Arty Parties: Your Guide to September’s First Friday in Denver

The monthly First Friday celebrations that take place around Denver are some of the city’s most popular events.

The popular community event in the Art District on Santa Fe underwent some changes this year, but ADSF director of operations Ana Paula Pinto told Westword last month that things are starting to settle down now. “After releasing our open letter and connecting directly with vendors and businesses, there has been much better understanding and support of the challenges surrounding this event and why changes were needed for accessibility and safety at these growing events,” she said. “We’ve received great feedback from local small businesses who feel their spaces are more accessible, from visitors who are having an easier/safer time navigating the district, and from vendors who have registered and had great experiences in our designated vendor areas.”

So get out there for September’s First Friday on September 5. The weather is supposed to be nice!

First Friday events draw thousands of people looking to shop, eat, browse galleries and immerse themselves in the arts scene of the Art District on Santa Fe, the River North Art District (RiNo), Tennyson Street Cultural District, 40 West Arts District in Lakewood and more.

What is the First Friday Art Walk in Denver?

First Friday is a largely unofficial event celebrating community, culture and art on the first Friday of every month. Thousands come to the metro area’s art districts to view art, visit galleries, meet artists and browse street vendors selling handmade wares and food.

What Time Does First Friday Start in Denver?

First Friday events start at different times in different art districts.

• Art District on Santa Fe: 5:30 to 9:30 p.m.
• RiNo: 6 to 9 p.m.
• Tennyson Street: 6 to 10 p.m.
• 40 West Arts District: 6 to 9 p.m.

Where is First Friday in Denver?

Art District on Santa Fe: Spans from West 13th Avenue to Alameda Avenue and Kalamath Street to Inca Street. The bulk of the galleries are in a walkable area between Fifth and 11th avenues.

RiNo: Most galleries are on Blake, Walnut, Larimer and Lawrence streets between Broadway and Downing Street.

Tennyson Street: Along Tennyson Street in the Berkeley neighborhood in northwest Denver.

40 West Arts District: Lamar Station Plaza, 6501 West Colfax Avenue, Lakewood

Other First Friday locations include the 1400-1500 blocks of South Pearl Street, and arts areas in Englewood, Littleton and Arvada.

Are There First Friday Public Transportation Options in Denver?

At the start of this year, the Regional Transportation District added a new ART District Connector bus route. The route connects pockets of some of Denver’s most visited cultural sites, including the Art District on Santa Fe, Denver Theatre District and RiNo Arts District.

The route serves the Baker, Five Points and Elyria-Swansea neighborhoods. In February, Westword tested out the route.

What Can I See During First Friday in September?

There are new shows opening all over town on First Friday weekend. Here are some of the most intriguing:

Your Memories Are Not Invited
Bitfactory Gallery, 851 Santa Fe Drive
First Friday/Opening Reception: September 5, 6-9 p.m.; On display through September 13
Artists Vincent Cheap and Jason Cope join forces for Your Memories Are Not Invited, an observation of the human condition, past experiences, challenges and restoration through found object art, acrylic painting and mixed media works. The show invites the viewer not to consider the stories of the artists, but of themself.

Where We Stood
Abstract Denver, 742 Santa Fe Drive
First Friday/Opening Reception: September 5, 6 p.m.; On display through September 28
Where We Stood is a contemplative fine art exhibition by Blacksevens/Cristian Whitney exploring the fragility of identity, memory and place through layered mixed media works that meditate on the echoes we inherit, and the shifting lines between what was, what is and what will become.

A Juxtaposition
Camden RiNo Leasing Office, 3235 Larimer Street, Unit 123 gallery
First Friday/Opening Reception: September 5, 6-9 p.m.; On display through October 24
Pulse Visual Art presents A Juxtaposition, featuring the works of painter, sewist and mark-maker Kayla Chalk and ceramic and metal artist Kris Fritzsche in a conversation that contrasts between form and fluidity, weight and levity, containment and expression. “Denver is a city in transition – growing, shifting, and negotiating its identity. Our work mirrors that kind of tension and possibility. It’s also part of a larger conversation in contemporary art about collaboration, process and embracing materiality,” explains Chalk. “We see our show as an antidote to perfectionism – a reminder that art can emerge from dialogue, from trust, from curiosity about what happens when you let go of complete control.”

Perserverance
O’Sullivan Art Gallery, Regis University, 3333 Regis Boulevard
First Friday: September 5, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Opening Reception: Thursday, September 11, 6-8 p.m.; Artist Talk: Thursday, September 18, 7-8 p.m.; On display through October 9
Perserverance is a group show featuring the work of friends Alicia Bailey, Catherine Chauvin, Melinda Laz and Sharon Strasburg and their works exploring memory, history and nostalgia through mediums like printmaking, collage and ceramics. This is their second group show, with all four artists working together, individually and collectively exploring themes that continue to inspire and draw them together.

