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Mary Voelz Chandler

Columnist

Mary Chandler, arts writer and critic: Long before earning a degree in journalism at the University of Missouri, I knew I wanted to work for a newspaper, and I have now worked for six, in both news and features, and as a reporter, critic and editor. That includes 20 years at the Rocky Mountain News, where in the late 1980s, with the encouragement of my editors, I began to craft a job that would involve being able to cover subjects of particular interest. So eventually a general assignment entertainment job added public art, then arts funding, then architecture and preservation, and finally the visual arts. Put it all together, and it presents an opportunity to watch closely — and tell readers about — changes in the way Denver and Colorado, particularly, relate to the creative energy of artists and the hits and misses in the built environment. Along the way, I’ve taught some classes and written some books, most recently a guidebook to Denver architecture, which gave me a new appreciation of how a city’s relationship to design reflects its maturity, social history and economic choices.

Recent stories

MCA Denver's new director brings innovative attitude to art museum

February 25, 2009

MCA Denver's new executive director loves art, ideas and "chance encounters." And he's bringing something else to the job: the Lab at Belmar.

MCA Denver hires Lerner as new executive director

February 24, 2009

MCA Denver hires the Lab's Adam Lerner as its new director, and moves to merge both institutions.

CHANDLER: Staking a claim for Western art

February 19, 2009

The seventh-floor gallery in the Denver Art Museum's Gio Ponti building has been revamped into a permanent home for the museum's collection of Western art, starting with the current "Creating the West in Art" show.

IN THE GALLERIES: Emmett Culligan + Robert Delaney + Jeff Wenzel

February 12, 2009

Abstract sculpture by Emmett Culligan and Robert Delaney and mixed-media work by Jeff Wenzel make it clear why some find abstract style more "real" than realism.

When images collide

February 12, 2009

When Robert Rauschenberg died last year, it was the end of a long, prolific and innovative career. His final works, The Lotus Series, are on view at Robischon Gallery.

Petticoat work tribute to culture

Petticoat work tribute to culture

February 10, 2009

Instead of paint, artist Ana Maria Hernando has heaped more than 100 crocheted petticoats into a towering work aptly named La Montana.

Artist's estate sues gallery owner for payment

February 6, 2009

The estate of artist Dale Chisman filed suit Friday in Denver District Court against Robin Rule and Rule Gallery, seeking payment and asking for an accounting of the late artist's work consigned to the gallery dating to Jan. 1, 2003.

CHANDLER: Sour economy a factor in many civic projects

February 6, 2009

Updates on Civic Center, the old CU Health Sciences Center, Colorado Council on the Arts and the Clyfford Still Museum.

IN THE GALLERIES: Dreams of a Unified Field

February 5, 2009

Review of Dreams of a Unified Field, an exhibit at Carson van Straaten Gallery

CHANDLER: Foothills mines political themes

February 5, 2009

Foothills Art Center got fewer entries for its politically themed American Print exhibition this year, possibly because most artists don't want to go there.