fastest growing city in America. I do love nature, but I am a city girl at heart. Nothing is quite like the thrill of the hustle and bustle of a city. It is music to my ears.
When I think of all my favorite spots, there are three that stick out to me.
1. Bookstores
I love bookstores. At this point, my overwhelming love of literature is most evident in this blog, but I cannot ever proclaim my literary love enough. Books are keys to worlds I cannot ordinarily access. Bookstores are the means to the access of books. Nothing can encapsulate the feeling I receive upon entering a bookstore. The smell of paper and the hushed but intense silence fuel my search for yet another perfect book. Unlike shopping for clothes, the process of finding a book never grows old.
One of my favorite Denver bookstores is Tattered Cover, but I also love used bookstores such as 2nd and Charles and locally owned shops like Coyote Ridge Books.
2. Theaters
There is nothing quite like an empty theater. Voices of performers past, the backstage bustle of performers present, and the eager audience pressing against the doors combine in an atmosphere like none other. For me, nothing compares to the thrill I feel before performing in or watching a show.
In Denver, my favorite theater is definitely The Buell, but I have seen a fair amount of shows in smaller local theaters in the surrounding area, including The Arvada Center, PACE, and Junction Box.
3. Art Museums
An art museum combines the atmosphere of a bookstore and a theater. Like a bookstore, there are people with many different tastes as the browse various art forms, and like a theater, there is a certain sense of urgency, a hidden thrill in the discovery of artists who make this world more beautiful.
Denver's premier art museum is, obviously, the Denver Art Museum, and my family and I are members there. We usually visit as the new exhibits open. Other notable art museums I have enjoyed are the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, the Leanin' Tree Museum of Western Art, and the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art.
Between these three places, it is safe to say that I am an art connoisseur; not in the sense that I am an expert, but in the sense that I am constantly hungry for art, in all forms.
As I write, I find it paradoxical that I love cities, yet in the city, I seek the quietest places (bookstores, theaters, and art museums). After a day in the city, all I want is to curl up in my room. I bring elements of those three places into my humble abode.
My bookshelf brims with so many books, I could operate my own branch of a used bookstore. Magazines, papers. and bookmarks are often strewn across my bed and my carpet. At all times, at least three books sit on my bedside table.
Old pointe shoes and costumes hang on my walls and in my closets, bringing back memories of theaters and roles I have danced over the past 15 years. Signed programs from shows I attended barely scratch the surface of the time I have spent in darkened theaters. A poster of one of my favorite dancers, Gillian Murphy, hangs on the back of my door, and a new canvas of me dancing adorns another wall.
My very own art museum consists of art my mom has framed over the years, proclaiming my artistic ingenuity when we all know I should stick to dancing. My small vanity displays my overaccumulation of necklaces and lipgloss. Knick knacks adorn the top of my bookshelf, and photographs of candid moments complete the artsy vibe.
Even though I love the city, some days, I can find everything I want right in my own room.
Denver is a vibrant city, brimming with artistic talent as it assumes its place as the fastest growing city in America. I do love nature, but I am a city girl at heart. Nothing is quite like the thrill of the hustle and bustle of a city. It is music to my ears.
When I think of all my favorite spots, there are three that stick out to me.
1. Bookstores
I love bookstores. At this point, my overwhelming love of literature is most evident in this blog, but I cannot ever proclaim my literary love enough. Books are keys to worlds I cannot ordinarily access. Bookstores are the means to the access of books. Nothing can encapsulate the feeling I receive upon entering a bookstore. The smell of paper and the hushed but intense silence fuel my search for yet another perfect book. Unlike shopping for clothes, the process of finding a book never grows old.
One of my favorite Denver bookstores is Tattered Cover, but I also love used bookstores such as 2nd and Charles and locally owned shops like Coyote Ridge Books.
2. Theaters
There is nothing quite like an empty theater. Voices of performers past, the backstage bustle of performers present, and the eager audience pressing against the doors combine in an atmosphere like none other. For me, nothing compares to the thrill I feel before performing in or watching a show.
In Denver, my favorite theater is definitely The Buell, but I have seen a fair amount of shows in smaller local theaters in the surrounding area, including The Arvada Center, PACE, and Junction Box.
3. Art Museums
An art museum combines the atmosphere of a bookstore and a theater. Like a bookstore, there are people with many different tastes as the browse various art forms, and like a theater, there is a certain sense of urgency, a hidden thrill in the discovery of artists who make this world more beautiful.
Denver's premier art museum is, obviously, the Denver Art Museum, and my family and I are members there. We usually visit as the new exhibits open. Other notable art museums I have enjoyed are the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, the Leanin' Tree Museum of Western Art, and the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art.
Between these three places, it is safe to say that I am an art connoisseur; not in the sense that I am an expert, but in the sense that I am constantly hungry for art, in all forms.
As I write, I find it paradoxical that I love cities, yet in the city, I seek the quietest places (bookstores, theaters, and art museums). After a day in the city, all I want is to curl up in my room. I bring elements of those three places into my humble abode.
My bookshelf brims with so many books, I could operate my own branch of a used bookstore. Magazines, papers. and bookmarks are often strewn across my bed and my carpet. At all times, at least three books sit on my bedside table.
Old pointe shoes and costumes hang on my walls and in my closets, bringing back memories of theaters and roles I have danced over the past 15 years. Signed programs from shows I attended barely scratch the surface of the time I have spent in darkened theaters. A poster of one of my favorite dancers, Gillian Murphy, hangs on the back of my door, and a new canvas of me dancing adorns another wall.
My very own art museum consists of art my mom has framed over the years, proclaiming my artistic ingenuity when we all know I should stick to dancing. My small vanity displays my overaccumulation of necklaces and lipgloss. Knick knacks adorn the top of my bookshelf, and photographs of candid moments complete the artsy vibe.
Even though I love the city, some days, I can find everything I want right in my own room.
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