Art on the Corner: downtown Grand Junction's open-air sculptures

Walk down Main Street in Grand Junction and you keep meeting sculptures. A bronze figure on a bench, an abstract shape of welded steel, something whimsical you have to circle to understand. This is Art on the Corner, and it has been part of the sidewalk since 1984.

The program started when local artist Dave Davis and other sculptors set out their work along the street. The city says it “was one of the first in the nation to feature a temporary sculpture display on city sidewalks,” and it went on to inspire similar exhibits around the state and country. It is a rotating exhibit, so the lineup changes over time, and Downtown Grand Junction administers it. In 1998 it earned an Excellence in Public Art award from the International Making Cities Livable organization.

The nice part is how ordinary it feels. There is no gate, no ticket, no set hours. You can wander past on a lunch break or an evening stroll, and the art is just there, year after year. It sits at the heart of what Colorado Creative Industries certified in 2018 as a state creative district, alongside the older storefronts and the Avalon Theatre.

For the current collection and a map, see the City of Grand Junction’s Art on the Corner pages.