Public art helps tell the story of a city. It transforms familiar spaces, sparks conversation and reflects the people who make up a community. Through Denver’s 1% for Public Art program, artists have contributed to the city’s cultural landscape for decades. Now, Access Gallery artist AJ Kiel is becoming part of that legacy.

AJ began working with Access Gallery in 2006 and has grown into one of the gallery’s most prolific artists. Known for his distinctive signature style, his work has been exhibited and commissioned throughout Denver and beyond. Recent accomplishments include his selection for New Belgium Brewing’s 2023 Artist Series, which featured his artwork on merchandise sold across the country, and his contribution to Access Gallery’s largest corporate commissioned project to date, a complete art collection for Modivcare’s headquarters.

His latest opportunity will bring his work into one of Denver’s most prominent public buildings.

When the City and County of Denver announced a public art commission connected to the renovation of the Wellington Webb Municipal Building, four Access Gallery artists were submitted for consideration. AJ was selected.

At the time, I was serving on the Denver Public Art Committee as an accessibility advisor. That role gave me a close look at how artists are considered for civic commissions and reinforced something I have believed throughout my career: artists with disabilities should have the opportunity to compete for significant public art projects and help shape the spaces we all share.

For this commission, each selected artist was paired with a City department to learn more about its work and find inspiration within it. AJ was matched with the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, known as DOTI.

During a tour of DOTI’s operations facility, AJ explored the buildings where traffic signs and signals are stored, created and maintained. He was fascinated by the materials, equipment and processes behind objects most of us pass every day without a second thought.

As the visit came to an end, DOTI staff showed us a recycling area filled with blank aluminum traffic signs waiting to be repurposed. That discovery sparked the idea that would shape the project: AJ could create his artwork using the same material that helps guide people through Denver every day.

Inspired by the visit, AJ developed a triptych representing a journey across Colorado, from the eastern plains to Red Rocks. His original drawings became the foundation for four layered panels that will be laser cut, powder coated and finished by hand. Each panel will measure approximately 18 inches high and eight feet long and will be installed in a hall that spans 30 feet.

The completed work will become a permanent part of the renovated Wellington Webb Municipal Building. For AJ, it is another significant step in a career built through years of creating, exhibiting and accepting new challenges. For Access Gallery, it represents something equally important: an established artist being recognized for the strength of his work and contributing his perspective to Denver’s public art collection.

AJ has spent nearly two decades developing a style that is unmistakably his own. This commission gives thousands of people the opportunity to experience that work in a new setting and to see Colorado through his eyes.

Sometimes public art begins with an unexpected material, a new partnership or a visit behind the scenes. In this case, a stack of recycled traffic signs became the starting point for an artwork that will help people see a familiar city through a different lens.