Thanks to Colorado Parks & Wildlife, you can fish for free, too! And keep reading for five more things to do for free today:
Yard Art Contemporary 2022
Sunday, June 5, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
100 Gaylord Street
Yard Art is kind of like a yard sale of something that's not secondhand stuff. It’s real art by notable Denver artists, who’ve banded together to take advantage of warm weather to sell their work free of a middleman. Produced by artists Annie DeCamp and Michael Dowling, the series has plumped up for 2022, with a schedule of six weekends through September at different art yards around town. The kickoff gets started in the Denver Country Club neighborhood; find the whole schedule here.
Small Biz Sundays Launch
Sunday, June 5, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Hope Tank, 1434 East 22nd Avenue
Erika Righter’s Hope Tank, formerly a small-business- and local artisan-friendly gift boutique on South Broadway, has moved to Whittier and adopted a transitional business model as a fulfillment center for curated gift boxes and baskets ordered online and either shipped or prepared for pick-up. But beginning this week, you can now stop by Righter’s space every Sunday and say hello, order gifts in person and check out the wares and services of a small group of up to five Denver micro-businesses. Shop with a social conscience! Learn more here.
World's Wonder View Tower still stands, a century after it was built on the Plains.
Friends of the Genoa Tower
The World's Wonder View Tower in its heyday.
Colorado Preservation Inc.
Sunday, June 5, 2 to 5 p.m.
30121 Frontage Road, Genoa (just off I-70)
Enjoy an afternoon on the Plains in the shadow of the World's Wonder Viewer Tower, a legendary tourist attraction for decades. The Tower is currently closed for repairs; Friends of the Genoa Tower is hosting this Pie Social as a fundraiser for ongoing renovations. Admission is free, but you'll get a chance to buy slices of pie ($4, or $5 with ice cream), tour the Tower (suggested donation $5, or $10 for families), and bid on fabulous ceramic plates created by artists from both Denver and Lincoln counties and beyond. Find more information on friendsofthegenoatower.com. (Conflict alert: Westword editor Patricia Calhoun is on the board of the nonprofit, and once you see the place, you'll know why: The Tower is a true Colorado landmark.)
Colorado Book Awards Finalists Read
Sunday, June 5, 4:30 p.m.
The Bookies, 4315 East Mississippi Avenue
Juvenile Literature and Young Adult Literature Colorado Book Awards finalists will read from their work and talk with the audience. The Juvenile Literature finalists: Martha Freeman for Noah McNichol and the Backstage Ghost; Megan E. Freeman for Alone; and Nancy Oswald for Bats, Bandits, and Buggies. Young Adult Literature finalists are Alison Ames for To Break a Covenant, Olivia Chadha for Rise of the Red Hand, and Julie Halpern and Len Vlahos for Girl on the Ferris Wheel. The winners will be announced at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 25, at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House Studio Loft; find out more here.
Portrait of a Culture/Chained Voices: DU Prison Arts Initiative
Daily, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., through closing reception Saturday, August 20, 5 to 8 p.m.
DCR Studios and DeMarcio: Creating the Glamour on Center Stage at Denver Pride
Daily, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., through June 30
McNichols Civic Center Building, 144 West Colfax Avenue
The McNichols Building galleries slide into summer with pair of very different art exhibitions expressing views from marginalized communities that opened June 1. On the second floor, Portrait of a Culture/Chained Voices, a show facilitated by the DU Prison Arts Initiative, includes works by 150 incarcerated artists across the state. On the first floor, a show devoted to drag-queen costumery serves as a prelude to a Pride fashion show on June 11, with emcee DeMarcio Slaughter and RuPaul Drag Race All Stars contestants Yara Sofia and Mayhem Miller. That event is ticketed, but the art shows are free. Learn more here.
And plan ahead:
Tattered Cover
Tuesday, June 8, 7 p.m.
Tattered Cover Book Store, 2526 East Colfax Avenue

Denver native Kali Fajardo-Anstine made so many waves with her first book — the National Book Award-nominated Sabrina & Corina, a collection of short stories — that fans couldn’t wait for her next one. As a result, the June 7 launch of Fajardo-Anstine’s Woman of Light, at the Tattered Cover Colfax sold out quickly, so the store added a second night to catch the overflow. See Fajardo-Anstine in conversation with Denver Whiting Award Winner Steven Dunn on June 8, discussing her novel covering five generations of a Chicano family in the West. Admission is free, but dishing $28 in advance for a copy of the book will get you in the signing line faster; register at Eventbrite.
Know of a great free event around town? We'll be updating this list throughout the week; send information to [email protected].
