Overview:
Artist Thomas “Detour” Evans uses upcycled objects to tell the story of Cleo Parker Robinson Dance’s legacy in Denver.
Visual artist Thomas “Detour” Evans first became interested in Cleo Parker Robinson Dance over a decade ago, when he was big into breakdancing. A breakdancer friend who also danced with CPRD introduced him to his first show, and Evans began to understand the company’s role in training young dancers.
“When it comes to introducing tap, jazz, ballet, all these different art forms to that next generation, that is what communities need,” Evans said. “Because that continues that story and keeps that art form alive.”
In recent years, as Evans was finishing up a sculpture at Denver International Airport, he learned about CPRD’s expansion inside its home at the historic Shorter AME Church, which the company has occupied for nearly four decades. The CPRD Center for the Healing Arts, which opened over MLK weekend in January, was designed to be a modern facility that incorporates art directly into the architecture.
“Once I heard they were doing a whole new expansion of their space, I was like, I just gotta be involved,” Evans said. “It was one of the things that was like, just learning how influential the company has been in the community.”
Evans is in the process of creating a sculptural installation for the lobby wall of the new CPRD Center for the Healing Arts. The sculpture will be made from upcycled items collected from members of the CPRD community as well as the historic Shorter Community AME Church. It will also include stories about the upcycled items and the people who sourced them.
“The goal is to make sure to really tell the story, to have the community involved, their network involved in the creation of it,” Evans said, “and then preserve a lot of these items that probably would have been thrown away.”
Evans has created some of Denver’s most iconic public art pieces over the last decade, including a Denver Nuggets mural during their 2023 NBA finals run, a mural called “B-Girl Emerge,” which can be seen from I-70, and a series of murals in Denver’s Five Points neighborhood that honors important community members. A large portion of his work has been mural portraits in vibrant primary colors, depicting subjects ranging from ordinary people to cultural icons.
In recent years Evans has become increasingly inspired to make sculptural work with a strong element of community involvement, most notably in his gigantic hanging sculptural installation in Denver International Airport. The sculpture is made almost entirely out of upcycled luggage donated from Colorado residents, who also told the stories of their items and the journeys they went on. Evans used the stories to create an interactive website where people could read them.
“I mean with everything, especially now with AI, it’s easy to create,” Evans said. “So how do I add more layers to the piece that I’m doing to where it’s like, you can peel it back 50 different layers and there’s still more to learn, versus just it being aesthetically pleasing?”
CPRD, one of the most influential contemporary dance companies in the United States, is well-known for preserving African American dance traditions and serving as a community staple in Five Points. With its rich history, Evans saw the prospect of creating a sculpture out of upcycled items for the CPRD’s new expansion as an excellent opportunity to push the depth of storytelling in his work.
“I think this is the right way to do it,” Evans said. “Me painting a mural wouldn’t tell a fraction of the story versus doing it this way.”
Evans is working with JC Futrell, a Denver-based arts executive and educator who secured funding for the sculpture, as well as Cleo Parker Robinson herself, to get the items he’ll need. He expects to be collecting for the next three months. His initial collection included large lights and backstage hardware from the Shorter AME Church’s old theater. Items from the old church are historically significant because it has long served as an African American community center.
Long before CPRD occupied the space, it was a place of worship from August 5, 1889 to April 9, 1925, when the Ku Klux Klan allegedly burned it down. It was rebuilt and reopened in April 1926, where it remained a church for many years before CPRD moved in in 1988.
“That building was a beacon for people of color here in Five Points for a very long time,” Futrell said. “The building itself holds such significance to our people that Cleo being there has only been more of a beacon and more of a testament to our creativity and resilience.”
Malik Robinson, Cleo Parker Robinson’s son and executive director of Cleo Parker Robinson Dance, stated that many historically Black neighborhoods in Denver have changed dramatically.
“Public art becomes one of the most visible ways to assert, ‘We are still here,’” Malik said. “Detour’s work contributes to the positive tension between history and today in celebrating Black identity.”
Evans believes he has some insight into what the CPRD dancers go through from his time as a breakdancer, so he knows what to include. He is collecting bags to tell the story of the ensemble’s global travels and performances.
“Even things like water bottles, I want water bottles to talk about rehearsal,” Evans said. “These are the items that ballet dancers or tap dancers rely on to get to where they’re good enough to be on stage as well.”
Futrell said he has never met an artist as focused on the community as Evans.
“I’ve seen him and his work evolve from always being rooted in community to now the community being rooted in him,” Futrell said. “To where he doesn’t even start a project if he’s not thinking about, how do I get others involved? And that is the collaborative aspect and nature of his work that I think separates him from so many other artists. Because it’s not just about creating something pretty, it’s about creating something together.”
Futrell recalls growing up and seeing CPRD productions as a child, and he expressed that working with the organization was special for both him and Evans.
“When you look at Five Points right now, there is no better name for supporting and sustaining the arts in Colorado than the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble,” Futrell said. “So working with them is a joy.”
Evans is excited to create the piece for a space that he said is all about community.
“The dynamic of people going through the entire Cleo Parker Robinson system of classes and teaching, there’s always someone new there every day,” Evans said. “So that’s always good to have new people see this work and learn more about the whole history.”
Evans’ main challenges in creating the sculpture are gathering items and then figuring out how to attach all of the different items with different textures and materials to the boards that will be used to hang the sculpture. Working on the sculpture at Denver International Airport, Evans learned how to 3D print various attachments and replacements for items to make them lighter and easier to attach to a sculpture. He also used resin to harden clothing materials.
“All these different little things that I had to do for that sculptural piece were learning all these different fabrication techniques,” Evans explained. “The challenge is, how do I get it to the point where I can actually use it? If I didn’t know how to like design stuff in different attachments and stuff like that, it would be hard.”
After getting all of the items attached to the CPRD sculpture, Evans will paint it in his signature style using primary colors. Specifically, colors that complement the space.
“With Cleo’s space there’s a lot of orange and yellow,” Evans said. “So that’s kind of like what I was aiming for with this piece right here is to make sure that it sort of stands out on a white wall, but it’s also matching and doesn’t take away from anything that they’re doing in terms of brand work or whatever.”
Evans said he’s about 20% through the project and hopes to finish later this year. He expects to be in the process of collecting materials for the next three months. Malik stated that the new CPRD Center for the Healing Arts is intended to celebrate the vibrancy of Black culture in the Denver community, and he is confident that Evans will contribute in the same way.
“Detour documents Black life and identity in Denver,” Malik said. “This new work, in two vertical sculpture panels, reflects the next chapter of our history, fusing the past into the future with dance, travel and tokens from the moments that brought us into today.”
