Sure, we all have our ideas about the so-called Mayan prophecy predicting the end of the world this December, and the ongoing debate has inspired everything from satirical to scientific discussions. This week Mayan elder Miguel Chiquin and Genaro Jucinto-Calel of the Mayan Nation of Guatemala are in town to…
Ietef Cavem Vita, aka DJ Cavem Moetivation, worked the crowd at Artopia, he says, for at least the last four years. But he won’t be there tomorrow because he has more important work to do: Today he flies out of Denver on a trip that will eventually land him in…
Westword MasterMind (class of 2010) and Project Runway alumnus Fallene Wells has a dream — to produce a vintage-inspired line of clothing and start CoSewn, a local apparel manufacturing company. She’s been inching ever closer to that lofty aspiration since she launched a $20,000 Kickstarter campaign in January. But it’s…
The spectacle put on by Shen Yun Performing Arts is — and yet isn’t — the usual classical Chinese song and dance. It’s carried, on one hand, by an impressive cast of more than 100 dancers, choreographers and live musicians, and boasts a truckload of costumes to die for, plus…
It’s Presidents’ Day, and if you’re lucky, you won’t even have to play hooky to take advantage of the SFCD Free Day at the Denver Botanic Gardens. And if at first the idea sounds tinny to you in the dead of winter, remember that the DBG can be quite cozy…
What can one not say about Artopia? Westword’s annual multi-venue celebration spills over with things to do and hear and see and eat and drink, from visual-art exhibitions and fashion shows to poetry readings and adventurous mixed drinks. You can shop at Artopia’s fashion market and I (Heart) Denver store,…
Bunky Echo-Hawk is a modern Renaissance Indian — an artist, activist, poet, teacher and member of the Pawnee and Yakama nations who lives very much in the present while incorporating both the tenets and the sorrows of American Indian tradition into a contemporary message. Pierced, tattooed and comfortable in a…
I first met Dianne Denholm in grade school, and it’s been great reconnecting with her as an adult in the six years since she started the TACtile Textile Arts Center. During that time, I’ve learned a lot about Denholm and how her mind works, and it’s been a trip: Not…
Indian artist Bunky Echo-Hawk is an old soul in a cutting-edge suit — his bright paintings, slabbed with blocks of blinding color, mix traditional and pop imagery and ideas, resulting in a body of work that’s funny, sad, stridently satirical and very smart. He’s therefore an excellent choice as a…
Why is dance such a hard sell? There’s a stigma attached to the whole idea of beautiful, thin waifs whirling about to a different drummer under the faraway lights. Sometimes it seems like you have to drag people by the ear to go see dance — although they might just…
We’ve reported on the Denver Zine Library’s fundraising campaign and what a little extra cash will mean to the volunteer crew that maintains this Denver treasure, located somewhat obscurely at 27 Social Centre in Jefferson Park. And though the DZL is already more than halfway to its goal of raising…
When Mother Nature dumped snow on Denver last Friday, more than a few galleries and businesses decided to shut their doors, first Friday or no. A blizzard of confusion resulted, as many show openings and other events were postponed to later dates — many of them this weekend. Here are…
Adam Gildar, Westword MasterMind (Class of 2011), is having a hard time getting used to saying “I” rather than “we” when speaking about happenings at his South Broadway gallery: Formerly known as Illiterate and managed by three partners including Gildar, it’s now re-entering the art-scene fray as Gildar Gallery, run…
The Italian Baroque painter Artemisia Gentileschi has long been held high in the estimation of modern female artists; imagined today as a feminist way before her time (she painted in the first half of the seventeenth century), we actually don’t know that much about who she really was. But there…
Last year’s Goodwill-sponsored Good Exchange for Change Fashion Show and Clothing Swap, which came right on the heels of Mondo Guerra’s stunning near-win on Project Runway, featured the local fashion superstar while banking on a trend-to-be: the clothing swap…
Nearly a year ago, designers Tricia Hoke, Deb Henriksen, Jose Duran and Lisa Elstun put their heads together and created Red Drinks, a monthly get-together when local folks in the fashion/design field could mingle, network and share ideas. It’s been going strong ever since, and after a holiday hiatus, Red…
Slam Nuba is still on a roll: After winning one of Westword’s coveted MasterMind awards last year and sending a team to the nationals last summer that snagged first place, the spoken-word collective (which will also perform February 18 at Artopia ) is hard at work finding fresh ways to…
Where is art happening? Many of the most contemporary trends are coming from urban Asia — Beijing, Tokyo, Seoul — where technology wraps itself around ancient aesthetics with bold results. There are plenty of Korean artists riding that wave, and eight of them are featured in Keeping It Real: Korean…
At least two Santa Fe Drive venues are beating First Friday to the punch by opening shows tonight. At Metropolitan State College of Denver’s Center for Visual Art, the high-profile group show Out Figured offers a contemporary and anything-but-cliched look at figurative art. The reception is from 7 to 9…
Nobody knows what it’s like to be disabled more than the people who actually live with disabilities. That’s why a new production of Bernard Pomerance’s The Elephant Man, presented by the Physically Handicapped Actors and Musical Artists League, is certain to have added depth: The play is based on the…
Another year, another residency — it’s business as usual at PlatteForum, the award-winning nonprofit that pairs struggling kids with resident artist/mentors to create something communal and beautiful. The latest resident, installation artist Jessica Kruetter, has been working with ArtLab students for a few weeks already, with an imaginary environment as…
Look! Up in the air! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s a pterosaur! A what? When we think of prehistoric flying things, it’s usually the more well-known feathered dinosaurs, such as archeopteryx, that we conjure in our minds. But the pterosaur, which reached unbelievable sizes and was related…
