'Aspen Light' on 16th Street in Denver

Colorado is widely known for its colorful and beautiful Aspen trees. When you visit Denver's 16th Street (formerly the 16th Street Mall) you'll find what will be known as landmarks in the years to come: Aspen trees that are actually pieces of art. The best part: They don't lose their leaves in the fall.

While you may not visit Downtown Denver very often, it's still good to know that there is this magnificent piece of art for all to enjoy. The City of Denver spent over $175 million to makeover [the mall] into a new, vibrant, area. These trees were money well spent in that endeavor. Who knows the amount of man-power that went into creating them; it must have been painstaking.

I only found out about the trees in November of 2025, when the artist behind them was featured on the Kelly Clarkson Show for another of his pieces. The artist, Patrick Shearn and his team create interactive and kinetic public art installations all over the world. Their "Off the Beaten Path" in Green Mountain Falls, is what made it onto the Kelly Clarkson Show.

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The, according to Denverite.com, $1.6 million 16th Street installation, "Aspen Light," is made up of a few "trees" that are made of stainless steel, decorated to look like Aspens. The thousands of leaves on the trees were lasercut and fitted onto pivots to flow freely. When you look at the trees, you just see leaves floating around, you really don't notice the "kinetic" nature of it.