Local artist hides hearts made of $100 in Denver for Valentine’s Day

DENVER (KDVR) — A local artist crafted papier-mâché hearts, each made out of 100 $1 bills, and hid them around Denver for Valentine’s Day.

It’s a citywide treasure hunt – what you get from it, well, that’s up to you.

Starting Wednesday, you might spot a red heart made out of $100 around the Denver metro area. If you find it, it’s all yours. What you decide to do with it is also up to you, according to Denver-based artist Xander Phoenix.

The red hearts are part of an experiential street art project called “The Heart of Money” as a way for Coloradans to explore the dynamics between art and money. These themes come into play once you find the heart, as you have a few options of what to do with it.

The papier-mâché heart is made from water-soluble glue and red temporary paint so they can be easily deconstructed into currency after putting it under lukewarm water.

But the artist adds other ideas for the heart as well.

You could keep the heart as is, for its artistic value and experience given. You could leave it for someone else to find and enjoy. You could gift it to a meaningful person, organization or a stranger on the street. Or you could do whatever you want with it, according to the artist.

Just remember that the destruction or permanent alteration of U.S. currency is illegal.    

“The idea behind ‘The Heart of Money’ is really to inject playfulness, love, and joy in a world that needs it,” Phoenix said. “We’re taking art beyond the traditional confines of a gallery out into the world where anyone who comes across it can have the visual and emotional experience that art often evokes. Here, with each heart that is found, we hope to take people through an exploration of their connections with art and money and themes like value, generosity, agency, and temporality.”

There are 100 hidden hearts around Denver, each with a QR code that takes its finder to the website with more information about the art installation.

The hearts will be placed throughout the Denver metro area, with the boundaries being Park Hill to the north, the University of Denver to the south, Monaco Parkway to the east and Empower Field at Mile High to the west.

The hearts will be strategically placed to form a shape. There will be five additional hearts placed in Boulder and 10 placed at major points of interest around Denver.

Five hearts will be given away to bystanders around Union Station via a performance art exhibition around 2 p.m. on Wednesday.

“Ultimately, my goal is to spread love and joy around Denver on Valentine’s Day,” Phoenix said. “It’s a fun way to both create and connect community around some important themes. I hope everyone who goes out looking for the hearts and those who find them have as much fun as we’ve had creating and bringing this street art installation to life.”