Our Ten Most Popular Arts and Culture Stories in 2022

While many of the biggest Denver arts and culture stories this year were a little heavy, Westword readers delighted in some of our lighter fare, too, as well as tales with nostalgic hooks. Denver spots showcased on popular streaming shows were popular as well, and South Park remains a real crowd-pleaser, as evidenced by our piece celebrating the cartoon’s 25th season by highlighting 25 actual Colorado locations seen in the show. We also marked the passing of some Colorado institutions.

Keep reading for our ten most-read culture stories in 2022:

Spotlight on the Lumber Baron Inn
When the Netflix series 28 Days Haunted debuted this fall, one of three locations seen in the first season was glaringly familiar: the Lumber Baron Inn. In the show, small teams are sent to haunted locations for 28 days, during which they use the techniques from famed ghostbusters Lorraine and Ed Warren to stir up paranormal activity. The 8,000-square-foot Lumber Baron Inn, with its Queen Anne architecture, was constructed in 1890 for John Mouat (known as the “Lumber Baron”), but was solidified as a local spooky legend in the ’70s, after the building had been renovated into fifteen apartments. Two women, eighteen-year-old Marianne Weaver and seventeen-year-old Cara Knoche, were found dead in one of the rooms. Weaver had been shot; Knoche had been strangled and stuffed under the bed. The killer was never found.

How to Build a Sex Room Comes to Denver
The Lumber Baron Inn wasn’t the only Mile High spot ready for its Hollywood close-up. This erotic home-makeover show was filmed in Denver with local residents and experts who developed sexed-up adult playrooms in their homes, specifically suited to their own sexual preferences. Denver’s always been a sexy city – after all, you can join the Mile High Club just living here – and How to Build a Sex Room took that reputation mainstream.

Meow Wolf Co-Founder Matt King Passes Away
Meow Wolf co-founder Matt King passed away at age 37 on July 9, leaving behind a legacy of immersive installations that had made waves in the art world since the collective began in Santa Fe in 2008. Among his contributions to Denver’s Convergence Station were “Eemia,” the ice kingdom he designed that centered on a psychedelic cathedral, and “Mechs Robot.” He also took the lead on the “Ossuary Library,” where visitors can delve into the installation’s lore.

Colorado Actress Maggie Peterson of The Andy Griffith Show Passes Away
Maggie Peterson passed away on May 16 at the age of 81; the actress earned her greatest renown with a recurring role as Charlene Darling on The Andy Griffith Show. Born in Greeley, Peterson joined her family members singing in the Ja-Da Quartet; she was discovered by Andy Griffith’s agent, Dick Linke. Before her death, Peterson relied on a GoFundMe campaign mounted by her niece and nephew to cover some health-care costs.

South Park‘s 25th Anniversary
In honor of South Park‘s 25th anniversary in August, we shared 25 real Colorado locations seen on the series. Creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone celebrated their quarter-century of foul-mouthed success with a blow-out, two-night concert at Red Rocks Amphitheatre with performances from Stone, Parker, Ween and Primus. Governor Jared Polis even took the stage to declare August 10 Colorado’s official South Park Day.

Mutiny Information Cafe Seized by City
Denverites came together to support a beloved creative hub, Mutiny Information Cafe, when the book and record store was seized by the city for unpaid sales taxes in September. Co-owner Jim Norris called upon the community for help with a GoFundMe, and within 24 hours, the store had raised enough money to pay the taxes and then some. It reopened six days after being seized.

Best Wildflower Hikes Within Fifty Miles of Denver
Colorful Colorado is at its peak in late spring and early summer, when the mountains become dotted with bright wildflowers. We were eager to get outside, and so were our readers, who turned to this list to uncover some wildflower destinations close enough to not impose anxiety over filling up the tank with then-far-too-expensive gas.

Erika Wurth’s White Horse Elicits Nostalgia for “Old Denver”
Denver residents have been complaining about newcomers (specifically Californians) and the changes the city is facing for a long time. Colorado author Erika Wurth’s latest book, White Horse, brought that concern and the related nostalgia for days past to the forefront. As Wurth told us: “The book is, in a lot of ways, an homage to old Denver as it dies, the Denver that I knew.”

Gina Carano at FAN EXPO
This year was FAN EXPO’s great return to full size after a virtual-hybrid event in 2021. But not everyone was pleased with one particular guest: Gina Carano, the controversial Mandalorian actress who was fired from the Star Wars spin-off and dropped by her agency after a slew of incendiary comments, including one that compared the Nazi murder of Jews to “hating someone for their political views.”

Alicia Cardenas Obituary
Alicia Cardenas was an Indigenous-rights activist, tattoo artist, muralist and community organizer who owned Sol Tribe Tattoo & Piercing, where she and her employee and friend, Alyssa Gunn-Maldonado, were killed on December 27, 2021. Three others, including the shooter, were gunned down that night. Cardenas, who was survived by her father and child, leaves a legacy of art all around Denver, on both bodies and walls. Soon after we published her obituary, readers also dug into our culture editor’s deep dive into the Denver tattoo community’s history, a story that Cardenas had suggested before her death.