CSU Spur’s arts programming connects art, science, and community to spark curiosity and conversation around food, water, and health. Across the campus galleries and public spaces, visitors encounter rotating exhibitions, site-specific installations, and interactive projects that make research tangible and welcoming for all ages.
Spur collaborates with artists, scientists, and educators to present hands-on activities, artist talks, and participatory workshops. From long-term residencies to pop-up activations, the goal is to create inclusive experiences where creativity, inquiry, and community storytelling meet.
Permanent installations
CSU Spur hosts eight large-scale permanent art installations, featuring artists from around the world and ranging from murals to sculpture to pieces that inspire education and play — each bringing something fresh and unique to Denver.
ARTIST >> Anthony Garcia, Sr.
TITLE >> Whirlpool
MEDIUM >> Paint
LOCATION >> Hydro
ARTIST >> Priscila De Carvalho
TITLE >> Animals at Play
MEDIUM >> Ceramic tiles
LOCATION >> Vida
ARTIST >> Jason Bruges
TITLE >> Rotation Index
MEDIUM >> Interactive lighting
LOCATION >> Terra/Hydro bridge
ARTIST >> Shane Allbritton & Norman Lee
TITLE >> Vital Rhythms
MEDIUM >> Wood
LOCATION >> Vida
ARTIST >> Sandra Fettingis
TITLE >> Tomorrow’s Food
MEDIUM >> Aluminum and acrylic
LOCATION >> Terra
ARTIST >> Nikki Pike
TITLE >> Crescendo
MEDIUM >> Concrete
LOCATION >> Hydro
ARTIST >> Patrick Marold
TITLE >> The Bale
MEDIUM >> Stainless steel
LOCATION >> Terra plaza
ARTIST >> Eric Tillinghast
TITLE >> Vessel
MEDIUM >> Water
LOCATION >> Hydro
CSU Spur Artist Residency
The CSU Spur artist residency invites artists of all backgrounds to develop new work that bridges art, science, and community engagement. Over six months, each resident collaborates with researchers, educators, and community partners to create exhibitions, workshops, and public programs that make complex ideas accessible, engaging, and inspiring.
The residency hosts one artist at a time and includes a stipend, materials budget, and housing to support dedicated creative practice. Spur’s first collaborating partner is the Forestry Hub, opening pathways for projects that explore climate, ecosystems, urban forestry, and stewardship through an artistic lens.
CSU Spur welcomed inaugural resident artist Kalliopi Monoyios in April. During her residency, Kalliopi is collaborating with researchers and community members to explore connections between art, sustainability, and environmental research through public engagement and creative practice.
Information about future residency opportunities and application details for upcoming residency rounds will be posted soon. Check back for updates.
Gallery curation
CSU Spur’s gallery program showcases rotating exhibitions that highlight the intersection of art, science, and community. Through curated displays in multiple campus galleries, Spur invites visitors to see the world through new perspectives, exploring themes like sustainability, innovation, and the interconnectedness of food, water, and health.
Each exhibition is selected to reflect CSU Spur’s mission of connecting research with real-world impact. The program features emerging and established artists whose work sparks dialogue, curiosity, and collaboration across disciplines. By curating exhibitions that engage both local and national voices, CSU Spur transforms its public spaces into ever-evolving environments of learning and creativity.
Current gallery exhibitions
Hydro Gallery 3
Printmaker and mixed-media artist Charlie Bloede explores the shrinking ecosystems of the ocean through vibrant abstraction. Her series “Small Waters” pairs bright, geometric patterns with layered prints to highlight both the beauty and vulnerability of marine life. Through collagraph monoprints, dyed paper, and screen printing, Bloede juxtaposes vivid coral hues with environmental decline, using color as both celebration and warning. The result is an immersive reflection on stewardship, conservation, and our shared responsibility to protect fragile aquatic worlds.
Vida Gallery 5
Created by students and community members in CSU’s Arts Management graduate program, these large-scale cyanotype murals blend art and science through sunlight-developed imagery. Using objects symbolizing campus and community life, participants collaborated to create layered blue compositions featuring handprints, natural specimens, and personal artifacts. The project exemplifies CSU Spur’s mission to merge creativity, research, and community engagement in visible, participatory ways.
Terra Gallery 6 | Jan. 5-June 26, 2026
Blue Silo Studios is a historic artist studio building in Denver’s Elyria–Swansea neighborhood, home to a wide variety of professional artists spanning generations who have long been committed to their studio practice and the Denver art community. Housed in a former 19th-century creamery, the building contains fifteen private studios where artists work independently across a wide range of mediums and disciplines, including painting, sculpture, printmaking, textiles, installation, mixed media, and sound.
Blue Silo is not just a workspace, but has long been a sanctuary that supports a dedicated environment for focused artistic development. Each studio is unique and carries its own personality, sustaining the individual practice that resides within each space. The collective presence of artists working side by side creates an atmosphere of discovery, experimentation, creative expression, and meaningful dialogue.
For many decades, the art being made at Blue Silo Studios has explored a wide range of materials and conceptual inquiry, expanding the range of traditional craftsmanship toward contemporary expression and beyond. What unites the artists of Blue Silo is a commitment to the collective well-being of each individual and the community they have built together over time, where the legacy of each artist inevitably resides.
