Tim Sprinkle

Lonnie Hanzon’s Ice + Snow

5280 magazine

Forget the elves, the gifts, and the pageantry. For Denver artist Lonnie Hanzon, the holiday season is all about contrasts. "People seem to forget that the holidays, no matter what culture you look at, the basic story is about darkness to light," says Hanzon, who's been designing public art exhibits for more than two decades. "It's about early civilizations not knowing whether spring was going to come again."

And that contrast between winter darkness and spring light is the central theme of Hanzon's latest holiday art installation, "Ice + Snow," which opens this month in Greenwood Village's Samson Park in partnership with the Museum of Outdoor Arts. It's an ambitious undertaking – even for Hanzon, whose seasonal window decorations helped revitalize the 16th Street Mall in the late 90s – that combines traditional holiday lighting with a variety of snow-themed characters, interactive exhibits, electroluminescent light sculptures, and natural elements to create a unique, walk-through experience. According to Hanzon, the free exhibit is a celebration of the season and an inclusive way to explore the colors and themes of Colorado in the wintertime.

Says the artist, "It's about bringing people back to the words and symbols that everybody can share about the season."