Common Ground: inaugural Denver Community Design Festival
Co-developed by Leyuan Li, The Lavender Hill Cultural District, CU Denver, and the Denver Mayor’s Office of Community Outreach
September 24–30, 2026
Common Ground Community Design Festival reception
Thursday, September 24, 2026
5–7pm, Denver Performing Arts Complex
1400 Curtis Street, Denver, CO 80204
The opening of the Common Ground Community Design Festival takes place on September 24, 2026, at 5pm, with opening remarks beginning at 5:30pm. The festival features five installations designed and built by Leyuan Li, Danny Wills, Andrea Malta, and undergraduate students at CU Denver in collaboration with five community organizations: Colorado Nepalese Community, Greater Denver CARES Mentoring Movement, Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, Empower Media Exchange, and Lavender Hill Cultural District. During the one-week festival, these installations serve as sites for a series of workshops, tours, and performances, temporarily transforming a portion of the Denver Performing Arts Complex into a playful stage for dialogue and interaction. Following the festival, the installations will be relocated to the neighborhoods of their partner organizations, where they will continue to serve as sites for public imagination. The event is free and open to the public.
