About This Piece

The artwork, titled “Color Isn’t Race,” features a graduating spectrum of colors through which the faces of four teenagers of different cultures and ethnicities stare intently at the viewer.

“These large-scale portraits are a visual declaration,” explained Spanish artist Rafael Blanco. “The concept not only represents diversity, but also celebrates it. The four protagonists represent Denver’s youth.”

Created through a combination of chiaroscuro technique and photo realism, the four faces span a 7 ft. x 30 ft. section of wall bordering the Cherry Creek Bike Trail between 14th and Colfax avenues.

Trained as a studio painter, Blanco still enjoys outdoor painting, even with the added pressure of the elements and the difference in size and scale. To him, urban mural painting is almost performance art. In the studio, a piece is hidden from the public and can be recreated or even destroyed by the artist, but on the street, there is an audience to witness the art’s creation.

“This is what I love about public art. That people get to see it while is being created,” said Blanco. “People were constantly passing by and most of them were thanking me for beautifying the city every single day.”