Request for Proposals
The second installation of the Denver Art Museum Mural Project will launch in mid-January 2025. We are currently seeking a local artist to work with the museum and community members on a mural in the Sie Welcome Center of the Martin Building that will be on view for up to three years. This opportunity is open to individual artists or multiple artists working in collaboration.
Review and download our request for proposal form. Applications open January 8, 2024, and are due by February 14, 2024.
About the Current Mural
Denver-based artists Emily Hope Dobkin and Olive Moya were selected to create a new mural entitled I Invent It, My Hands Draw a Cloud, which is prominently featured on the main level of the Martin Building. The selection followed a request for proposals process calling for submissions to create a large-scale mural telling a story of the Denver metro area’s creative scene. The new piece serves as a beacon of welcoming to students, families, and visitors of all ages.
According to the artists, the large idea behind the piece, nestled in a 12-foot by 28-foot space in the museum’s main Duncan Hall, is focused on the comfort of belonging under the same sky. The artists wanted the mural to evoke a sensation similar to astronauts viewing the earth from space and feeling united in humanity’s existence on this planet, with the clouds as a haven of acceptance and solidarity.
Photographs for I Invent It, My Hands Draw a Cloud are sourced from the community to show differing perspectives of the shared sky. The bond of the collective will be demonstrated through these contributions of individual experience.
About the Artists
Emily Hope Dobkin describes herself as "a community organizer meets arts educator meets creative entrepreneur." Holding a master’s degree in arts management with a focus on community arts from the University of Oregon, as well as a bachelor’s in creative writing from Goucher College, Dobkin is the face behind BETTERISH. Through workshops, consulting, pop-up events and storytelling, BETTERISH aims to serve as a platform to encourage people to make better things, have better relationships and experience better daily life. Her work and collaborative projects have been visible at Anythink Libraries, 48 House/Redline Contemporary Art Center, Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History, and Zoom rooms worldwide via the Meet Cart.
Follow her on Instagram at @betterish.
Olive Moya is a visual artist living and working in Denver. Originally from Southern California, Moya received her bachelor of fine arts from Otis College of Art + Design in 2011. Her work’s bold, graphic colorscapes, defined edges, line work, and movement are referential to the artist’s background in illustration and lettering. She describes her paintings as "abstract storytelling," influenced in part by her early study of photography. Recent work and commissions in the metro Denver area include participation in the Golden Triangle Creative District’s Colorcon mural festival, as well as Babewalls, Streetwise Boulder, and Crush Walls. Her work has been exhibited at ReCreative Denver, Dateline Gallery, and The Gallery @ The Bus Stop Apartments in Boulder.
Follow her on Instagram at @oliviamoya.
