When people think of the Cold War, images of nuclear bombs and covert spies are probably among the first images that come to mind. But for Stewart Bailey, collections manager at the Wings Over the Rockies museum, there’s something else he likes to focus on.
“The first battle of the Cold War was won by the Western Allies and was won with airplanes,” he said. “Not only that, but those airplanes didn’t have guns or bombs. Instead, for 11 months the Allies worked to support a city of 2.6 million people entirely by air.”
The story of that battle is told in the Air and Space Museum’s, 7711 East Academy Blvd. in Denver, new exhibit, The Berlin Airlift: Supplies from the Sky. The exhibition runs through Monday, May 27, and marks the 75th anniversary of the Airlift.
The exhibit tells the story of the nearly year-long effort by the United States, Britain and other countries to keep the people of Berlin alive during the Berlin Blockade, when the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies’ railway, road and canal access to the sectors of Berlin under Western control.
“At the beginning, the Allies were using any kind of plane that could handle cargo and there were some accidents and a lot of confusion,” Bailey said. “Eventually it got better and the efforts were extremely efficient. There were planes coming in with materials like coal on average of every three minutes.”
The creation of the exhibit is largely due to donations from two families who had members who participated in the Airlift, including Denver resident Thomas Moss, who was a C-54 pilot during the events. His daughters Barbara Drury and Linda Lewis donated many of their father’s artifacts to the museum and that provided the backbone for the story told in the display.
“This exhibit isn’t so much about the planes and technology as it is about the people and the human experience of what they went through,” Bailey said. “I think it’s powerful because it shows how people’s opinions can change — we went from years of fighting the Germans to helping them and Germans went through years of fearing the sound of Allied planes to finding hope in it.”
As well as donated artifacts, the exhibit features a lot of photos and creative set dressing to give just a taste of what being in bombed-out Berlin would be like. The aim was also to make it interactive for all ages, so it includes activities like weight and balance exercises and more.
In addition to learning more about a historical event that many people might not be aware of, Bailey hopes visitors come away with a greater appreciation of the many ways the Berlin Airlift influenced the ensuing decades.
“One of the key takeaways from this exhibit is that freedom is something to be valued and supported,” he said. “In many ways, the Airlift still echoes through our world today.”
Tickets and details can be found at https://wingsmuseum.org/exhibits/berlin-airlift/.
LSO Uses ‘Peter and the Wolf’ to Enchant Young Audiences
Get ready for some family fun at the Lakewood Symphony Orchestra’s annual children’s and family concert, which will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 3 at the Lakewood Cultural Center, 470 S. Allison Parkway.
Not only will it feature Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf,” as it does every year, but also “Add Story and Play,” where the audience will create a story with several characters, develop a plot and choose music to go along with the story. Then the narrator, Joel Hillan, from CBS 4, will tell the brand-new story while conductor Matthew Switzer leads the orchestra, performing the music the audience has chosen to go along with the story.
Information and tickets can be found at https://lakewoodsymphony.org.
Sink Into Walker Fine Art’s Nomadic Daydreams
There are few times during the year when the relationship between man and nature is rich and nuanced as it is during winter. This makes it the perfect time for the opening of Walker Fine Art’s, 300 W. 11th Ave., No. A, in Denver, first exhibition of 2024 — Nomadic Daydreams.
The group show runs through Saturday, March 16, and features the works of Angela Beloian, Derrick Breidenthal, George Kozmon, Bonny Lhotka and Ben Strawn. According to provided information, the artists use two-dimensional mediums like oil, photography, drawing to explore the all-important interactions between man and nature.
Find all the details at www.walkerfineart.com.
Clarke’s Concert of the Week — Lydia Loveless at Globe Hall
Lydia Loveless, who hails from Columbus, Ohio, is a songwriter’s songwriter. Over their career they’ve delved deep into the rather nebulous “alt-country” world and in 2023 they released “Nothing’s Gonna Stand In My Way Again.” As usual, it’s an astounding collection of songs, chronicling a breakup and the struggle to find a way to move forward in a difficult world.
In support of the record, Loveless will be performing at the Globe Hall, 4483 Logan St. in Denver, at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 3. They will be joined by singer/songwriter Jason Hawk Harris and alt-country up-and-comer Cousin Curtiss.
Get tickets for the concert at https://globehall.com.
Clarke Reader is an arts and entertainment columnist for Colorado Community Media. He can be reached at Clarke.Reader@hotmail.com.