Meet the 2014 MasterMinds: Adam Stone, performance arts

Westword has always covered the local arts scene. But ten years ago, we recognized that if the arts were really going to grow in those town, they could use some some fertilizer in the form of cold, hard cash. And so we created the MasterMind Awards, which every year gives...

By Patricia Calhoun

February 22, 2014

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Westword has always covered the local arts scene. But ten years ago, we recognized that if the arts were really going to grow in those town, they could use some some fertilizer in the form of cold, hard cash. And so we created the MasterMind Awards, which every year gives no-strings-attached grants to five local artists and arts organizations; the 2014 class of MasterMinds, our tenth, will be introduced at Artopia tonight. This year's MasterMind Award for performance arts: Adam Stone. See also: Take ten -- meet the latest class of MasterMinds

Westword:What's your favorite thing about the Denver arts scene?

Adam Stone: There is a genuine excitement within the community here for all things new and strange.

There is so much being made here within all of the various arts, but there's no characteristic that makes any of it definably "Denver." This makes for an incredible amount of genre crossover as well as an eagerness to discover what others are creating. The lack of a definable "Denver" element in the arts scene here keeps open endless possibilities for new discovery and new work, pulling influence from everywhere, foreign and local.

How did you wind up in Denver?

My collaborations with Buntport Theater brought me back to Denver repeatedly, and while working on Wake together, we got to talking about my ideas for Screw Tooth, and they very generously gave it a home. How did you wind up doing what you do? For a long time, the problem has been that when people have asked me this type of question, I feel like they're looking for a concrete title -- director, composer, arch-bishop, court stenographer, porpoise, etc. -- and, as an outsider in everything I've pursued, my answer has necessarily been that I'm not sure exactly what it is that I do. With my company Screw Tooth, though, I think that now, a more accurate statement would be that I'm not sure what I'm going to do next. What else would you want people to know? I sing songs, sometimes while painted gold and brushing my teeth with black ink:

This is where Screw Tooth lives on the Internet:screwtooth.com.

For more on Adam Stone, read his 100 Colorado Creative profile.

Follow @WestwordCulture

Patricia Calhoun is editor-in-chief of Westword, the alt-weekly she co-founded in September 1977. She’s been inducted into the Colorado Press Association Hall of Fame, the Association of Alternative Newsmedia Hall of Fame and the Colorado Restaurant Association Hall of Fame. She’s also received dozens of local, state and national awards for writing, including first place for feature writing and first place for column writing with the Society of Professional Journalists. Patricia is a weekly commentator on Colorado Inside Out, PBS 12's public affairs roundtable, which has won two Emmys.

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