Ground Games
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The 40 West ArtLine is a 4-mile walking and biking art experience located in the heart of the 40 West Arts Creative District along historic West Colfax Avenue and the W Line light rail in Lakewood, Colorado. In the summer of 2018, the inaugural year, Katy designed and painted 6 ground game murals along the ArtLine.
Street Smart
LOCATION: South side of West 14th Ave. between Gray St. and Harlan St.
DESCRIPTION: The 40 West ArtLine's motto is, "Connecting people and places through an interactive walking and biking art experience." This ground game mural illustrates that motto literally, enticing passers by to interact with the words written on the ground and find some inspiration about art or related to their mode of transit. On the sidewalk, pedestrians pick a color and read the words written on that color as they move along to form an inspirational quote about art in general or about the art of walking. Each quote on the sidewalk is featured in English and Spanish. The bike lane features one, large quote that is legible while moving at a biking speed.
OBJECTIVE: To have an inspired and joyful journey.
PEDESTRIAN RULES:
1. Stay to the right.
2. Pick a color.
3. Read the wisdom as you walk each color.
Forge Your Path (Forja Tu Camino)
LOCATION: East side of Harlan St. between West Colfax Ave. and West. 16th Ave.
DESCRIPTION: This ground game mural is located next to a car dealership. Cars are mostly made of metal, which is a material that is forged into shape. Extremely hot, glowing, orange metal is reminiscent of hot lava. Many kids like to pretend that the ground is hot lava and jump along raised objects while trying not to touch the ground. This ground game invites ArtLine pedestrians of all ages to jump back in time and hop along the pieces of sidewalk that have seemingly not been melted away by the lava. For those seeking an added challenge, they can try to make out the inspirational, secret lava message in English and Spanish: "FORGE YOUR PATH!" and "¡FORJA TU CAMINO!"
RULES:
1. Don't touch the lava.
2. Find the hidden message.
Aztec Maze
LOCATION: Southeast corner of West 16th Ave. and Teller St.
DESCRIPTION: This ground game mural is a modern interpretation of Aztec art. The Aztec empire was located in what is now central Mexico. A good portion of the local community, the people who live and work in and around the ArtLine, are Mexican. So, the maze playfully pays homage to the indigenous people of Mexico and invites the community to walk it in celebration of the roots of cultural diversity.
OBJECTIVE: Find your way through the maze to the ArtLine Totem in the center.
Only in the Footsteps of Art Shall Ye Proceed...
LOCATION: North side of Lakewood Place between Pierce St. and Reed St.
DESCRIPTION: The concept comes from the movie “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,” in which the hero must pass several dangerous obstacles to get to the Holy Grail. One of the obstacles, called “Only in the Footsteps of God Shall He Pass,” is a set of stepping stones with letters on them. Indie may only step on the stones that correctly spell out the Latin name of God - the wrong step and he could fall to his death. This word search-like ground game is much less dangerous, way more fun and educational since the letters painted on the colorful triangles spell out the elements and principles of art: LINE, SHAPE, FORM, VALUE, SPACE, COLOR, TEXTURE, RHYTHM, BALANCE, EMPHASIS, PROPORTION, GRADATION, HARMONY, VARIETY, and MOVEMENT. You must follow the letters which spell out these words to get to the other side. To make it slightly less difficult, if one is walking from west to east the letters are all black and oriented to be legible from that direction. If one is walking from east to west, the letters are all white and oriented to be legible from that direction. The colors are based off of the beautiful purple, pink, and orange sunsets over the mountains which can be seen from West Colfax, or the “Gateway to the Rockies,” along with the bright green of the ArtLine compositionally intermixed.
OBJECTIVE: Cross by stepping on the letters that spell out the elements and principles of art.
Harvest Labyrinth
LOCATION: Bike path along West 13th Ave. between Depew St. and Harlan St. near Mountair Park Farm
DESCRIPTION: The style of this mural is an ode to 80's pop-culture nostalgia with several 8-bit-esque fruits, veggies, insects, and animals. The idea of the game is to get people, particularly kids, excited about growing and eating healthy, organic food as well as to encourage the appreciation for nature's system for building soil fertility and controlling pests without the use of harmful chemicals.
OBJECTIVE: Get through labyrinth with as many points as possible.
RULES:
1. Add 1 point for every fruit or veggie harvested.
2. Subtract 1 point for every pest encountered.
3. Add 1 point for every beneficial insect encountered.
Rainbow Road Chroma Code
LOCATION: Lamar Station Plaza, north side of West Colfax Ave. between Pierce St. and Kendall St.
DESCRIPTION: The Lamar Station Plaza parking lot has recently been updated with several new pedestrian sidewalk islands. These sidewalks are scored with lines that make the concrete look like square tiles. For many people, young and old, this elicits the urge to avoid the cracks because of the old superstitious saying, "step on a crack, break your mother's back." This ground game mural makes that impulse fun and educational. Nostalgic of the video game Super Mario Cart's Rainbow Road level, each square is painted a color of the rainbow with its complementary color (or opposite color on the color wheel) embedded within. Each island has rules based on color theory as to how to get across. For instance, on the first island, you are supposed to step only on primary colors (red, yellow, blue) to get across. On the second island, you are supposed to step only on secondary colors (orange, green, purple), etc. The illusory, undulating effect of the shapes is a nod to "The Illusion" mural by Bobby Magee Lopez on the south side of the parking lot.
OBJECTIVE: Get across each island by only stepping on the correct colors indicated on the Chroma Code at the end of each island.
*Much of the text was painted free-hand by Bobby Magee Lopez (@SirGlyphsALot).
**Many of the photos were taken by Will Strathmann (@will_strathmann)