come together: Auraria in the neighborhood

may 28-August 2, 2026

Opening reception | May 28, 2026 - 4:00-7:00 pm

Auraria, Denver’s old Westside neighborhood, established in 1858, was a vibrant community anchored by shared spaces and shared life. At the heart of that community stood two churches—St. Elizabeth’s and St.Cajetan’s—which served their neighbors as more than religious spaces, hosting everything from movie nights and baseball games to weddings and funerals.

In 1878, Denver’s German Catholic immigrant community founded St. Elizabeth of Hungary as a home for their faith. By the early twentieth century, the Westside neighborhood had become home to a large Mexican American population, who built their own parish—St. Cajetan’s—in 1925. St. Cajetan’s was Denver’s first Spanish-speaking Catholic church. The establishment of both churches as religious and community centers allowed immigrant communities to feel welcome in the Westside neighborhood.

Both churches still stand on the Auraria campus today, but the community that gave them meaning does not. In the early 1970s, Denver’s Urban Renewal Authority displaced more than 900 Westside residents to make way for a new higher education campus, leaving St. Cajetan’s preserved as a landmark and St. Elizabeth’s as the neighborhood’s sole remaining active congregation.

This student-led exhibition emerged from the University of Colorado Denver Public History Program’s seminar on Exhibits and Education taught by Professor Rachel Gross in the Fall 2025. The students envisioned the exhibition’s themes and goals, researched the buildings, drafted panels, and collected images. Thank you to the seminar students Britney Berlin, Shawn Coble, Adrianna Cubbage, Teddy Fegley, Lily Gabriel, Rayleen Madrid, Krista Marks, Maxwell Moseley, Anna Sanchez, and Nathaniel Smith.

Come Together: Community in the Auraria Neighborhood is curated by Graduate Curatorial Fellows Teddy Fegley and Rayleen Madrid, Graduate Research Fellows Britt Henslee and  Krista Marks, and Professor Rachel Gross. Additional research and support provided by Maxwell Moseley, Anna Sanchez, and Adrianna Cubbage.

Exhibition graphic design and installation by Errow Collins, Flint Holmes, Andrew Palamara, and Sarah Watson.

This exhibition is made possible by the University of Colorado President’s Fund for the Humanities and the University of Colorado Denver’s College of Arts & Media. The CU Denver Experience Gallery is a collaboration between the university and the Denver Performing Arts Complex.

A special thank you to the Auraria Historical Advocacy Council, especially Sheila Perez-Kindle, Virginia Castro, and Frances Torres.