Art patrons may discover Columbus parade, protest

John C. Ensslin, Rocky Mountain News

Friday, October 6, 2006

Art and politics seem destined to converge Saturday when the annual Columbus Day parade and its attendant protest empties out in front of the Denver Art Museum just as patrons are emerging from their tour of the new wing.

Will rhetoric meet Renoir? Will Columbus confront Claes Oldenburg? Will Libeskind meet the Lakota Sioux?

And will Denver police be able to keep the two crowds apart?

"I don't know that we can," said police spokesman John White.

However, White said police are confident they can keep the peace and allow both events to unfold along the southern edge of Denver's Civic Center.

A spokesman for AIM, the group that plans to hold its annual Columbus Day protest, said the protesters are mindful of the opening of the museum's Frederick C. Hamilton Wing.

"We've had discussions among ourselves about it," said Glenn Spagnuola, a member of the Transform Columbus Day Alliance, one of the protest groups. "We want to do everything we can to not disrupt the opening. We appreciate art, too."

That said, Spagnuola said the protesters were surprised when they saw a map of the revised parade route, which this year empties out a short distance from the Denver Art Museum.

"The old parade route didn't come near the museum," Spagnuola said. "I don't know why the city didn't just tell them (the parade organizers) to stick to the old parade route."

White said that in addition to patrolling the parade route, off-duty officers will be working at the museum.

"We are working closely with them to make sure that those folks enjoy themselves," he said.