Decor at the Cable Center. "The Happening," the opening of the "Warhol in... (Steve Peterson)


Philae Dominick in front of the Chairman Mao prints that she lent to the exhibit. ( Photos by Steve Peterson, Special to The Denver Post )

Aside from the Campbell's Soup cans and famous faces that defined his iconic art, Andy Warhol is most famous for having said, in 1968, that "In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes."
So of course we're thinking that it would have been pretty cool if the opening party for "Warhol in Colorado" had lasted only 15 minutes.
Maybe not.
As it was, the two hours set aside for Thursday's VIP preview was barely long enough for 300 fans of the Master of Pop Art to absorb and enjoy 100 original works — and assorted memorabilia — that will be at the University of Denver's Victoria H. Myhren Gallery through March 13.
It was important to keep track of the time, though, because the evening had a Part II: A 1960s, New York club scene-influenced Warhol Happening at the neighboring Cable Center.
There, guests could enjoy deejay music and a Gourmet Fine Catering buffet that was a throwback to the days when pigs in a blanket were a cocktail-hour staple and a stiff martini or scotch on the rocks was a beverage of choice.
So how did a Warhol exhibit end up at DU and why was a venue as high- tech as the Cable Center chosen for the party? "Although thinly documented until now, Warhol visited Colorado approximately a half-dozen times in the late 1970s and early '80s," explains gallery director Dan Jacobs, who curated the exhibit with Rupert Jenkins, president of the Colorado Photographic Arts Center. "Our goal is to recapture the significance of his impact on the regional art scene by reaching out to numerous organizations, individuals and philanthropists who have connections (of varying degrees) to him."
Denver resident Philae Dominick, for example, lent her set of 10 original, hand-finished silkscreen prints of Chairman Mao. Valere Harris Shane, also of Denver, worked for Interview, the magazine Warhol co-founded, and provided contact sheets and black-and- white prints that

Valere Shane and daughter, Bayley, stand beside images she took of Warhol when she worked for Interview magazine.
she shot of him with supermodel Cheryl Tiegs, gossip columnist Liz Smith and others. Photographers John Bonath and Mark Sink chronicled Warhol's visits to Aspen, and many of those images are included in the exhibit, as is a poster that gallery namesake Victoria Myhren had Warhol autograph when she shared an elevator ride with him at the Denver Art Museum.
Warhol, who died after gallbladder surgery in 1987, also experimented with computer imaging and cable-television programming, which inspired Myhren and her opening night co-chairs Lauren Cannon Davis and Alexis Hart to keep the Cable Center's multiscreen video tower filled with snippets from the artist's jet-setting life.

Lauren Cannon Davis, left, and Alexis Hart, co-chairs of the Warhol opening party.
Myrhen and her husband, Trygve, are principal sponsors of "Warhol in Colorado," along with Trish and Ralph Nagel, J.P. Morgan, the Cable Center and the University of Denver, whose chancellor, Robert Coombe, was at the opening with his wife, Julanna Gilbert.Christopher Hill, who became dean of DU's Josef Korbel School of International Studies after serving as U.S. ambasssador to Iraq, was there with his wife, Julie, as were Denver Art Museum president Cathey Finlon and her husband, Dick; Vance Kirkland Museum founder Hugh Grant and his wife, Merle Chambers; Tom Whitten and his wife, Michelle, with her parents, John and Anna Sie; Jane Hamilton; Bob and

The DU gallery is named after Vicki Myhren, with her husband, Trygve Myhren; and Lisza Gulyas, an event sponsor. (Steve Peterson)
Judi Newman; Michele Mosko Fine Art owner Michele Mosko; Clara Villarosa; Dr. Kelly McAleese; Gail Berliner; Linda Bowen Scott; Thom Wise; Stevie and Dr. Art Strasburger; Will Joseph; Pam Hill and Dr. John Grossman; George Ann and Buzz Victor; Dianne Eddolls and Glenn Jones; Janis Hampton; Barry and Arlene Hirschfeld; Sue McFarlane; Roselyn Saunders and Dan Sharp; Layne and Craig Fleishman; and Lisza Gulyas, whose VuConcepts was one of the evening's sponsors. The Victoria H. Myhren Gallery, 2121 E. Asbury Ave., is open daily from noon to 6 p.m. Admission is free.

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