I had to ask, “What’s a pop-up museum?”

“[Pop-ups] are basically temporary spaces that ‘pop-up’ in a location that may be unfinished or is normally used for other purposes,” I was told by Denver Community Museum curator, Jaime Kopke.

The Denver Community Museum is a temporary, free, community art museum located in Riverfront Park, across the Millenium Bridge from Downtown.  Each month, local residents are encouraged to submit objects, videos, drawings, stories, or whatever based on a theme, or “Community Challenge”, announced in advance. For example, in October 2008, the Community Challenge was “The Missing Map”, and participants were encouraged to create a globe or any size, material, and message. 

The current Challenge to be displayed during November 2008 is “Mummify Me”.  Artisans are instructed to “mummify” anything they might want to preserve, using any materials they wish.  Thankfully, they are also asked to be sure their submissions are inanimate and non-decaying.

The museum is free and open to the public and there is no charge to submit items for each Challenge.  Denver Community Museum will exist for less than one year (in its present location, at least), so don’t delay too long in visiting or participating in a Challenge.

Museum Hours and directions