(Un)Altered Books: Unheard Voices

Louise Cutler / Florence Price was a Black female American Composer Price is noted as the first African-American woman to be recognized as a symphonic composer, and the first to have a composition played by a major orchestra.

“(Un)Altered Books: Unheard Voices” is a new art exhibition that asks: “What happens when a story is erased?” Over 30 artists and community members gathered their reactions and responses to censored words, banned books, erased histories and silenced stories meant to rewrite the record. As a form of gentle resistance, they reclaim these silences through altered books, sculpture, mixed media and visual arts. The show is on view September 14 – November 15, 2026, in the Anderson Academic Commons Main Library on the University of Denver Campus at 2150 E. Evans Ave., Denver, CO. The public is invited to view the show during regular library hours as listed below and to experience the Open Case reception with artist talks and a discussion on Tuesday, October 6, 5-7:30 p.m., in Room 290.  The Anderson Academic Commons is open to the public during all of our open hours.

Filipina Pate / My goal is to rewrite the Story of the Philippine (originally published in 1898) as a Filipino-American woman in 2026. Using pages from the book as the foundation, I layered my own imagery and writing to retell this story and make my own version of the book.

Sponsored by the Women’s Caucus for Art, Colorado Chapter (WCACO), DU Libraries, and the Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library, this project started with the idea of channeling protest into the creation of art as a way for people to deal with the frustration, fear, anger and anxiety around being controlled without a voice, left out, erased, ignored or diminished. It became a community project exploring censorship and erasure, definitions around “what is a book,” and how art can respond to issues of our time. Three interactive workshops were held on the topics of censorship, book arts and stories. This included a tour of the Blair-Caldwell Library to help ground the public in the different stories of the African American experience in the West. The project culminates in this exhibition of artwork selected from pieces submitted via an open call for entries and curated by Lynne Muth, Susan Vaho, Robyn Jackson and Shanti Zaid.

Brenda Meyers / Cheyenne and Arapaho presence on the Colorado Plains intersects with the Homestead Act of 1862 and the 1930s Dust Bowl. Book pages studying Plains peoples form architectural tipis cradled by root systems. Bureaucratic land patents press down upon these roots, supporting an ethereal structure built on displacement and ecological collapse.

Visitors can explore the diverse artworks created by working artists and other community members from Denver and beyond that convey a range of compelling stories and experiences. Whether censored through government actions or related to religious, social or personal beliefs, the pieces illustrate how erasure and manipulation of words can affect people’s lives. Some of the works in the show will be for sale through direct contact with the artist.