The 16 murals by Allen Tupper True are an homage to the life of the American Indians who were the original peoples of the Americas. The murals painted in 1925 comprise five triptychs?—?Youth, Buffalo Hunt, War, Women, and Art Work?—?and the large single mural Happy Hunting Ground near the entrance.
"Allen Tupper True
When Allen Tupper True painted 16 murals for the Colorado National Bank Building in 1925, he couldn’t have imagined that almost 90 years later they’d be lovingly restored and proudly displayed high above the floor of the old bank lobby, now transformed into the chic new lobby of the Renaissance Denver Downtown City Center Hotel.
The recently unveiled Indian Memories murals comprise five triptychs?—?Youth, Buffalo Hunt, War, Women, and Art Work?—?and the large single mural Happy Hunting Ground. “You might expect images of progress, Conestoga wagons crossing the plains, farmers plowing the prairie, or ranchers moving cows, [but] for this series, True painted epic scenes of everyday Native life that included women and children and not just traditional warriors,” says art historian Peter Hassrick, director emeritus of the Buffalo Bill Center of the West and the Denver Art Museum’s Petrie Institute of Western American Art.
Born in Colorado Springs in 1881, True spent his childhood in Texas and Mexico before his family settled in Denver. He came from pioneer stock: His father, Henry, fought with Sam Houston, drove cattle from Texas to Montana, and later started a mercantile in Colorado. Allen went a different way, painting frontier culture as well as urban subjects like water, transportation, and even early aviation. His murals have been on view in the state capitols of Colorado, Wyoming, and Missouri, and in Denver’s public library and county courthouse.
In the forward to Allen Tupper True: An American Artist (University of Washington Press, 2009), Hassrick writes, “His mural and decorative embellishments for monumental architectural projects throughout the West affirm his role as an artist of profound importance and extraordinary breadth of vision.” Something to contemplate over an Allen Tupper True Cocktail while seated in the lobby of the Ren Den Downtown gazing on some of those very works of art." (from (
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"Renaissance Denver Downtown City Center Hotel
by Corinne Joy Brown
A Preservationist’s Dream
Time alone makes masterpieces, or so said French writer Anotole France. In the case of the recently opened 230-room Renaissance Denver Downtown City Center Hotel, located in the former historic Colorado National Bank building, one might also want to add the power of the imagination and a passionate belief in the possible.
Credit for this stellar addition to the downtown hotel landscape belongs to Denverite Navin Dimond, founder and CEO of Stonebridge Companies, a local hotel development and management firm with over 80 projects to its credit coast-to-coast. Said Dimond, “From boutique hotels of four stories to larger ones with forty, none of my hotels to-date carries the dignity, significance or importance of this particular jewel. I find value in repurposing a building over 100 years old; a building that will endure. It’s a kind of stewardship.”
That commitment to preservation delights Western historians, art aficionados and hotel guests alike. For in addition to the hotel’s spacious and comfortable rooms, the building is also home to one of the great installations of oil-on-canvas murals by the legendary Colorado artist, Allen Tupper True (1881-1955). Titled Indian Memories, a series of 16 dreamlike panels depict the life of a Native American Indian from childhood to manhood, framing the lobby at the third-story level on four sides. Above the new hotel entrance, a large arched panel, Happy Hunting Ground, depicts the subject’s final journey; a departed chief with his shield, saddle, and other trappings surrounding him on his burial platform. The murals were commissioned in 1925 to grace what architects William and Arthur Fisher deemed “a bank that looks like a bank,” a building clearly monumental in scale, dignified in appointment, and austere. In those days, such a facility also included numerous vaults for the storage of gold bullion and other precious metals.
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Colorado National Bank building was originally designed in 1915 as a four-story structure on the corner of 17th and Champa Streets, crowning the then “Wall Street of the Rockies.” In 1925, the size doubled horizontally and six more column widths were added in length. In the 1960s, two stories were again added and the existing skylight turned into a semi-open rotunda. In 1998, US Bank acquired Colorado National Bank, but then vacated the downtown property in 2007. Empty and in disrepair, the building was purchased by Stonebridge in December 2009. Adding two more stories and enclosing the rotunda, construction was completed in May 2014, thus preventing access to the murals for seven years. Now eight stories high, a stronger and heavily reinforced structure provides multiple dazzling uses.
The renovation team included klipp Architects of Denver (now gkkworks) and Design Force of Denver, a hospitality design firm. Christina Skopliak, lead interior designer, directed the space planning, room layouts and choice of finish materials. “A few motifs guided our work over the five-year makeover,” said Skopliak, “such as perfect geometric shapes, especially repetitions of circles and octagons, referencing the lobby ceiling. A mix of metallic materials symbolize the banking era.” Updated LED lighting adds brilliant illumination throughout. Nine Dot Arts of Denver curated the fine art selections, showcasing regional artists in various collections ranging from historic to contemporary, and an architectural consultant kept building changes within Landmark status restrictions." (from (
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"Colorado National Bank Hotel Underway
I recently had the opportunity to view the interior of the historic Colorado National Bank building that has sat vacant at the corner of 17th and Champa for about four years. As you may recall from a DenverInfill blog post from December 2009, the building will be renovated and expanded to become a new botique hotel.
Here’s a bit more about the project:
The owner/developer is Stonebridge, a Denver-based hospitality development firm, which recently completed the Hilton Garden Inn at 14th and Welton, and the project architect is JG Johnson Architects, which specializes in hospitality design. The plan is to add two floors to the top of the building (set back from the existing roof line), renovate/restore the existing six-story structure, and add a new stairwell and entryway on the building’s southwest side that faces a small surface parking lot. That surface lot is also owned by Stonebridge, so it will be used for a new glass porte-cochère and a few spaces for short-term guest check-in parking. All other parking for the hotel will be provided as a valet service to leased spaces off site. The main pedestrian entrance faces 17th Street and features the bank’s grand metal doors.
As the first image shows, the shape of the addition is like a square donut, with the hole serving as a light well for rooms that will face the interior. For this reason, a hole will be cut into the center of the top three floors of the existing building so that light can penetrate down through all but the first three floors.
The facade design and materials of the addition have not been finalized, but as these concept images above show, the addition will clearly reflect a contemporary design and feature a contrasting dark color to the historic building’s white facade.
A few other facts about the building: It will have 230 rooms, banquet/meeting rooms in the basement (including one inside the bank’s vault), a ground-floor restaurant and retail space, and a lounge in the mezzanine overlooking the lobby. The hotel is planned to be branded a Marriott Renaissance, a Marriott brand not yet found in Denver but one that often features hotels in historic or converted buildings (thus, the name “renaissance”). Currently, some remediation and interior demolition work is taking place. In May or June, the curb lane of Champa next to the building will be closed down and a crane positioned there to begin actual construction of the addition and major renovation work. If all goes as planned, the hotel will open in Fall 2012.
One other note about this building: it is absolutely beautiful inside and, once finished, in my opinion, it will become one of Denver’s swankiest and hippest hotels. The lobby is spectacular, and features a three-story atrium with classical marble colonnades and 16 large murals by famed artist Allen Tupper True. The murals will be protected during the restoration and will remain as one of the building’s prominent features.
The building is on the National Register of Historic Places and is a member of the Downtown Denver Historic District. The project team has already received all of their approvals from the Denver Landmark Preservation Commission and also has its financing in place. So, it’s full steam ahead for the transformation of this historic landmark on 17th Street into a new four-star hotel!" (from (
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