Past Exhibitions
Little Gay (Vegan and Goofy) Four Panel Love Comics
Closed July 12, 2024
These comics by artist Will Betke-Brunswick are, as the title promises, little, gay, vegan, goofy, love comics. Each four panel comic exists separately, but the autobiographical series showcases queer love in Boulder through small uplifting moments.
Unchained Voices 2024: Liminal Presents and Futures
Closed June 22, 2024
Unchained Voices, an annual public art show, showcases art from incarcerated artists in Colorado. The exhibition celebrates creativity within correctional facilities, raising awareness of our connection with the incarcerated community.
Boulder Valley School District (BVSD) Showcase
Closed May 12, 2024
The Boulder Valley School District will hold its annual K–8 art exhibition at the Boulder Public Library. Art teachers from all elementary and middle schools will select pieces of art and honor the student artists.
Soundscape Symphonies (Bringing the Outside In)
Closed May 6, 2024
Listen to the changing acoustic-ecologies that surround Boulder’s wild areas, focusing on natural biophonic cycles through changing seasons. This non-visual representation reveals the important, delicate balance of the sonic-landscape and its intrinsic effect on our mental space.
Art in the Palm: Taiwanese Hand Puppets
Closed April 29, 2024
An array of hand puppets, each a storied character from Taiwan’s rich cultural heritage, intricately designed with elaborate outfits and weaponry. Showcasing the exceptional craftsmanship of Taiwanese artisans.
The Boulder Soul Box Project
Closed April 28, 2024
This multi-generational art project is a visual memorial honoring our Boulder neighbors who died or were impacted by the shooting at King Soopers on March 22, 2021, and calls attention to the epidemic of gun violence.
Empty Space: A LASP Artist in Residence Program
Closed March 31, 2024 Artists Mario Miguel Echevarria, Alexandra Lockhart, and Clark Riley remind us how creativity fuels discovery, breaking the divide between art and science. This program is in association with the University of Colorado Boulder’sTimmerhausfund.
Bubbling Up
Closed March 29, 2024
Bubbles serve as poignant symbols on this transformative journey, where stories mend wounds, dispel isolation and call for action. Visitors are invited to contribute their stories and responses, actively participating in the exhibition’s ongoing dialogue.
Relatosde la Madre Tierra, Tales from Mother Earth
Closed Feb. 4, 2024
Un experimento de arte colectivo que recrea y recupera los saberes ancestrales para el cuidado de la Madre Tierra. A collective art experiment that recreates and recovers ancestral knowledge for the care of Mother Earth.
Moving Steel Canvases: Railroad Graffiti in Boulder
Closed Jan. 31, 2024
Tad Kline’s unique photographs capture his passion for twentieth-century painting, the aesthetic of the railroad cars, and bold graffiti tags. His work examines alteration through weathering, accident, overpainting, and the efforts of the railroad companies to erase the vandalism.
The Boulder Art Association: Celebrating 100 years!
Closed Jan. 30, 2024
The Boulder Art Association (BAA) is a Community of Artists. We Talk, Teach, Promote, Exhibit, Support, Explore & DO ART! All are Welcome: all Mediums, Styles, Levels, Ages, Genders, Sizes, Cultures, Creators & Lovers of Art. This exhibit highlights the history of BAA with photos from the Carnegie Archives.
Birds of México
Closed Jan. 30, 2024
For his exhibit artist Christian Suárez created several depictions of different birds indigenous to México, in addition to a painting of the Mexican flag. The paintings are done in acrylic and the drawings in ink. The bird depicted on the Mexican flag is Quetzalcoatl, the Aztec god of time.
What Do You Do With a Tail Like This? Celebrating the Life and Art of Steve Jenkins
Closed Dec. 3, 2023
A vibrant retrospective of the wondrous work of Boulder Caldecott Honor recipient Steve Jenkins (1952–2021), featuring illustrations from his many children’s books (some in collaboration with his wife, Robin Page), that describe the marvels and magic of animals and the natural world.
Poems Beyond the Page
Closed Oct. 6, 2023
This interactive multimedia exhibition portrays poetry as an art that can live off the page to activate a sense of playfulness and connection. Presented by Beyond Academia Free Skool (BAFS), a literary arts collective that hosts free monthly poetry workshops in the Boulder Public Library.
Little Creatures
closed Sept. 28, 2023
Whether you hate them, love them, or are indifferent — your life depends on insects. Cool Boulder has teamed up with the Endangered Species Coalition and Colorado artists to explore our relationship with invertebrates through art, performance, workshops, community discussions, and more.
Our Wishes / Nuestros Deseos
Closed Aug. 8, 2023
Alejandra Abad developed “Our Wishes” in 2020 as a response to COVID-19 during her time as an Engaged Arts & Humanities graduate scholar at CU Boulder. The ongoing project has been displayed as hand-made banners throughout Boulder and Denver. This iteration focuses on banners that reflect wishes of joy to coincide with the library’s One Book One Boulder series related to the “Book of Joy”.
Maker Made
Closed July 30, 2023
The maker movement represents the collective energy and ambition of a community of inventors, designers, engineers, artists, craftspeople and tinkerers. Its ethos is a mixture of DIYer self-reliance informed by open-source learning, traditional craftsmanship, new technology and modern design thinking. Crafted in home studios, garages and local makerspaces – the work of these individuals stirs our imagination and provides a glimpse of what we can achieve as a culture of creators.
Cultivating Resilience
Closed June 11, 2023
Art and science come together in this exhibition by Amy Hoagland, Summer King, and Jullian Young. In collaboration with local artists, scientists, an elementary school, and Hannigan Air Quality Lab. This exhibition reflects on the unique abilities of plants to survive, thrive, and even improve the air around them after crises. Test an air quality monitor, take home an air-purifying plant clipping, and experience a data informed art environment.
Boulder Valley School District (BVSD) Art Exhibition
closed May 7, 2023
BVSD once again held its annual K–8 art exhibition at the Boulder Public Library. Art teachers from all elementary and middle schools will select pieces of art and honor the student artists.
Reservoirs
closed March 23, 2023
“Reservoirs” creates a sonic river using everyday containers contributed by community members across the Boulder Creek watershed. Featuring sound installation and curation by Michiko Theurer, visual artwork by Alejandra Calvo, musical contributions by Liangyeh Tai, and a poetic invitation by Ambika Kamath, “Reservoirs” frames questions about community, climate change, and intergenerational commitment.
To Have and to Hoard
closed Feb. 5, 2023
Joel Haertling, an eclectic character and avid collector who grew up in Boulder, worked at the Boulder Public Library for over 30 years. As a collector of ephemera, found art and personal objects, he brings people together through things. This exhibition will showcase a huge, yet comparatively tiny, cross-section of Joel’s collections and will also delve into his collection process.
Lived Experience
closed Jan 14, 2023
Lived Experience is an analog photography project that elevates the stories of people experiencing homelessness to inspire social change. Unboxed Photography worked in partnership with Feet Forward to distribute single-use cameras and provide an opportunity for folks to connect with their creativity and explore visual expression through the art of film photography. The images were captured on 35mm black and white negative film, allowing all exhibition prints to be curated and hand-processed in the darkroom by B Goodell / Unboxed Photography. Lived Experience is inspired by the Through Our Eyes Project, started in 2016 by Jason Williamson. This project is funded by a grant from the Boulder Arts Commission, an agency of the Boulder City Council.