Conventional Wisdom

With a Democratic National Convention hot on our heels, these are downright presidential times in Denver. On the first of July, it’s already the sort of summer when everything local has developed some sort of cultural tie to a political theme. We’re all jumping on soapboxes to expound, watching and making political films and theater, attending art shows exploring convention-inspired topics and laughing at the candidates in comedy clubs. And now, even the Denver Public Library will now have its moment under the opinionated sun.

Courtesy of C-SPAN and the White House Historical Association, the touring exhibition American Presidents: Life Portraits, a mini-walk through presidential history created by C-SPAN as an accompaniment to its biographical television series of the same name, will make a stopover in Denver just in time to help us all ponder who should be next. Centered on a collection of presidential oil portraits by artist Chas Fagan, from Georges Washington to W. Bush, the exhibit is filled out with biographical sketches, photographs and, perhaps best of all, historical newspaper front pages proclaiming presidential election results through the years.

Find the show in Schlessman Hall on the first floor of the Denver Central Library, 10 West 14th Avenue Parkway; by the time it ends, on August 14, we should all be ready for a full helping of convention-week politico-mania. For details, go to www.denverlibrary.org or call 720-865-1111.
July 1-Aug. 14, 2008