Unapologetically Chicano
CHAC 40West, 7060 West 16th Avenue, Lakewood
First Friday/Opening Reception: September 5, 5-9 p.m.; On display through October 24
Celebrate Chicano culture and its unapologetic pride at the Chicano Arts & Humanities Council Gallery in Lakewood for a show including a curated gallery of local and regional Chicano artists. Opening night includes live music and DJs, food vendors and a special appearance by Los Compas Car Club, which will roll through with classic cars.

Drift
NKollective, 3485 South Broadway, Englewood
First Friday: September 5, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Second Saturday: September 13, 4-8 p.m.; Printmaking Demo with Carol Till: September 13, 4-6 p.m.; On display through September 28
Drift by by Carol Till and Tiffani Erdmanczyk explores drifting slowly from season to season in nature and life through fine-art prints of fresh plants and splotches of vibrant watercolor. “I drift through fields with an eye to a leaf or grass that has an interesting shape or color or texture. I bring back an armload of plants and then pick plant and ink colors with a season in mind. I roll ink onto the plants, arrange them on my press, add paper and print, embossing the finished print with dried plants,” Till says of her printwork. “Every print is an experiment.” Meanwhile, Erdmanczyk, who has neuropathy, approached Drift by deciding on a color palette for each season of the year, and the resulting body of work includes signature textures that represent the sensations she feels in her nerves.

Roots & Routes: Where Cultural Roots Meet Creative Journeys
First Friday/Opening Reception: September 5, 6-9 p.m.; On display through October 5
Englewood CityCenter, 901 Englewood Parkway, Unit 108, Englewood
Roots & Roots is the Colorado South Asian Artists Group’s inaugural exhibition, highlighting 31 works by 22 local multidiscliplinary artists with ancestral ties to South Asia. The exhibit captures both the grounding of ancestral heritage and the evolving journeys of diaspora – how cultural memory travels, adapts, and transforms across borders.

Stuck and Devlish Living
Cottonwood Center for the Arts, 427 East Colorado Avenue, Colorado Springs
First Friday/Opening Reception: September 5, 5-8 p.m.; On display through September 27
Cottonwood Center for the Arts is hosting two solo shows this month, Erin Kittelson’s Stuck and Doug Mansfield’s Devlish Living. “Stuck is a body of work meant to represent my avoidant nature as a person, Kittelson explains. “I am someone that freezes under pressure, often feeling as if I am a deer caught in the headlights of time and choices.” Devlish Living encapsulates the opposite. “When someone takes a Devil-May-Care attitude, this may suggest an individual who acts without concern of consequences,” Mansfield says of his show. “They can be perceived as overly cheerful, reckless and may be defiant when it comes to social norms.”

Ongoing Shows Worth a Visit

Made in Colorado
Emmanuel Gallery, 1205 10th Street Plaza
Through September 12
Made in Colorado returns to showcase artists from all over the state, including the piece made by Emma Balder in collaboration with the residents of St. Francis Apartments. Juried by Larry Ossei-Mensah, the show at Emmanuel Gallery, which is part of the University of Colorado Denver’s College of Arts & Media, is meant to highlight diverse and groundbreaking art made in the Centennial State.

Leo Franco, Elaine Ricklin, Eric Wall
Spark Gallery, 1200 Acoma Street #100
Through September 23
Spark Gallery is settling into its new location in the Golden Triangle Arts District after leaving the Art District on Santa Fe. This month, it’s displaying the work of three artists. Elaine Ricklin’s work is inspired by New York window displays, Leo Franco makes carefully constructed wood sculptures and Eric Wall employs meticulous hand-cutting techniques with a hobby knife in his colorful paintings.

CHAC Members Showcase
CHAC Gallery, 834 Santa Fe Drive
Through September 28
CHAC Gallery is holding its semi-annual Members Showcase featuring the gallery’s member artists and their work. The gallery also plans to open its gift shop on First Friday.

Justice of the Piece
Marie Walsh Sharpe Gallery, Ent Center for the Arts, 5225 North Nevada Avenue, Colorado Springs
Through October 4
Justice of the Piece brings together the voices of artists Lady Pink, Sydney G. James and Grow Love, whose work navigates the intersections of resistance, reclamation, and collective healing through public murals and studio practice. Each artist, in their own way, reclaims the wall and canvas as a site of visibility and social justice, creating powerful visual affirmations in spaces often marked by erasure or exclusion.


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