DENVER—Confusion over Denver’s 2010 Biennial of the Americas has some people wondering . . . well, what exactly it is. The event, to run from June 14 to Aug. 12 of next year, will include arts and culture programming, an "innovation pavilion," and a roundtable discussion, causing some to suggest it’s not an arts festival at all but rather a think tank with culture events thrown in.

Overall, the biennial has been wrought with confusion. For one thing, though he is attempting to make the event part lecture series discussing the social issues in Latin America today, among other things, director Bruce Mau says the attendees will be made up of almost entirely local residents. Budget is another major issue. The Boettcher Foundation, which in March provided a $2 million dollar grant for the Biennial, estimated the event would cost $5 million to $10 million. However, seven months later, Biennial President Jim Polsfut says that the event will have to go off on the $2 million, and that any additional funds raised will be dedicated to the 2012 effort. Denver’s Adobe Airstream magazine estimates this will allow only $14,000 for each international arts and culture exhibit, much lower than is actually necessary.

Another unusual twist is the man hired to be the arts and culture coordinator of the biennial: Steve Katich, whose claim to fame in Denver comes not from his involvement in the arts scene but from bringing the city its Colorado Rockies.

Thus far, all that’s clear when it comes to the city’s biennial is that its future is rather unclear.

Read more at Adobe Airstream.