LAKEWOOD, CO.- The Laboratory of Art and Ideas at Belmar, a new institution dedicated to art and thought and combining elements of museum, think tank, and public forum, announced today that it will open its new dedicated space on September 16, 2006. The Lab will launch its inaugural programming in an 11,500 square-foot two-story building in the Belmar district, a new mixed-use, residential and commercial urban neighborhood in Lakewood, Colorado. Designed by Belzberg Architects, the firm will transform the building’s raw interior space in a way that will allow The Lab to present significant international contemporary exhibitions, public forums, and multiple lecture series, among other programs.

Under the direction of founder and Executive Director Adam Lerner, The Lab at Belmar is conceived as a space for the general public to engage with artists and scholars, as well as to advance discussion of issues related to contemporary culture. Beginning with the U.S. premiere of a new film by artist Isaac Julien, The Lab will present exhibitions, lectures and symposia, live music, performances, and films that foster both public discourse and personal reflection.

The Lab will have a unique position as the cultural anchor in Belmar, which was created by developer Continuum Partners and is located five miles outside of Denver. As a new and vital forum for contemporary art, The Lab will enrich the growing cultural landscape in Denver while providing a central, dynamic gathering place for its local community.

As a prelude to its opening, in May 2004 The Lab began organizing several well-attended public lecture series held in a Belmar storefront. These lively discussions reinvent the idea of a lecture by fostering interactive experiences that explore everything from bird watching to contemporary cultural theory to the music of Björk, and have drawn thousands of participants from around the Denver area.

“Hagy Belzberg had a deep understanding of our design needs and the challenges that The Lab faces with this space,” said Adam Lerner, Executive Director of The Laboratory for Art and Ideas at Belmar. “The Lab at Belmar presents an opportunity to engage the public and reinvent the role of a contemporary arts center. Belzberg’s design reflects our desire to create an institution that combines sophistication with playfulness, and at the same time, promotes interaction with its community and evolving urban environment.”

The Lab began as a collaboration between Continuum Partners and the Denver Art Museum, where Lerner was formerly Master Teacher for Modern and Contemporary Art. Lerner and Lewis Sharp, Director of the Denver Art Museum, worked together to develop The Lab as a center for experimental programming that goes beyond the traditional art museum or gallery. Lerner is supported by an advisory committee of internationally renowned scholars, museum professionals, and artists.

Inaugural Exhibition Programs and Partnerships
This September, The Lab will present as its inaugural exhibition the United States debut of Isaac Julien’s film installation Fantôme Afrique, co-commissioned with the Pompidou Center in Paris and the Ellipse Foundation in Portugal. Fantôme Afrique is a three-screen film installation shot in Africa, incorporating archival footage from early colonial expeditions and African political history. Inspired by French author André Gide’s 1925 expedition to Africa with his filmmaker companion Marc Allegret, the film presents dance, architecture and the cinematic mileu itself to explore the creative possibilities that emerge at the point of interaction between local and global culture. Fantôme Afrique will be on view through December 30, 2006.

Other aspects of The Lab’s inaugural programming will address the relationship between personal experience and public meaning, memory, and history. Artist Liam Gillick will collaborate with professional folklorists and ethnographers to produce and exhibit a range of material which may include home movies, oral histories, video testimonials or other forms of amateur and professional documentation of individual stories. The Lab is developing a series of general audience and academic publications to supplement its exhibition and lecture program.

In addition to a strong exhibitions program, The Lab will build upon its successful lecture series, which combine a sophisticated discussion of ideas with elements of humor, irony and chance. “Mixed Taste: Tag Team Lectures on Unrelated Topics” randomly pairs topics from entirely different fields, for example meat sausage was paired with T.S. Eliot, cold sake with African art, and Andy Warhol with artificial lighting. Other lectures include “Mishugas! Appreciating Contemporary Art and Things You Learn From Aunt Miriam,” a series led by Lerner emphasizing insight from his aunt, Miriam Edelman, and “School of Music Reform,” which dissects the music of artists ranging from Philip Glass to Frank Zappa.

Furthering its role as a forum for engaging with current issues in contemporary culture, in May 2005, The Lab co-sponsored the Culture, Commerce and Community Conference, with the University of Colorado at Denver and the Health Sciences Center (UCDHSC), the City of Denver’s Office of Cultural Affairs, the Colorado Council on the Arts, and the Colorado Business Committee for the Arts. Featuring the first public debate between Richard Florida, social theorist and author of The Rise of the Creative Class, and Joel Kotkin, Senior Fellow at the Davenport Institute for Public Policy, Pepperdine University, the Conference engendered a community-wide discussion on the relation between art and civic and commercial life.

Following on the success of its initial partnership, Mark Heckler, UCDHSC Provost and Vice Chancellor, approached The Lab about developing a more permanent relationship between the institutions. Already, faculty in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the College of Arts and Media have served as organizers, speakers and performers of The Lab’s public programs. The Lab and UCDHSC are currently working to expand and formalize this relationship, in order to more closely tie The Lab’s educational offerings to the teaching and research mission of the university.

The Lab at Belmar’s New Home
The opening of this new dedicated space is another step in the steady evolution of The Lab at Belmar. Building upon the strong response of the community to its existing programs, the $1 million interior transformation of a two-story, 11,500 square-foot space in an existing building at Belmar will allow The Lab to present significant international contemporary exhibitions, public forums, and thriving multiple lecture series as part of an overall expansion of its programming.

The Lab required a design for its new home that would accommodate its diverse programmatic needs. Award winning Belzberg Architects, known for their work in transforming interior spaces for cultural institutions and restaurants, have created a design that is reflective of The Lab’s mission to be a center for the exploration of issues related to contemporary art and culture. Belzberg’s design for The Lab’s interior spaces provides a welcoming environment that engages visitors on an artistic and architectural level.

“It is exciting to be collaborating on the birth of a new institution, especially one such as The Lab which is committed to fostering a new cultural dialogue,” said Hagy Belzberg, Principal, Belzberg Architects. “Our goal was to design a facility that would create a sense of intrigue and excitement the minute visitors step inside and yet be flexible enough so that the space could easily morph into a variety of configurations—from exhibition space to a lecture hall to a lounge atmosphere.”