DENVER (KDVR) — Next time you’re near the University of Colorado Denver, look out for the bright orange geometric sculpture on the Speer median between Larimer and Market streets.
Renovated sculpture on Speer Blvd. Photo courtesy of Denver arts and venues. 
Renovated sculpture on Speer Blvd. Photo courtesy of Denver arts and venues. 
Renovated sculpture on Speer Blvd. Photo courtesy of Denver arts and venues. 
Renovated sculpture on Speer Blvd. Photo courtesy of Denver arts and venues.
The sculpture was originally built by Gerald Cross in 1975. It was located on Speer Boulevard and Colfax Avenue before it was renovated and relocated on Aug. 26, 2023.
It’s made from orange-painted steel and blue Plexiglas. While the sculpture is untitled, the creator put a lot of thought behind his work.
“Now this giant, perfectly ordered, tidy, geometric expression will be surrounded by the imperfect messy real-life truth we live of traffic, pedestrians, bicyclists, traffic lights, trees, grass and sunshine,” said Cross’ daughter, Catherine Bauers. “To my father, patterns of math imbued every one of these things.”
The sculpture was built over 10 years before the Denver Public Art ordinance went into effect, which now sets aside 1% of large construction budgets for new public art, according to Denver Arts and Venues.
“Having this sculpture restored and relocated to serve as part of the gateway to downtown means that others will get to share in what our father saw and taught,” said Bauers. “It means that his vision of ‘geometry as an art form’ will welcome a new generation of thinkers and visionaries to our fair Queen City.”
