Are you one of those touchy-feely gift givers? Then get your hands on some of the area's finest fiber works this weekend at the Rocky Mountain Weavers' Guild Annual Sale, which will feature a gorgeous array of table linens, blankets, beadwork, sweaters, scarves and more, on sale directly from the makers, Front Range artists all. You can get a head start on your holiday shopping from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. today and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. tomorrow at CityCenter Englewood, 1000 Englewood Parkway, near Hampden Avenue and Santa Fe Drive; for more information about the guild, which boasts more than 200 members, log on to www.rmweaversguild.org.
Friday, October 24
Put on your walking shoes and bring your eyes along, too: Galleries all over town are banding together for a Weekend of the Arts, a gallery crawl of open houses, artist demonstrations, new-exhibit receptions, special sales and more at various locations throughout the Cherry Creek, East Colfax, Golden Triangle, Santa Fe Drive and LoDo arts districts. Events, which spotlight the local art scene's endless diversity, span the entire weekend; for a list of participating galleries and a complete schedule, log on to www.americangalleryassociation.com.
Sea and be seen at tonight's Erotica Aquatica Costume Ball. The annual costume benefit put on by the Exotica Erotica folks for the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art is going with an underwater theme this year, transforming itself into a playground for masked mermaids and near-naked Neptunes. Bring your fantasies and skimpy siren suits (but no cameras) for an evening of aphrodisiac sushi, art-dabbling erotic dancers, live tango music, aerial burlesque and more. The fun will flow from 9 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. at the Boulder Theater, 2030 14th Street, Boulder; for tickets, $50 to $105, call 303-786-7030 or go to www.exoticaerotica.org or www.bouldertheater.com.
The traveling exhibit Living With Art: Modern and Contemporary African American Art From the Collection of Alitash Kebede comes to roost today in Colorado Springs at the UCCS Gallery of Contemporary Art, 1420 Austin Bluffs Parkway. The show features works from the Harlem Renaissance to the present by an astonishing array of artists, including Romare Bearden, Jacob Lawrence, and Betye Saar and her daughters, Alison and Lezley. Living With Art opens tonight with a reception from 5 to 7:30 p.m. and continues through December 19; call 1-719-262-3567.
Saturday, October 25
While actual hogs no longer do the honors at the Wynkoop Brewing Co.'s annual Running of the Pigs (pigs, say Wynkoop know-it-alls, do not thunder en masse like a herd of angry bulls), the brewery's anniversary event will still feature live contestants -- human ones. And you can take that however you want. Any pampered pigs on the premises will hang out on the sidelines only, for petting purposes. The fun begins outside Hizzoner Hickenlooper's LoDo landmark, at 1634 18th Street, this morning at 11 a.m.; inside, they'll be serving special pork entrees and Crystal Snout Anniversary Ale. Call 303-297-2700.
Treat stations will dot the Denver Botanic Gardens, 1005 York Street, as mini marauding masqueraders haunt the late-fall landscape during Goblins in the Gardens, an annual kids' affair that's free with regular gate admission. Ghosts, fairy princesses, Spider-men, wild tigers, unicorns and other small-fry characters are invited to search for treats among the frost-bitten foliage today from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; members and their families will have the run of the place after 4 p.m. Call 720-865-3500 or visit www.botanicgardens.org.
Sunday, October 26
The Arvada Center knows a crowd-pleaser when it sees one. The suburban arts center officially kicks off its holiday with a sure thing: The Honky Tonk Angels, a musical comedy chock-full of country-music classics (including "Stand By Your Man," "Coal Miner's Daughter," "Delta Dawn" and other tunes of that ilk) from the creator of Always...Patsy Cline, Ted Swindley. The all-woman cast, headed by Cline veteran and comic actress extraordinaire Beth Flynn, portrays a trio of women with designs on the Nashville limelight; while the run officially opens Tuesday, tonight at 7:30 p.m. you pay only $12 for an economy preview, a price that more than makes up for the rough edges -- if there are any. Shows continue daily except Mondays through November 23 at the center, 6901 Wadsworth Boulevard; for showtimes and tickets, $28 to $38, call 720-898-7200 or log on to www.arvadacenter.org.
Monday, October 27
Halloween is for kids -- honest. And there's no question about it at the Children's Museum of Denver, 2121 Children's Museum Drive, where the ghoulish holiday is celebrated each year in less-than-ghoulish fashion. The museum's time-honored Trick or Treat Street, which officially opened for business yesterday, is back for another year, offering a trail of treats without the scary stuff for costumed kids ages eight and under. Additional activities include face painting, balloon artists, mini-train rides and more; Mad Scientists will also host a hands-on Slippery Slime Booth today only, as well as a Fire & Ice Halloween Show, which runs through Halloween. Take a trip down Trick or Treat Street daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., also through October 31; call 303-433-7444 or log on to www.mychildsmuseum.org for details.
Tuesday, October 28
Wyoming author Karol Griffin is a firsthand observer of -- and participant in -- the changing face of the West. A Laramie tattoo artist, photographer and sharp new memoirist, Griffin proves in her new book, Skin Deep: Tattoos, the Disappearing West, Very Bad Men, and My Deep Love for Them All, why there is no more Marlboro Man. She'll hold forth on all subjects mentioned in the title -- which mingle together in a unique way in Skin Deep -- tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Tattered Cover LoDo, 1628 16th Street (call 303-436-1070), and tomorrow at 7:30 at the Boulder Book Store, 1107 Pearl Street, Boulder (call 303-447-2074).
Wednesday, October 29
And you thought you were a movie fanatic: That was before you met Jack, Eric, Harvey, Bill and Roberta, the real-life stars of Cinemania, a documentary about some of the most devoted denizens of flick fandom's obsessive underbelly. Shot in New York City -- perhaps the only city in the world where it could have been made -- by filmmakers Angela Christlieb and Stephen Kijak, the film is a spooky look at career buffs so captivated by reel life that its allure overrides everything else. The film screens tonight at 7 and 9 p.m. as part of the University of Colorado's International Film Series, in Muenzinger Auditorium on the Boulder campus. You may never see a simple night at the movies in quite the same light. Admission is $3 to $4; call 303-492-1531 or go to www.internationalfilmseries.com.
