The Kitchen Next Door Unveils Mural by Local Artists

The charm of well-design restaurants comes often from thoughtful details, meaningful additions, and interesting elements. The third outpost of the Kitchen Next Door, located in the newly opened Union Station, just completed such an element: a mural art piece. The mural "Shift" (acrylic paint, Gold Leaf ) is the result of a collaboration between Meredith Feniak and Anthony Garcia.

Feniak composed the installation by creating layers that follow the history of Union Station, integrating its movement from Beaux Arts train station, to neglected inner-city space and, finally, to its revival as an urban hub.

The early history of Union Station is evoked with a "wallpaper" applied with an intricate hand-cut stencil incorporating traveling seeds of two native Colorado plants and a plant that has become indigenous to the region: the Colorado Blue Spruce (Picea pungens), Bigtooth Maple (Acer grandidentatum) and the non-native Yellow Salsify (Tragopogon dubius).

Garcia of BirdSeed Collective painted the second layer of "buffed" graffiti intended to evoke the period in Union Station's history during which train travel fell out of favor and the station was largely ignored. The final layer represents the reinvention of Union Station. Partially gilded with gold leaf, the glowing silhouettes of Prickly Cucumber (Echinocystis lobata) climb up the installation, its tendrils embracing the primary layers. Native to Colorado and across North America, the annual thrives on the banks of the nearby Platte River and it represents the adaptability and tenaciousness of Union Station which has grown and thrived under challenging conditions to become a beacon of social interaction in downtown Denver.

The restaurant is open seven days a week from 11 a.m. until close. For more information, call 720.460.3730.

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