Lares Feliciano: Positively Aurora
July 13, 2023 - January 31, 2024
Positively Aurora is an homage to the welcoming spirit and community history of the city of Aurora. Artist Lares Feliciano drew inspiration from a nostalgic television promotion that aired in 1993 featuring a catchy theme song titled “Positively Aurora.” The uplifting video highlights the many faces of the local community and features exciting landmarks around Aurora. Building on this premise, Feliciano’s Positively Aurora encourages viewers to explore the city with fresh eyes and envision themselves as enthusiastic and proud ambassadors of hospitality.
Feliciano presents a series of vibrant collages created with archival images sourced from the Aurora History Museum archives, the Denver Public Library Western Collection, and assembled images from thrift shops and antique malls in Aurora. Each collage features historical imagery, recontextualized to create thought-provoking and visually captivating compositions. By combining elements from different time periods, the collages spark conversations about history and encourage viewers to find new appreciation for their city.
Visitors are invited to participate in the installation by writing a note to their loved ones using one of the souvenir postcards. Featuring prominent landmarks and events in Aurora’s history, the postcards celebrate local diversity and pride for the city.
Location
Aurora Central Library, 14949 E Alameda Pkwy, Aurora, CO 80012
About the artist
Lares Feliciano (b. 1985 Oakland, CA, USA) is an artist and cultural worker based in Denver, CO. Feliciano uses animation, installation, and collage to create worlds where marginalized experiences are front and center and all of time exists at once. Her work explores the in-between, layers of diaspora, and the complexity of memory. She holds an M.F.A in Cinema Production from San Francisco State University and a B.A. in Film & American Studies from Smith College. She has completed residencies with RedLine Contemporary Art Center and Grand Canyon National Park and was a participant in the Colorado Creative Industries Change Leader Institute.
“My work always begins with collage and the process of gathering images, ephemera, sounds, stories, and other media. In this process I become part witch, part detective, dissecting and deconstructing the materials in front me to create something new. From here collage evolves into installation, animation, murals, and more. I am interested in time, identity, memory, and diaspora. Often in my work, all of time exists at once, setting the viewer off on a sort of sensory time travel. I want viewers to feel pulled into their own nostalgia, empowered to remember and reminisce.”
— Lares Feliciano
The Positively Aurora installation is part of a series of exhibitions and programming that are a collaboration between Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art (BMoCA) and the Aurora Public Library branches Aurora Central and Tallyn’s Reach. Through this initiative, BMoCA presents free, museum-quality exhibitions by regional artists at library branches and complementary programs at the libraries and neighboring schools. The collaboration works to expand accessible educational and cultural opportunities for Arapahoe County residents of all ages and backgrounds.
Thank you to our generous sponsors: The BMoCA and Arapahoe County collaboration is funded in part by the Scientific & Cultural Facilities District and the Kemper Family Foundations, UMB Bank, n.a., Trustee.