Aurora Highlands unveils new ‘Liberty’ statue that will be visible from I-70
A new 58-foot-tall, chrome statue was unveiled Tuesday at The Aurora Highlands, and developers hope it attracts locals and tourists to the area.
“Liberty” was designed by Belgian artist Michael Benisty for a Burning Man festival. The Aurora Highlands recently acquired the piece to add to its art park.
“Liberty is something that really resonates with people because it’s an icon that we all know,” The Aurora Highlands CEO, Carla Ferreira, said. “It’s not just the magnitude of the piece, but also the chrome finish is really beautiful because you can see yourself in it.”
The statue is currently in an undeveloped area along a gravel construction road at East 26th Avenue and the Aurora Highlands Parkway. It will eventually greet everyone accessing the development from Interstate 70.
Some critics in the community have questioned whether a statue is the right priority for Aurora right now. However, Ferreira said public art is a requirement for new developments.
“This is done through the district here at Aurora Highlands, so it wasn’t something that the state paid for or that the city paid for. This is done with taxpayer dollars from this area, but it’s also like a nonprofit entity,” Ferreira said.
According to Ferreira, the art park has already seen more than a million clicks on Google Maps.
“We just went on Google Maps. It’s the first thing that popped up,” Ronnie Cordova, who is visiting Denver from New York, said.
“Liberty” joins several other pieces of art in the area that have gone viral on social media. Several other people in the art park on Tuesday afternoon told FOX31 they had driven from places like Denver and Lochbouie after seeing the works on Instagram, Facebook and Nextdoor.
“People need to see some beauty, and I think the beauty in this piece here is, it’s here for everybody to see,” Denver resident Robert Meeks said.
The six-story structure was brought to Colorado from Nevada in several pieces. Crews used two cranes to reconstruct the statue over the weekend.
Once the remainder of the Aurora Highlands Parkway is built, the statue will need to be moved about 100 yards away to its permanent location. It will sit on a stand, bringing the sculpture’s total height to 60 feet.
“Liberty” is now available for public viewing. It is about 1.5 miles south of the main art park along a gravel construction road. There are currently no facilities or services available near the statue.
