Entry No. 40 — the Denver file — filed under: outdoor
BOWS — Patrick Marold Steel Arch Installation
On the wooded eastern edge of Cranmer Park, a run of reflective steel inverse arches lines the passageway between the neighborhood and the park. It's a commissioned Denver Public Art piece by Patrick Marold — installed in 2020 — but there's no plaque shouting it, so people walk straight through the arches without realizing they're inside a sculpture. The steel catches and bends light along the corridor as you move. Even people who use the park daily miss that it's art at all.
The story
If you enter Cranmer Park from the residential eastern neighborhood rather than the central lawn, you will walk straight through a series of reflective stainless-steel inverse arches curving along the shaded dirt path. To most neighborhood joggers and dog walkers, they look like sleek modern fencing or decorative park boundary markers. There is no brass plaque, no sign on a post, and no museum-style label telling you what you are looking at. That stealth quality is entirely by design.
Installed in 2020 through Denver Public Art with support from local non-profit The Park People, BOWS is the work of Denver sculptor Patrick Marold. Marold—a Rhode Island School of Design graduate who spent three years as a laborer alongside famed eco-artist Andy Goldsworthy working on projects like the Storm King Wall—specializes in subtle, site-specific works that integrate directly into their environments. Instead of standing on a pedestal, the U-shaped steel ribbons of BOWS slice through the tree canopy along the corridor, catching ambient light, distorting reflections of leaves and sky, and framing western perspectives toward the mountains.
Because the corridor sits due east of Cranmer Park's historic sundial and mountain view terrace, almost everyone walking toward the panoramic Front Range view passes straight through Marold's reflective arcs without registering that they are standing inside a major public sculpture. It is high-level civic art hiding in plain sight as subtle urban landscaping.
What it's like
Approach Cranmer Park from the tree-lined neighborhood streets on the east, near Bellaire or Cherry streets, to enter through the shaded archway corridor. The vibe is strictly neighborhood-local and unhurried—expect quiet streets, lawn games on the grass, and zero tourist infrastructure. For the best effect, visit during golden hour or early morning; when the sun drops low in the sky, light catches the polished inner curves of the steel arcs and bends reflections through the leafy canopy. Once you walk through the corridor, continue a few hundred feet west to the historic sundial terrace for an unobstructed view of the Front Range. Park for free on surrounding residential streets and keep noise low out of respect for neighbors.
The move: Enter Cranmer from the tree-lined east side and walk the arch corridor slowly at golden hour, watching the light bend off the steel — then tell your date it's a deliberate installation, not just fancy fencing.
📍 Before you go Cranmer Park sits in residential Hilltop, roughly bounded by Third and First Avenues between Cherry and Bellaire. The arches line the tree-shaded eastern edge, due east of the sundial, so come in from the neighborhood side rather than crossing the open lawn. There is no dedicated lot; park free on the surrounding residential streets and keep things low-key for neighbors. The corridor is shadeless at midday and exposed in winter, so a clear, mild evening is the easy call. While there, walk a couple of minutes west to the historic sundial and the view terrace, which frames a sweeping Front Range panorama. Park hours shift seasonally, so check ahead.
- 📍 Hilltop
- 💸 Free
- ⚡ Low-key
- 🌗 Outdoors
Where: Eastern edge of Cranmer Park, Hilltop, Denver (tree-dense passageway between the neighborhood and the park, due east of the sundial)
Hours: Outdoor public art, accessible during park hours. Reflective steel is most striking in low-angle light (early morning / golden hour); free.
Pair it with
- Prismatic Electric Fountain (Ferril Lake) — Follow a stealthy, light-bending steel passage in Hilltop with a dramatic, multi-nozzle evening light show across Ferril Lake in nearby City Park.
- Impossible Winterbourne Steampunk Street Sculptures — Pair an official civic art piece hiding in plain sight with small, unsanctioned rusted-steel sculptures hidden on street posts throughout Denver's central neighborhoods.
- Carpio-Sanguinette Park (Former Sewage Treatment Plant) — Contrast a polished, subtle installation in residential Hilltop with a gritty Globeville park built directly over the concrete footprint of a 1937 sewage treatment facility.
Good to know
Where inside Cranmer Park are the steel arches located?
They line the tree-shaded passageway on the park's eastern edge, connecting the Hilltop residential neighborhood to the park due east of the historic sundial.
Is there an admission fee or plaque marking the installation?
No, access is free and open during regular park hours, and there is deliberately no sign or plaque calling attention to the artwork.
Who created BOWS and when was it installed?
Denver artist Patrick Marold designed and installed the stainless steel sculpture in 2020 as a commissioned piece for Denver Public Art, funded in part by The Park People.
When is the best time of day to view the installation?
Early morning or golden hour, when low-angled sunlight reflects off the stainless steel surfaces and distorts ambient light along the corridor.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: denverpublicart.org · denvergazette.com
last checked: 2026-06-07