Category: Archived Articles

Color Field at the Lily Ponds

A drawing of a plate with many colors


On February 4 at Messiah Community Church, City Park Friends and Neighbors launched its newest project, Color Field with a public program presented by Panayoti Kelaidis, Senior Curator and Outreach Director for Denver Botanic Gardens. The program and slideshow, “Saco De Boer and the Visionaries Who Shaped Our Western Gardening Philosophy,” highlighted famed Denver landscape architect Saco DeBoer who designed the Lily Ponds at City Park in 1925. In 1970, a severe storm flooded the area, and the ponds have since been waterless (with one exception) with the sandstone seedbed walls exposed.

In Color Field, visual artists Sarah and Josh Palmeri will activate the space through a colorful, site-specific installation of roughly 7,000 painted gardening stakes in the seedbeds of the drained ponds. The six uniquely shaped seedbeds will transform into abstract forms of bright colors, bringing attention to this underutilized area of City Park. The installation aims to recall the history and beauty of the Lily Ponds while building momentum for plans to restore the historic area. There will be a gala opening for the finished Color Field installation. There will be activities around the site through the summer and fall.

The community will be invited to participate in various volunteer days, where residents and park visitors will paint and install this work alongside the artists during May and June. The installation will be on display from May through Fall, 2020. Color Field has received the generous support of Denver Arts and Venues, City Park Friends and Neighbors, Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Denver Zoo, Denver Department of Parks and Recreation and City Park Alliance. More sponsors will be joining our team soon!

We welcome donations. We need funding for the gardening stakes, paint, other materials, and artists’ fees. Please visit the Color Field website at colorfielddenver.org to learn more about the project and access the Donate button to help make this City Park project a success! We appreciate any amount you want to give.

City Park Master Plan Update and Design Guidelines Program

A view of the city from above, taken by a helicopter.


Denver Museum of Nature and Science
February 22, 10 am-noon
VIP Room
This is an important meeting for City Park lovers!  Mallory Bettag, East Denver Parks District Planner will present a program reviewing the City Park Master Plan Update and Design Guidelines for City Park, the “People’s Park” and the “Crown Jewel of the Queen City.”  There will be a description of the City Park Design Advisory Committee composed of architects, officials and citizens that meets to review proposed projects for City Park to DPR. Peggy Day, Director of Strategic Planning for the Denver Museum of Nature and Science will speak about the museum’s Nature Play concept for the playground area south of the museum, one of the recommendations in the Master Plan.

This is your chance to provide the city’s Parks and Recreation department with feedback and your vision for City Park.

Saco DeBoer & the Visionaries Who Shaped Our Western Gardening Philosophy

A man sitting on top of a wooden bench.


On Tuesday, Feb. 4, Panayoti Kelaidis, Senior Curator and Director of Outreach for Denver Botanic Gardens will present a free program and slideshow on Saco DeBoer and Walter Pesman, the landscape architects who shaped most of Denver’s parks, parkways, and schools. DeBoer created the De Boer Canyon and Waterway and the Lily Ponds in City Park. Come learn about these towering figures who brought gardening as we practice it today in Colorado.


“Saco DeBoer & the Visionaries Who Shaped Our Western Gardening Philosophy,”

by Panayoti Keladais

Feb. 4, 6-8 pm at Messiah Community Church (free parking behind the church off 18th Avenue)

Program sponsored by City Park Friends and Neighbors.

The program launches an art installation, “Color Field at the Lily Ponds†in City Park in May. Color Field is sponsored by City Park Friends and Neighbors and is supported by Denver Arts and Venues, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, the Denver Zoo, Denver Dept. of Parks and Recreation and the City Park Alliance.

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