Sporting a wide-brimmed hat and a large paintbrush, artist Ed Natan can often be found on Colfax Avenue, South Broadway, in the Uptown neighborhood, or in one of Denver’s municipal parks, chatting with locals or tourists as he creates vivid watercolor paintings of some of the city’s most iconic street scenes.
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston has enjoyed the plethora of activities he has been fulfilling during his first three months in office. He has been hiring staff members to fill cabinet positions, hosting town halls to connect with Denver residents, determining the priorities of his first budget, and implementing the details of his homelessness initiative. “I love that we’re moving at break-neck speed on the city’s toughest problems,” says Johnston. “We go from working on community economic development in Northeast Denver, to public safety in Southwest Denver, to the revitalization of downtown, to finding a new home for the Broncos stadium.”
United Airlines 777 Line Training Manager Capt. Vince Eckelkamp did not have his captain’s hat on when he arrived at Kahului Airport in Maui after a harrowing drive through Lahaina just hours before the historic town burned to the ground.
As the burden of climate change will increasingly fall on our youth, “Front Porch” features two local students taking different approaches to some of the environmental challenges before us.
After 20 years in the corporate world, Park Hill resident Willy Wilson picked up a camera and “took a chance on the surprise factor,” she says. She launched her portraiture business, Life Unstill Photography, about a decade ago, and in January received one of the top honors in her industry, the Photographer of the Year award from the National Association of Portrait and Child Photographers.
For more than four decades, Park Hill resident and sculptor Ed Dwight has been casting Black history-makers in bronze to ensure that future generations know about their contributions to society.
Smith’s vibrant use of color and her whimsical, energetic style soon caught the attention of friends and neighbors, and last September she unexpectedly launched her second business, this one as a painter of dog portraits.
Terri Gentry is a fourth generation Denverite who has been attending Denver’s Martin Luther King Jr. Marade since its inception in 1986. “It’s always been an event about unity and coming together, with people from all walks of life. Young people, old people, families pushing strollers. Blacks, whites, Latinos, Jews, Christians, Muslims.”
A few months into the pandemic and about a year after he moved from South Dakota to Central Park, Jeff Dunn bought the last bike that was available at a neighborhood bike shop. “I wanted something to do, but I had no plans beyond that,” says Dunn.
United States Congressman Jason Crow is the co-sponsor of a bill that would prevent law enforcement officers from needing to respond to calls involving mental health crises. The bill, which was passed by the House, would provide local governments with grants to form mental health units, instead of police, to respond to certain 911 calls.
We can hardly believe we printed the first issue 22 years ago—though looking around at all that has changed makes it believable. It was a great run, but it’s time for the paper’s smart and energetic staff to carry Front Porch into the future.
As a self-described “country boy,” Felix Merino didn’t set out to become an urban spectacle when he started his dog walking business two years ago, but that’s indeed what he has become.