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Artist places hearts of money throughout Denver area

Each one was made with 100 single dollar bills in the shape of a heart and sprinkled with red hairspray.

DENVER — Random art pieces shaped like hearts and made of dollar bills were placed around Denver on Valentine's Day. The emerging artist Xander Phoenix was behind it all.

"This is a way to participate and do something cool for the community and say Valentine's Day is a day about love and generosity, so let's put a little of that with some playfulness and whimsical fun into the world," Phoenix said Wednesday morning while preparing deliveries at Cranmer Park.

About a dozen of his close friends and family helped him hand out his project, called "The Heart Of Money."  

Each of the 100 pieces was made with 100 single dollar bills in the shape of a heart and sprinkled with red hairspray.  

"There's $10,000 in U.S. currency involved in this project," Phoenix said.  

"The unifying theme of this project is putting joy, whimsy and love out into the world on Valentine's Day," he said.  

He's hoping people will give more thought to love and generosity.  

The artist spent 50 to 60 hours creating these pieces, which were placed around Boulder and Denver.  

With each piece of art, there is a bar code to scan. Scanning the code takes the recipient to a webpage where they can share their story about what they did with the art.  Some may choose to keep the cash, which requires soaking the heart in warm water so the glue dissolves. Others may pass it on or keep it as is.  

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