Ten Arty Things to Do This Week in Denver

Group and small-works shows abound at co-ops, studio enclaves and commercial galleries, too, making December an opportunity to scope out the breadth of Denver’s many-faceted art scene. Have a holiday-season lark and get to know every kind of artist better at these ten events.

This Is SPARK! Annual Members' Show
Spark Gallery, 900 Santa Fe Drive
December 7 through 31
Opening Reception: Friday, December 8, 6 to 9 p.m.
Last Look: Sunday, December 31, 1 to 4 p.m.
Spark, Denver’s longest-running co-op gallery, which opened its doors just short of forty years ago, unites for its December show, a tribute to the diversity of the gallery’s current member artists. In the North Gallery, the group has set aside some space to commemorate the work of founding member Margaretta Gilboy, who passed away earlier this year, in an exhibit curated by William Biety.

Mistletoe & Margaritas: An ATC DEN Holiday Party
ATC DEN, 3420 Larimer Street
Thursday, December 7, 6 to 9 p.m.
$15 in advance
ATC DEN’s first holiday party has it all: free-form works on paper by Laura Krudener, spoken-word performances by youth poets, and a superbly good cause in Art From Ashes, the Denver organization that mentors those young poets. A silent auction will benefit the nonprofit, and giving will be pain-free, thanks to the open bar with margaritas by Tequila Ocho, wine and beer from the Proper Pour and bites from Comal. Fancy dress recommended.

Zeromile, Issue 11 Release Party
Denver Bicycle Cafe, 1308 East 17th Avenue
Thursday, December 7, 7 to 10 p.m.
Peter Miles Bergman and his MSU Denver communications design class will release another issue of the periodical Zeromile, an ongoing MSU enterprise completely designed, printed and populated with content, DIY-style, by a student force. Drop by and pick up your copy, meet the makers and applaud their polymath skills.

Cultural Reflections
Su Teatro Cultural and Performing Arts Center, 721 Santa Fe Drive
December 8 through 22
Meet and Greet Social: Friday, December 8, 6:30 p.m.
Denver Reception: Saturday, December 9, 6 p.m.
Another MSU Denver venture, this one from the Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies, Cultural Reflections casts a cross-cultural lens on everyday stories through artwork and photography by Angelica Isabel Hernandez, Archie Villeda, Chris Brashar, Heather Amador, Lorena Aranda, Miguel de Jezús and Valeriana Sloan. Head to Su Teatro for a shot of sisterhood and cultural solidarity.

Holiday Art Sale/Book Launch
Zuni49, 4890 Zuni Street
Friday, December 8, 6 to 10 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday, December 9 and 10, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Artist Max Kauffman, who brings a graphic designer’s sensibility to his abstract works, collects imagery from the last few years of his studio practice in book form for The Comfort of Home, The Freedom of Flight, a printed artist book interspersed with photos and commentary by friends. He’ll have copies available when Kauffman and all the artists of Zuni49 Studios host their first open house and art sale, just in time for holiday shopping. Meet and greet with Kauffman, Tom Bond, Michael Strescino, Anthony Garcia, Victor Escobedo and Paul Owen Weiner, and enjoy music after dark on Friday.

Anna Dvorak: Western Sky | Northern Lights
Michael Warren Contemporary, 760 Santa Fe Drive
December 8 through January 13
Opening Reception: Friday, December 8, 6 to 8 p.m.
Minnesotan Anna Dvorak captures light and atmospheric changes in her breezy paintings for Western Sky | Northern Lights at Michael Warren Contemporary, inspired by her travels through the prairie, grasslands and high-desert regions of the U.S. Elizabeth Ferrill’s cold, hard-edged architectural landscapes hang out nearby in the Project Space, while the rest of MWC fills up with works by gallery artists.

Foodies
Sandra Phillips Gallery, 420 West 12th Avenue
December 8 through January 6
Opening Reception: Friday, December 8, 5 to 8 p.m.
Some folks’ minds turn to visions of sugarplums this times of year, but most of us? We just want to eat, and Foodies, a delicious collection of food imagery by artists Sue Simon, Margaret Kasahara, Kate Woodliff O'Donnell and Susan Rubin, will mirror what’s on everyone’s mind. Be careful where you go after seeing this show — you might regret it when you weigh yourself in January.

Introductions
K Contemporary, 1412 Wazee Street
December 9 through 30
Opening Reception: Saturday, December 9, 6 to 9 p.m.
After a spectacular debut with Scott Young’s neon love story, Gas Light Love Bomb, Doug Kacena’s K Contemporary gets down to basics by showing off its impressive stable of gallery artists through December. Prepare to be dazzled, and get a taste of what Lu Cong, Monique Crine, Michael Dowling, Carlene Frances, Melissa Furness, Doug Kacena, Suchitra Mattai, Daisy Patton, Karen Roehl, Kevin Sloan, Nina Tichava, Goran Vejvoda, Sarah Winkler, Scott Young and Mario Zoots are all up to as they head into 2018.

Annual Holiday Miniatures Show
Abend Gallery, 1412 Wazee Street
December 9 through 31
Opening Reception: Saturday, December 9, 6 to 10 p.m.
K Contemporary’s building-mate Abend ends the year traditionally with its twentieth annual miniatures exhibit, a bounty of pint-sized original artworks just waiting to get wrapped up with a bow. More than fifty artists are represented by hundreds of works by the well-known stars and the unknown contenders of the representational-art world. It’s a collector’s dream come true.

Blue Silo Studios’ Fifth Annual Holiday Open Studio
Blue Silo Studios, 4701 National Western Drive
Saturday, December 9, noon to 5 p.m.
Though the blue silos are now painted gray, the artists of Blue Silo Studios, sandwiched in between the South Platte River and the National Western Stock Show Complex, are still hard at work in the onetime creamery building that dates back to the early 1900s. Seven or more of the studios will open their doors for an open house for the fifth year in a row.

Looking for more to do? Visit Westword's calendar online.