Overview:
Thomas “Detour” Evans’ new Cleo Parker Robinson Dance installation uses collected items to preserve the dance company’s history.
Visitors entering Cleo Parker Robinson Dance’s new Center for the Healing Arts are now greeted by two 16-foot panels filled with colorful objects from the organization’s past.
The sculpture, titled “What We Carry Forward,” was installed during the week of July 20 by Denver artist Thomas “Detour” Evans. Covered with old clothes, accessories, theater pieces and outdated equipment, the work turns collected items into a kind of visual archive.
“It’s a way of people getting involved, items getting involved,” Evans said, “and a way for people to see the history of the place.”
The panels hang near Evans’ vivid 2018 portrait of Cleo Parker Robinson, the Denver dance icon and founder of Cleo Parker Robinson Dance. Evans arranged the objects across a bold gradient of red, orange and yellow, colors chosen to fit the look of the new space.
“The colors — I wanted it to match the actual aesthetics of the space,” Evans said. “It feels like the piece is an extension of the color palette of the rug and everything else.”
Evans compared the arrangement to Tetris. Shoes, clothes, water bottles, instruments and other items fit together across the panels. He pointed to several pieces with deep ties to the organization, including a bracelet from Robinson’s mentor, Katherine Dunham, old theater curtains and a chest Robinson told him had traveled to 40 countries.
“It’s making sure to have a good variety on each side,” Evans said. “There’s a light on each side. There’s a bag on each side. There’s shoes on each side. There’s curtains on each side.”
The project took about a year to complete. After Evans heard about the construction of the Center for the Healing Arts, he initially imagined a hanging installation similar to one he created at Denver International Airport. He later shifted to a wall installation to better fit the CPRD space.
Much of the work began with gathering materials. Evans collected many items with Robinson inside CPRD’s former home, Shorter AME Church. Some lights came from the historic Bonfils Memorial Theatre, now home to Tattered Cover Book Store. Other pieces were donated by people connected to CPRD or came from Robinson’s own collections.
“For me, it was really important just to make sure that we actually walk with them in the theater and figure out exactly how can we tell the story about all of the organization through the things that we collected,” Evans said.
Attaching the objects was its own challenge. Evans said most pieces required custom screws or mounts. Softer materials, including leotards, bags, curtains and a shirt, were hardened with resin before they could be added to the panels.
“Everything is really, really custom,” Evans said. “I spent a lot of time with each item, making sure that I prepped it for the installation, which was really cool because that way it feels more intimate.”
Evans said community-based sculptures give old objects a second public life instead of leaving them in storage, attics or the trash.
“Saving items from the junkyard, from the attics, from storage spaces and bringing them into the public light,” Evans said, “I think is super important because there’s so much history here that it’s like, we just got to figure out a way to showcase it.”
