Denver has officially announced the creation of a mural project dedicated to its historic Chinatown.
The announcement took place on the second anniversary of the city’s Chinatown Commemoration Day.
CBS Colorado exclusively reported that the mural will be the very first one in the city celebrating the once-bustling Chinatown. According to the report, the mural “will not only memorialize the 1880 anti-Chinese race riot but also remember the extensive contributions the Chinese community continues to make.”
Hmong American artist Nalye Lor told the station that the project depicts the past, present, and future of Denver’s Chinese community.
“I incorporated an endless noodle that just shows the history. I wanted to use a lot of colors to really depict the crazy chaos of history, but also show how they can work so well together to create something new and beautiful,” Lor told CBS.
Lor said she was unfamiliar with the extensive history of the city’s Asian American community prior to working on this project.
“My whole life I’ve kind of felt invisible. This is huge. It’s a big step for not only the Chinese community, but the Asian American Pacific Islander community as a whole, but also for Hmong people.”
The Colorado Asian Pacific United (CAPU) will be able to make the project come to life because of a Mellon Foundation grant it received.
“There’s really no evidence that a Chinatown used to exist in lower downtown and this is a way for us to sort of physically and metaphorically reclaim the space and show people, ‘yes, there was a Chinatown and yes, it was vibrant,'” Joie Ha of CAPU said to CBS Colorado.
Along with the mural, which will be on the side of Denver Fire Station 4 at 1890 Lawrence St., CAPU is also working on other historical projects.
KESQ News reported CAPU will also put up three historic markers around the city and remove the one that existed, including a plaque near 20th and Blake, which has offensive and inaccurate information.
The mural is expected to be unveiled to the public before the end of the year.
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