An experimental space for the idea of hope.

THE PEACE PROJECT by Miami-based artist/architect team Roberto Behar & Rosario Marquardt, who collaborate under the name R & R Studios, was commissioned specifically for the temporary | contemporary, MCA DENVER. THE PEACE PROJECT featured an architectural installation centered on the concept of the aftermath of a party in a public plaza. The plaza is emptied but the atmosphere remains, its festive banners and lights signifiers of occasional and fleeting spectacle. Behar and Marquardt play with perception and scale through a six-pointed star sculpture, centered in the middle of the room, near miniaturized figures, self-portraits. The female stands while the male sleeps, dreams being projected in real and imagined space. Here, the artists weave their narrative fantasy. It is a vision of unification for public realm with that of dreamer as a space of democracy and reinvention.

THE PEACE PROJECT had several additional components. High school students worked with the artists to create a Peace Flag for the exterior of the building. A Peace on Earth Day Party event was presented with satellite partners around the world. Friends in other states and countries joined in singing about, writing on and dancing for peace. Each participant host created their own Peace of Earth Day party. In Denver an airstream trailer covered in Peace stickers became the dj booth for a dance party in the front of the temporary | contemporary. THE PEACE PROJECT was accompanied by a catalogue entitled Satellite of Love, published by MCA DENVER, as a limited edition of three hundred. One hundred were signed and numbered by Roberto Behar & Rosario Marquardt.

This was the third installment in Creative Acts That Matter (CATM), a three-year project supported by The Compton Foundation to demonstrate how the arts can be a vehicle to create dialogue about social issues. The three-part series addressed population, the environment and peace. In 2005, MCA DENVER commissioned a billboard by Kara Walker to raise awareness about population and HIV. Working in collaboration with Art for Humanity, South Africa, billboards and banners were exhibited in three South African cities. The second project, in 2006, consisted of free exhibits and a performance by MacArthur recipients Eiko & Koma focusing on environmental issues.