Best new museum -- to pop up

October 20, 4:42 PMDenver People ExaminerErnie Tucker

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Denver Community Museum (Photo: Jamie Kopke)

"Pop up" stores -- places where things are sold temporarily -- are popular in New York, London and other urban centers. So why not "pop up" museums?

For Jaime Kopke, the answer is -- why not indeed? And since the beginning of this month, she's opened the Denver Community Museum, a small, temporary museum in  vacant office suite 120 at 1610 Little Raven Street across from Riverfront Park near LoDo.

"I think people in Denver will see this as a cool thing. More spontaneous," says the 29-year-old Colorado College graduate (geology and art?) who is self-funding her vision, though landlord East West Partners has helped. "It doesn't have to be a big, expensive thing."

Globe...with pins (Photo: Kopke)

The current exhibit -- free of course -- now has 41 objects created by folks ranging from third-graders to retired world-travelers in the Denver metro area who heeded her first Community Challenge called "The Missing Map." The idea is that people can submit anything under that artistic umbrella. Literally. A globe made of moss; imaginary worlds; a small crafted ball with pins stuck into it; and a Post-It globe, set up for gallery visitors to add to it.

Kopke, a writer and part-time event planner at the University of Denver, has curated other projects, including a furniture design showcase at P Design Gallery. The idea of rotating exhibits appeals to her, and discovering the unexpected.

"My favorite parts are the things people submit describing their creations."

A class in Boulder, for example, working on a mapping unit sent in small ornament-sized globes with descriptions. One young student described the world: "Purseland" and "Dogland" were part of the entity. A Denver woman has constructed a string of 11 orbs made of Google maps of the places she has lived.
 

Green globe? (Photo: Kopke)

Kopke's next challenge is "Mummify Me," a call for contributors to wrap any object they want -- such as a toy stuffed rabbit -- for immortality, like the Egyptians did. Her request does include this creative caveat: "inanimate, non-decaying mummies only, please." Entries are due by Nov. 1 at the museum (open Fridays and Saturdays from noon to 5 p.m.), with the exhibit opening Nov. 7.

That guidance could be because of a lesson she's learned from two of the "living" globes.

"Is it common for a curator to have to water artifacts?" she asks with a smile. Regardless of how well things go, Kopke will remain true to her ideals, and the entire enterprise will close sometime in about a year. Until then, Denver has a place to drop in -- and pop up.