All of this was on Evans’ mind during his art break while his professional-sized 3-D printing machine hummed in the background. His small, second-floor studio in an historic former synagogue is neatly organized with the electric tools of his trade — drills, saws and sanders — while paint canisters and many-colored spools of filament are in view and accessible. Denver VOICE’s new arts ambassador — Evans will connect Denver VOICE with other artists and arts projects — talks about how memory wends its way into his work and about building community. His tribute to Clara Brown, a freed slave and early Colorado settler who became one of the state’s first female entrepreneurs and philanthropists, on a well-trafficked slice of York Street in the Cole neighborhood, does just that and more. Evans tells Brown’s life story in a sweeping mural at the Clara Brown Commons, connecting residents to their own histories. The developer, Mile High Ministries, incorporated community spaces, large and small, and local artwork into its affordable housing community. Evans’ exterior piece is certainly the largest. “This particular mural is the kind of beauty born of struggle — you can see that in this mural,” said Scott Dewey, communications director at Mile High Ministries, referencing the many hardships Brown overcame in her long life. “In Detour’s depiction of her, Clara Brown is radiant. You’d think this person was born of ease, but it’s the radiance that comes from overcoming challenges, and our residents are no strangers to that. This mural evokes all of that.” An arts educator, Evans spends time in middle-school classrooms working with fourth and fifth graders on a mural, or at REACH Open Studio, a free community program at RedLine Contemporary Art Center, 2350 Arapahoe St., that provides a creative space for people experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity. Through the efforts of John Claude Futrell, who manages the art space at Nest56, which provides stable housing and resources for young adults ages 18 to 24, Evans also helps budding artists tap into their creative streak. “We all need to do work that makes us feel human,” Evans said. And while art is life-supporting, making art also is goaloriented, and it keeps the mind occupied. “It can keep your mind off your worries.” Evans’ murals bring viewers into his storytelling. Find his tribute to the Denver Nuggets’ 2022- 23 championship season, featuring Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray on an alley-side wall on the building at 1919 E. Colfax Ave. This same wall formerly featured a tribute to George Floyd, then a friend of Evans’ who is a nurse, but with both murals, the paint chipped off. Over the past decade as a muralist in Denver, Evans has created several tributes to heroic figures, including Sandra Bland, Elijah McClain, and Isabella Thallas, and to essential workers during Covid-19. While his mural of civil rights activist and Congressman John Lewis has survived, others have disappeared. “It’s the nature of murals,” Evans said. Find the tribute to Lewis on the historic Denver Rock Drill building at Franklin Street and East 40th Avenue. You’ll know it by Evans’ distinctive style: He paints in hyper-realism with rich, saturated colors. “My work is super colorful,” Evans explained. “Each piece Thomas Evans, the artist known as Detour, installs his artwork, “What We Carry Forward,” at the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Center for the Healing Arts in Denver in late July. | Photo by JC Futrell needs to champion community. … I’d like people to come along for the journey.” Evans 3-D printed every part of the interactive “Civic: The Board Game” at the Webb Building, then engineered and 3-D printed the attachments for hanging his most recent permanent sculpture, “What We Carry Forward,” installed in late July at the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance (CPRD) Center for the Healing Arts (CFHA) at 2025 N. Washington St. in Denver. That piece was built from well-worn dance shoes — tap “WE ALL NEED TO DO WORK THAT MAKES US FEEL HUMAN.” and ballet — and battered theater equipment, including light cams and microphones. There’s even a cherished Djembe, a West African drum, gifted by CPRD President and CEO Malik Robinson, who is the son of Cleo Parker Robinson, the dance center’s founder and artistic director. As with his murals and his other public displays, memory plays a starring in the CPRD sculptural piece. “It is all these wonderful symbols of what we do here, which is dance and theater and music and creativity, and I love it,” said Cleo Parker Robinson. “It’s really fun. So, what we do is make magic through the arts, and it’s all there.” 10 COMMUNITY PROFILE
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