The building serves as both a sanctuary for making and a quiet engine of meaningful artmaking and connection within Denver’s north side.
Today’s artists at Blue Silo include Stephen Alsobrook, Sarah Ashford, Fred Voigt Becker, Lois Becker, Gail Boyd, Maeve Eichelberger, Virginia Folkestad, Michael Gadlin, Wendi Harford, Rebecca Heavner, Keith Howard, Richard Jacobi, Isaac Karner, Bryan Leister, Amy Metier, Margaret NeJame, Jeff Richards, Kim Sullivan, Grant Williams, Jenny Wilson, and Ron Zito.
Vida Gallery 4 | June 2026-Feb. 2027
“What Does Water Mean to You?” explores the many ways water shapes our lives, communities, and understanding of the world. Through painting, photography, sculpture, textile, and digital works, artists reflect on water as a source of life, memory, culture, connection, and environmental responsibility. The exhibition invites visitors to consider their own relationship to water and how this essential, limited, and shared resource connects us all. Participating artists include Grant Adams, Tina Butterfield, Sarah Fitzpatrick, Jordan Forge, Levi Fisher, J Michael Gatlin, Linda Johnson, Catie Michel, Marni Myers, David Stallings, Harry Utter, Laura Varsafsky, Sarah Watson, and Kathryn Winograd.
Vida Gallery 5 | May-Aug. 2026
“Colorful Colorado” is a youth exhibition created in partnership with the Teen Programs at Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, featuring artwork by young artists from across the Denver Metro Area. Created in recognition of Colorado’s 150th year of statehood, the exhibition explores the past, present, and future of Colorado through themes of landscape, identity, culture, community, and imagined futures. Through personal and creative interpretations, the artists reflect on what Colorado means to them today. Participating artists include Owen O’Connor, Emmitt Masteller, Mila Beiers, Sage Barbour, Indi Olyowski, Lennox Brink, Lu Gatton, Millie Leubner, Margaret Lyons, Ella Kay, Akira Gallardo, Aaron Leming, and Deborah Getaneh.
Interested in exhibiting your artwork at CSU Spur?
KAREN SCHLATTER
Director, Colorado Water Center
Karen Schlatter was appointed director of the Colorado Water Center at Colorado State University in 2025, after joining the Center as associate director in 2023. Schlatter brings academic, nonprofit, and public sector experience in managing complex water challenges with a deep commitment to building partnerships and the ability to engage in conversations across Colorado’s water community. She joined CSU from the University of Florida Water Institute where her work included facilitating multi-stakeholder/academic teams to achieve shared goals around water management through collaborative, interdisciplinary research. Prior to her role at UF, she served as associate director of the Colorado River Delta Program at the Sonoran Institute, where she focused on building cross-sector and international partnerships to support large-scale ecological restoration, effective binational water management, and community engagement in the Colorado River Delta region. Schlatter earned a Bachelor of Science in biology from McGill University and a Master of Science in environmental studies from the University of Colorado Boulder. She served as an agricultural extension volunteer in the Peace Corps in Paraguay.
TOM VILSACK
Chief Executive Officer, World Food Prize Foundation
Effective March 1, 2025, Thomas J. Vilsack, former United States Secretary of Agriculture and Governor of Iowa, will become the first Chief Executive Officer for the World Food Prize Foundation. In this new role, Governor Vilsack will focus on expanding the Foundation’s global network, and will further position the Foundation as a leader in addressing global food and nutrition insecurity, continuing his lifetime of public service.
In 1998, he became the first Democrat to be elected as the Governor of Iowa in more than 30 years. During his two terms as Governor, he created an $800 million, 10-year economic development incentive program—the Iowa Values Fund. His administration worked with schools, medical providers, businesses, faith-based organizations and other entities to expand healthcare coverage to more than 90,000 previously uninsured children.
He became the 30th and 32nd United States Secretary of Agriculture, from 2008-2017 and 2021-2025, respectively. Only five people in U.S. history have served in the Cabinet longer, and during his tenures, the United States Department of Agriculture set records for U.S. agricultural exports and provided food assistance to millions of Americans. He helped expand food and nutrition access through summer feeding programs for children and additional support for fruit and vegetable purchases through the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program. As Secretary, he worked to develop new and superior markets for small and mid-sized farms, allowing those operations to remain viable and in turn, strengthening and growing rural communities.
Governor Vilsack has long been connected to the World Food Prize Foundation, having served on both the Council of Advisors and the Board of Directors. His insights and acumen were vital in shaping our mission and initiatives. His leadership and experience will be instrumental in expanding the Foundation’s international reach and continuing the mission of elevating innovations and inspiring action to sustainably increase the quality, quantity and availability of food for all.
Celebrate the Fourth of July at Spur!
CSU Spur is hosting its first Fourth of July party! Join us at 5:30 p.m. on July 4 for a live DJ, local barbecue, activities for kids, and a view of celebrations across the city from the Terra rooftop.
Tickets are $5.
We’ll see you Saturday!
2nd Saturday at CSU Spur is 10 a.m.-2 p.m. this Saturday (July 11), and this month, the theme is Wonderful World of Water. Explore hands-on activities focused on watersheds, aquatic ecosystems, water conservation, and the journey water takes from mountain snowpack to our homes, as well as agua frescas, the Westernaires, a river clean-up, the Market at the Center, and more!