DENVER — Thomas Evans, also known as Detour, has painted several colorful and powerful murals in Denver's Five Points neighborhood. His newest creation will soon be unveiled at Denver International Airport (DIA).
The piece, called "It's Not What You Take, It's What You Bring Back," features close to 200 pieces of donated luggage and is located in Concourse B.
Detour was awarded the DIA project in 2002 and has spent the past 2.5 years collecting luggage to bring his vision to life.
"I have around 183 pieces on the actual sculpture," Detour said. "I had about 250 donated from over 100 different individuals and entities. So everything from sports teams to the small individual who just moved to Colorado. So it's one of those things where it's kind of like I was trying to get everyone involved in the process."
John-Claude Futrell donated a piece of luggage that carries immense significance to him. It was a camera bag that belonged to his grandfather, Lt. Col. John W. Mosley, who was a Tuskegee Airman and a trailblazer in aviation.
"So just making sure that Colorado's rich history in aviation, that includes people of color, is reminded, especially through one of the busiest airports in the world, it's really important to us," Futrell said. "And so, contributing a piece of his luggage was an honor. We're really excited to see what the response is as travelers come from all over the world and learn a little bit more about Denver and its rich history."
It has taken a week to install the sculpture. Crews worked early in the morning to not disturb airport operations and even carried pieces through the window.
Detour said he's worked from 8:30 p.m. to 5 a.m. to ensure the piece is properly assembled.
"It's fun just being in the airport at night, being able to install something so that when everyone's waking up and the airport's really busy, it's like, 'Oh, what's this new thing that's happening?" Detour said.
The colorful sculpture will be formally unveiled next week in Concourse B, but for now, if you are traveling through the airport, you may be able to catch sight of this incredible installation.
"So I'm super, super happy that this was my first really large public art project because I think this idea really needed to come to life," Detour said. "I think a lot of people really got something out of a project that allowed other people to be involved with it because people of Colorado, no matter who they were, we're able to have the opportunity to donate to the piece. I think a lot of people in Colorado really resonated with that because they're like, 'Oh, this is public art. This is the public in public art.'"
If you will not be visiting the airport soon, you can see Detour's installation on Instagram by following his account @Detour303.
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