This is one of several sculptures displayed in the D.C. Burns Park at the intersection of Alameda and Colorado Blvd. I have always enjoyed this sculptures as I drove by, but never took the time to stop at the park. There is a small parking area at N39° 42.710, W104 56.397° that can only be accessed going west on Alameda.
This piece is concrete, plywood covered in fiberglass and paint. Di Benedetto created many permanent displays in Colorado and throughout the United States. During the 1960s and 1970s, he received numerous major commissions for outdoor sculptures and one mural. Commissions include a sculptured copper wall, eighty feet in length, for the Jewish Community Center (1962); sculpture garden for General Rose Hospital (1964); Burns Park which comprised nine sculptures by as many artists (1968); a neighborhood park sculpture in Yonkers, New York (1971); a sculpture for the Pueblo ice skating rink (1976); and a mural for the Colorado Judicial Building (1976).
Di Benedetto was interested in encouraging the appreciation of art and artists. Throughout his career he gave workshops, classes, and lectured on art and related topics around the country. He began teaching in 1949 at his home studio - a large warehouse - located in Central City. In 1950, he opened the Denver Art Center, which welcomed anyone interested in learning to draw or paint. Di Benedetto taught at the Jewish Community Center, Steele Community Center, the International House, Southern Colorado State College, and lectured on modern art at the University of Denver.
His interest in promoting the arts led to Di Benedetto's participation in numerous organizations. In the 1960s, he became concerned with environmental and urban art and was the president of the non-profit organization, Art for the Cities. He was the chairman of and an exhibitor in the first annual environmental art exhibit held at Denver's American Medical Center. In 1968, Governor John Love appointed him to the Colorado Council on the Arts and Humanities; he remained active until 1975. During this time he served as program chairman two consecutive years for the Governor's Conference on the Arts and Humanities. At the 1969 Conference, Governor Love presented Di Benedetto an award for his contribution to the arts and artists of Colorado.
In addition to his artistic career, Di Benedetto participated in the civic life of Central City. He was the town's Police Magistrate from 1955-56. He campaigned twice for the office of mayor, first in 1966 and again in 1973, and he ran for Commissioner in 1976. Di Benedetto was married several times; his first wife was Lee Porzio, a ceramicist with whom he had two daughters, Michele and Mia.
The sculpture was created as part of the June 1968 Denver Sculpture Symposium, in which nine artists took part. The symposium was sponsored by a non-profit organization "Art For The Cities, Inc.," and the artists were paid moderate fees for their work, with materials donated by local and national sources. The sculptures were donated to the City in August of 1968. The sculptures were originally intended to only be temporary. Of nine of the original sculptures, four remain.