Markers: Whereami

The artist team of Walczak & Heiss created four stainless steel and aluminum sculptures (Whereami, Flood, Zephyr and Conversation) with the overall project titled Markers depicting the culture and history of the Cole and Clayton neighborhoods. The artwork aims to celebrate the neighborhoods and help instill a sense of continuity throughout the Greenway by providing a progression and narrative to unify the public spaces. The artists worked closely with students from the Bruce Randolph School to design the “Whereami” sculpture elements.

Whereami is a playful, wayfinding sign rising 16 feet into the air and featuring 37 student-designed arrows all pointing in different directions. It was a collaboration with sixth through twelfth graders at the Bruce Randolph School located in the Cole neighborhood. Walczak & Heiss visited the school and challenged students to create their own arrow designs that pointed to sites meaningful to them.

Each of the arrows selected for the project points to a unique location—everywhere from as close as downtown Denver and nearby playing fields to locals as far and diverse as Germany and that of the Sand Creek Massacre, a site 252 miles away that marks the murder of Cheyenne and Arapaho peoples. Local history is also represented as one arrow nods to Daddy Bruce Randolph, the namesake of the school, by pointing to Daddy Bruce Barb B Que Ribs.

To go from the students’ 2-dimensional drawings to the 3-dimensional metal artwork, the drawings were scanned and traced in a CAD program. From there, Allentown-based DiBello Metal Designs made stainless-steel and orange powder-coated the arrows. All of the arrows are carefully balanced on a singular pole, which proved to be an engineering feat as each one needed to remain clearly legible. The artists explained that, “it makes this kind of prickly looking, confusing, jumbled wayfinding sign. The piece is not really about pointedly letting it be about a location that somebody knows, but about a kind of personal connection to a place.”

The works explore the evolving significance of the Clayton and Cole neighborhoods, the area that is home to the park, to residents past and present. All of the works are interactive and allow visitors to engage with each piece. Though each work is unique, they all share the same distinctive red-orange hue. They are also grounded in their connection to the site—whether it marks a direction, references local history, or embodies community connections. Markers was inspired by a diversity of sources, including the local community and historical research.

Learn more about Markers on the artists' website.
The artist team of Walczak & Heiss created four stainless steel and aluminum sculptures (Whereami, Watertower, Zephyr and Conversation) with the overall project titled Markers depicting the culture and history of the Cole and Clayton neighborhoods. The artwork aims to celebrate the neighborhoods and help instill a sense of continuity throughout the Greenway by providing a progression and narrative that will unify the public spaces. The artists worked closely with students from the Bruce Randolph School to design the “Whereami” sculpture elements.