Usually, if you talk about a biennial, you're referring to an event every two years that offers an opportunity to freeze a moment of time in the history of art, or a chance for a curator to use art to support a theme.

The Denver Biennial of the Americas, set to bow in June 2010, is not like that. The word art is being used in early planning discussions, but I don't think it's the heart of the matter.

And after talking to the influential designer hired to be the artistic director, I can say that Bruce Mau is all about ideas, addressing world issues, and change.

"Massive Change" is a term that has come to be linked with the Toronto-based Mau, who has used design to rebrand countries, such as the ¡Guatemala! campaign that references the life skills of the Maya.

Mau sums up his vision for the Biennial, which is to link countries in the Western Hemisphere, in four words: "In Good We Trust."

But, well, what about the art?

It will be there, say Mau and Erin Trapp, director of the Denver Office of Cultural Affairs.

"We want to build grass-roots support for the event," Trapp says. "What we have in Bruce is someone who understands the relationship between art and social change. We want to make this an open-source project and very transparent. This is a project about involvement."

Mau said the event will ask: "What is the new art?"

Organizers expect this idea fest to lure visitors to Denver, but more people are expected to be involved via interactive technology.

So far, Mau has been paid $45,000 for his initial planning duties, and Trapp says a final contract is being negotiated as work continues on a final program plan. The city chose him from a field of about six candidates because of his involvement in the Green Constitutional Congress during "Dialog:City," the event the city hosted during the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

The city also has received about 75 applications for the job of Biennial project director to organize and oversee spending a $2 million to $3 million budget. The position will be that of a mayoral appointee.

But, well, what about the art?

As explained to me - and the representatives of cultural organizations and educators to whom Mau has spoken - "there are 200 biennials. We don't want to do No. 201. We want to do the first biennial of the 21st century."

With the DNC, "the 21st century started in Denver."

He calls Denver "an off-leash zone for dogmas." Mau is high on Denver because of the openness and energy he saw during the DNC, but also because of its rep for creativity and innovation.

To be sure, much remains to be learned about the event. Committees will be established, people will be asked for ideas, and cultural and educational partners will be mined for support. Trapp says there will be more specifics in June.

When the city announced last March it had received a $2.5 million grant from the Boettcher Foundation for the inaugural biennial, the cost was estimated at $5 million to $6 million. Now, it's lower. That's called facing economic reality, Trapp says.

The other reality that organizers will face is that the art community here will want to be involved, and not in a fringe sort of way that most biennials work ( because the artists are mainly imported).

But in a city loaded with creative and innovative people - Mau is correct there - artists, musicians, graphic designers, dancers, actors and architects will want into the tent.

Mau says he wants us to "think of life as a work of art." He ends his "letter to the future" posted on the Biennial Web site "Be Possibility."

I say, get real. Mau and the city are looking for ideas: Send them in, and sharpen your elbows.

Chandlerm@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2677

Denver Biennial of the Americas

* What: An international cultural event for seven weeks (June into August) in 2010.

* Who: Artistic director is Bruce Mau, organized by the Denver Office of Cultural Affairs

* Information: ingoodwetrust2010.com

What we know

Certain things are now known about the biennial:

* Events and activities will address seven themes: health, environment, the economy, habitat, technology, energy and education.

* There will be seven exhibitions.

* Seven groups are listed as potential participants: "game-changers, adventurers, challengers, innovators, artists, optimists and entrepreneurs."

* It will feature lectures, Denver Dialogues, BYOB+B (Bring Your Own Best and Brightest), tours, demonstrations and launches, World Cafe Jams, and a Denver Biennial Prize. The tag line: Art Action Ideas, using "the power of art to create action."

* It will note that several countries in the hemisphere celebrate their bicentennial year in 2010.

* An international research center will be created, to live on, independently, after the Biennial.

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