Bonnie Brae Neighborhood Denver CO

Bonnie Brae, long considered to be one of Denver’s most beautiful and mature neighborhoods, owes much of that distinction to the trees that line its streets.  And Bonnie Brae’s residents do not appear to be satisfied with resting on their laurels.  Beginning in 2010, a campaign began to ensure that its well-groomed tree-lined streets stay that way.  It encourages residents to plant trees that may carry the torch for their elders when their time has come to return to the soil.  However, it’s not nearly as easy an endeavor as one might think.

To begin with, there’s a list of trees that are considered by the City Forester’s Office to be Main Street offenders; and the list might surprise you.  Outlawed are species of trees that many Denver residents consider as welcome and familiar as the geese and squirrels they share their parks with: namely the entire Poplar species (Populus spp.), and the every one of the Willow Species (Salix spp.).  Also banished to exile are the Siberian Elm, the Boxelder, and any type of “weeping” or “pendulous trees.”  But it doesn’t end there.

Along with those expelled from the neighborhood, comes an even longer list of species on suspension.  It includes such crowd-pleasers as the Evergreen Conifer, the Mulberry species, the Ash species, the Silver Maple, and any tree capable of producing fruit more than ½ inch in diameter.  Thankfully excluded, perhaps, is the Russian Olive tree—a harbinger of thorns often more than one inch in length and a furry fruit just smaller than a peanut.  It’s been a pest to Denver since it was originally brought here from Eurasia in the late 1800’s.

So what are Bonnie Brae residents left with to maintain the legacy of their famous tree-lined streets?  Thankfully the list is— if not easy to make sense of— quite long.  It includes numerous species that look as though they were torn from the pages of a romance novel: the Spring Flurry Serviceberry, the Crimson Cloud Hawthorn, the Ivory Silk Lilac, and the Columnar Hornbeam; trees that appear to have hired a marketing department to name them.  But the careful selections that residents will use in their campaign to continue Bonnie Brae’s proud arboreal tradition is full of interesting, well considered flora.  Mush time has been spent by the City Forester’s Office in selecting these breeds, whether or not their dedication isn’t readily apparent to the average passerby.

So, the next time you drive through Bonnie Brae and marvel at its old-growth foliage, don’t assume that you’re passing by a haphazard lineup of Maples, Poplars or Evergreens planted and left to fend for themselves years ago.  Instead, know that Bonnie Brae’s tradition of beautifully shaded streets is still being maintained by its residents— people you may not bump into while picking out trees at Home Depot, but rather, experts who can tell you what separates the Macho Corktree from its very close relative, the Eye Stopper Corktree.

The Bonnie Brae Neighborhood, though small when you consider its boundaries: (Exposition Ave. to the north; Mississippi Ave. to the south; Steele St. to the east; and University Blvd. to the west), often captures more than its fair share attention due to the many generations-old businesses that serve Denver as well as the famous curved, tree-lined streets that wind through its historic architecture.  However, it is now its alleys that seem to be stealing the spotlight.

Beginning prior to 2008, Bonnie Brae’s residents became more and more displeased with the state of the alleys behind their homes—considered by most residents to be more an extension of the sidewalk than a thoroughfare for garbage trucks and home owner’s vehicles.  In fact, the proliferation of scattered garbage cans left about by the city prompted neighborhood residents to wage what they now collectively call, “The Alley Wars.”  Taking place in 2008, this battle against the city’s mishandling of trash bins (which the residents eventually won) culminated in an organized protest by residents, who hauled their city-owned bins to the neighborhood Ellipse Park and left them there.

In the wake of their victory, an intriguing idea was born.  Its hope was to drive home the notion that Bonnie Brae’s alleys should harbor more than just trash and traffic.  It was first conceived by resident Wendy Lasko.  Her initiative to line the alley walls of Bonnie Brae with mural art seemed at first both audacious and brilliant.  Using a design technique involving small ceramic tiles, she started with a small mural called, “An Oasis in the Desert: Zenzele.”  And from there the idea took off.

It wasn’t long before other neighbors were educating themselves on the craft of tile murals.  With Wendy’s concept in mind they began to create their own art and affixed their creations in the alleys behind their own homes— right where the previously untidy trash bins used to stand.

The second piece of art to decorate the alleyways was a black and white dairy cow given the name “Marianne’s Moo”: an abstract, geometrical fusion of color and shapes that brings to mind a reprieve with a lot less concrete and lot more pasture.  These first art projects seemed to inspire a theme though, because the next mural to spring up was of another rural destination.  These murals were followed by flowers, dogs, butterflies and, though thematically out-of-step, even a tribute to the band Pink Floyd.

There are now 12 murals and counting, each tucked in an alleyway somewhere in Bonnie Brae.  Three years later Wendy’s idea only continues to gather momentum.  Her unorthodox idea of dressing up what most people consider to be an unsightly, often dangerous place where bad things happen, has caught the attention of the Denver Post and many local neighborhood newsletters.  Wendy now has her own website dedicated to the neighborhood alley art.  Its mission is to educate and promote the project with links to happenings, resident’s input, and even a map that lets anyone give them self a guided tour of the street art.

At least for the time being, it seems that Bonnie Brae, a neighborhood perhaps best know for its eclectic streets, is now best known for its eclectic alleyways.  To learn more about the art and where to find it, visit Wendy’s website at www.bonniebraealleyart.com.