COLFAX UNDERGROUND – OPEN AIR ART WALK & SHOWCASE
A gallery without doors.
Colfax Underground is Colfax Ave Business Improvement District’s signature public art program, transforming the corridor between Grant Street and Josephine Street into an evolving open-air gallery featuring work by Denver-area artists.
Created to celebrate local creativity, bring people back to Colfax, support neighborhood businesses, and tell the stories of one of Denver’s most iconic streets, the program connects public art with artists, businesses, buildings, history, and community.
20 Open-Air Framed Art Panels
Photos in this gallery by Owen Braley with We Are Prophecy
4 Light Post Banner Designs
4 Powerbox Wrap Designs
The art isn't contained within a single venue. It stretches along Colfax Avenue from Grant Street to Josephine Street.
The 2026 Colfax Underground Open Air Art Walk is made possible in part by the businesses and community spaces opening their walls, patios, and properties to host one or more framed art panels throughout the district. Participating host locations include Argonaut Wine & Liquors, Velvet Banjo, Nob Hill Inn, 1Up Arcade & Bar, The Squire Lounge, SliceWorks, Buddies, X Bar, Ma’s Kitchen, Wyman’s Mercantile, Maaco, Chivis Tacos, Charlie’s Denver, and The Center. Together, these venues help transform Colfax into a true open-air gallery while connecting visitors with the independent businesses, gathering places, and community institutions that give the Avenue its character.
Every location becomes part of the story—connecting an artist and their work to the business, building, block, and community surrounding it.
[DIGITAL ART WALK LINK COMING SOON]
Public art can do more than beautify a street.
Colfax Underground is intentionally designed to draw people along the corridor and introduce them to the independent businesses that give Colfax its identity.
Visitors may discover an artwork outside a restaurant, bar, shop, entertainment venue, or community organization—and then discover what is behind the door.
The future Digital Art Walk will connect every artwork with information about its host location, nearby businesses, and other places worth exploring.
Every block of Colfax has a story.
The Digital Art Walk will go beyond artist biographies and artwork descriptions to connect visitors with the history of Colfax, the buildings they are standing beside, local businesses, neighborhood stories, cultural districts, and other unexpected pieces of the Avenue's past and present.
One artwork may lead to the story of a historic building. Another may introduce a longtime Colfax business. Another may connect visitors to LGBTQ+ history, music, architecture, transportation, nightlife, or the people who shaped the corridor.
Together, these stories create a deeper understanding of the street the artwork calls home.
There is no single way to experience Colfax Underground.
The program is being developed so visitors can engage with the collection in the way that works best for them.
When the program goes live one can experience the art in a variety of ways:
Walk It
Follow the self-guided Art Walk through the district.
Listen to It
An audio experience will provide artist stories, place-based storytelling, and visual descriptions of artwork.
Watch It
A video tour will allow visitors to experience the collection virtually, including those unable to visit the corridor in person.
Explore It Online
The Digital Art Walk will connect artwork, artist profiles, businesses, locations, and Colfax stories in one interactive experience.
Public art has long been part of the vision for Colfax.
The Colfax Streetscape Design Master Plan identified a goal of creating an “open air art gallery” along the Avenue and specifically encouraged continued opportunities for public art throughout the corridor.
Colfax Underground brings that vision to life while supporting a new generation of Denver artists and creating reasons for residents and visitors to rediscover the Avenue.
Colfax has always been a meeting place for different people, ideas, cultures, identities, and forms of creative expression.
Colfax Underground is intended to reflect that spirit by creating opportunities for artists across backgrounds and experience levels and by placing art in public-facing locations where people can encounter it without purchasing a ticket or entering a traditional cultural institution.
The program also expands participation through digital, audio, and virtual experiences designed to reduce barriers to engaging with the collection.
Colfax Underground began during one of the most transformative periods in the Avenue's recent history.
Following an extended period of major Bus Rapid Transit construction, the Colfax Ave BID wanted to do more than simply tell people that Colfax was open again.
We wanted to give people a reason to come back.
Public art offered an opportunity to create something lasting: invest directly in local artists, make the corridor more vibrant, encourage exploration, support businesses recovering from construction impacts, and begin building a cultural attraction that can grow year after year.
Colfax Underground is designed to grow.
Future collections can bring new artists, new artwork, additional stories, expanded tours, community programming, artist events, and new partnerships to the Avenue.
Over time, each collection will become another chapter in a growing archive of Denver creativity and Colfax culture.
THE DIGITAL ART WALK IS COMING SOON
Soon, you'll be able to use your phone to explore every stop along Colfax Underground.
Meet the artists. Hear the stories behind their work. Learn about the businesses hosting the collection. Discover Colfax history. Find what's nearby. Build your own route.
Walk it in person—or experience Colfax from wherever you are.
[EXPLORE THE ART WALK LINK COMING SOON]
THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS AND SUPPORTERS
COMING SOON!