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BY KRISTAN SCHILLER

The Ritz-Carlton, Denver grand staircase chandelier; Denver Pavilions; Capitol building (below) Denver’s skyline

PAYTON’S PLACE

Cydney Payton, director of the Museum of Contemporary Art | Denver, savors summertime in the Mile High City.

It’s no chore getting Cydney Payton to talk about why she loves Denver, her home for several decades. She is the executive director and chief curator of the Museum of Contemporary Art | Denver (www.mcartdenver.org), which opened in a building slated to receive LEED gold certification, the second-highest level of eco-friendliness. “As a building, the museum is experimental in nature because we present contemporary artists,” Payton says. “It’s a place where you can be engaged with the ideas of living artists, and where you can have controversy without consequences. It is also a long-term dialogue with the community and with generations to come regarding the creative life of Denver.”

And what a creative life there is in Denver. In her time off, Payton thoroughly enjoys soaking up the city’s countless cultural and recreational offerings.

She recently took some time over her morning coffee to reflect on the latest developments in Denver and why she wouldn’t call anywhere else home.

Denver Botanic Gardens
summer concert seriesHow has Denver’s urban landscape changed over the last few years?
“I’ve lived in Denver a very long time and I’ve seen it go through decades of change. There’s a spirit of independence here that makes the city a frontier of innovation. It has become an exceptionally exciting city; we have more sunny days than Florida and, in addition to this, we have a very educated population. The diversity of the cultural life—and what you’re seeing with so many hotels and restaurants moving in—reflects our citizens. We have tourists coming in from all over now to enjoy Denver’s cultural assets. So, the wider range of accommodations becoming available, such as The Ritz-Carlton, Denver (www.. ritzcarlton.com; 303-312-3800), is very appropriate.”

What do you love about your neighborhood?
“I live in the Highlands, which is a great walking neighborhood. I love taking advantage of the urban outdoors as well as the rural outdoors here. The public parks such as Cheesman Park sit in these oasis pockets within the city, and they are absolutely beautiful. And they hearken back to one of the great landscape architects in American history, Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., who contributed to the initial design.”

Do you have any favorite summertime activities?
“A great thing to do on a summer evening is take a stroll over to St Kilian’s (www.stkilianscheeseshop. com), a fantastic cheese shop on 32nd Avenue and Lowell Boulevard. Pick up some cheese and bread and go next door to Mondo Vino (www.mondovino. net) for a bottle of wine, then bring your provisions over to the Denver Botanic Gardens (www.botanicgardens.org) for the summer concert series, which takes place at the gardens’ outdoor amphitheater. There is also a wonderful French bistro in this neighborhood called Z Cuisine (www.zcuisineonline. com; 303-477-1111), run by Patrick and Lindy. The coq au vin is an absolute must! They buy everything fresh and local. The farmers’ market I go to regularly is the Elitch Theatre Farmers’ Market (www.coloradofarmers.org). There are several neighborhoods in Denver that support small business, which is important, and in Colorado you can buy locally at all levels.”

Mondo Vino MCA Denver
exteriorDoes MCA Denver have anything special planned this summer?
“This summer is exciting because the Democratic National Convention is coming in August, and the summer exhibitions program will be quite provocative. We have artists exhibiting from all over the globe dealing with social and political issues in their work. Adam Helms, Jane Hammond, Jack Balas, Suzanne Kuhn and Brad Kalhammer, among others, will be exhibiting. It is a series that is destined to be thought-provoking, and we’re calling it ‘For All Those Who Have Broken Away.’

It’s when your community grows up, to a certain extent, that you have the opportunity to have a place like MCA Denver. I’m very proud of Denver. And I’m proud to say that the city is a part of the global creative community.”