Baker’s Buzzin’

Adam Gildar, who happens to be a former Westword intern, and his cohorts Sander Lindeke and Joseph Wall of Illiterate, a local magazine, website and indie social network, have been at work changing the face of the local arts publication by inviting audience participation in a new and different way. Though the three friends, who met while studying at CU-Boulder, have been at it for five years, the three Illiterati only recently refurbished and moved into a physical space for the venture, a South Broadway storefront that they’ve unofficially named Baker Hall (for the dorm they shared at CU, as well as the Denver neighborhood where they’ve taken up residence) and officially named Illiterate.

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More About

• Adam Gildar
• Maurice Sendak
• Joseph Wall
• Literacy
• Education Issues

The future of Illiterate, Gildar notes, includes the possibility of non-profit status and the formation of an artist-student mentor program. But for the moment, along with the magazine itself, it houses artist studio space in the basement. But Illiterate is far more than just a workspace: The most visible presence in the storefront would most likely be Illiterate’s newest project, a gallery, a place where you can, as Gildar says, “expect to find the unexpected, and, unlike that last cliché, all forms of creative expression will strive for thoughtful execution.” The gallery opens tonight with Where the Wild Things Art, a splashy homage to Maurice Sendak by thirty local artists that will no doubt inspire the wild thing in all of us.

“It’s a themed show proposed to us by Denver artist Max Kauffman,” Gildar explains. “The theme resonated as playfully simple and equally open to complexity. And Max, whose name just happens to coincide with the little mischievous boy in Maurice Sendak's book Where The Wild Things Are, worked in conjunction with the Illiterate staff to corral a group of ferociously talented artists to participate in this group exploration.” Attend an opening reception from 7 to 11 p.m. or drop by Illiterate, 82 South Broadway, later to say hello and view the show, which hangs through November 19.

And in the meantime, get more information about Illiterate and how to participate at www.illiteratemagazine.com.
Nov. 6-19, 2009