The nonprofit River North Art District, founded in 2005, and the nonprofit street-art festival Crush Walls, founded in 2010, were virtually synonymous for a few years, married by contract and constantly collaborating. Even as artists complained about being gentrified out of RiNo and the surrounding neighborhoods involved with the district, the graffiti and murals multiplying on the walls every year ensured that the area’s reputation as an art hub kept growing.
Along the way, founder Robin “Dread” Munro became a darling of the street-art world and developers alike. For more than a decade, he bridged the gap between testosterone-fueled graffiti crews around Denver and officials who were trying to stop an explosion of vandalism while empowering up-and-coming artists and also getting them paid. In 2017, the year Crush Walls won Mayor Michael Hancock’s Arts & Culture Innovation Award, Munro teamed up with the district; with the two working together, the festival attracted an es
Babe Walls, one of the latest additions to the booming Front Range mural scene, will return for its second year in 2021, spotlighting 26 artists working on more than a dozen murals.
The 2020 edition, which was bumped by COVID-19 regulations and ultimately took place in Westminster in August, showcased multiple murals by women and nonbinary artists painting on an apartment complex. This year, the four-day festival will take over Ralston Creek Trail in the City of Arvada from July 15 through July 18. The trail, the longest in Arvada, takes bikers and walkers alongside Ralston Creek and through city parks and open spaces. We re really excited to be partnering with the City of Arvada for this year s celebration, says festival founder and artist Alexandrea Pangburn. The location along the Ralston Creek Trail is a new venture, and we re excited to be adding to the creativity of the city to encourage the use of this public trail.