The Mile High City is experiencing a surge in its visual art scene, generating $2.6 billion in economic activity and leading the city to a new record high in 2022. From Santa Fe Drive and RiNo to the Golden Triangle, Denver’s art districts bring creative life to the city through galleries, museums and street art. The thriving community has filled neighborhoods with unique murals and iconic public art.
Local artist Jahna Rae, portrait painter and muralist, has created sprawling pieces in and around the Denver area bringing her inclusive bold-colored art to public spaces. Although she has gained experience painting foliage and landscapes, she specializes in portrait painting that demonstrates human interconnectedness through abstract methods.
“I’ve always been fascinated by people, how we interact with each other and how we behave in social situations,” Rae said.
After moving to Denver for a relationship seven years ago, Rae fell in love with Colorado. Originally from New York, Rae grew up in a creative household, where crafts took place instead of TV time—something that stuck with her and led her to illustration school in San Francisco.
“I just fell in love with being here, I said ‘I’m going to stay.’ It’s been the best decision I’ve ever made,” Rae said. “I haven’t lived in a city where I felt so supported in what I do.”
Rae switched from canvas to walls after watching another artist paint a mural in 2020. A year later, she joined the powerhouse team of muralists at the 2021 Babe Walls festival. Collaborating with fellow artist Coco Jenkins on the project, her first large-scale mural titled, “The Vitruvian Woman” garnered attention from fellow artists and the media. Since then, Rae has created over a dozen murals, both temporary and permanent—like her foliage pieces found in Lucina Eatery and Bar and Create Kitchen and Bar in Stanley Marketplace. Rae’s unique style utilizes bright colors and patterns, juxtaposing powerful portraits with squiggle lines, dot work and spirals. It stands in striking contrast to her fellow Denver artists, appealing to a wide audience.
“I have some [murals] in Denver, Arvada, Fort Collins, Silverthorne—they’re all kind of all over the place,” Rae said. “Someone will see my work and like my style and then they’ll say ‘Hey we would love a portrait done’, I’ll come up with designs from there but typically it’s them just asking me to do something in my style.”
For the last three years, Rae has painted out of an eight-by-eight-foot bedroom in her apartment. She feels more at peace working from her cozy little studio where she has room to reflect and think about the stories her community has shared with her which inspire her work. Rae typically paints portraits as she’s found healing in being vulnerable and connecting with others, which she believes creates community. Through her work, she not only tells her subjects’ stories but allows the viewer to relate and create their own narrative.
“I paint everyone, different races, whatever it is,” Rae said. “The purpose of my work isn’t just to represent the Black community—though I have done a lot of Black portraits—but it’s just more about diversity and different people in general.”
Being a part of the community, Rae has encountered established artists and upcoming artists, who according to her, all work together and give each other tips and recommendations for different projects.
“My experience [in Denver] has been really positive,” Rae said. “I’ve met so many great people, there’s so many businesses and companies and organizations that are pushing the arts here and I think that that’s really important for the community as a whole.”
After seven years of success in Denver, Rae says it’s time for a change. She has decided to move to upstate New York where she is looking forward to the opportunity to take a break, share her art outside of Denver and travel more.
“It’s time to spread my wings and kind of experience something else for a little while and decide if I do really want to come back to Colorado or if something else comes up for me and just keeping my heart open to any possibility,” she said.