Though the heart of the annual Cherry Creek Arts Festival, now in its 24th year, is the art (this year there are 250 artists in thirteen media categories), there’s always something new to look forward to. The 2014 edition kicks off this morning with just such a novelty: Mayor Michael…
Artist Eric Matelski sometimes curates shows in non-traditional spaces — bars, restaurants, even the MacSpa, a business co-owned by his wife. He also admits to having a thing for Denver history — which helps explain why Art & Writing, a show of local art he puts together for the annual…
Whenever Plus Gallery artist Xi Zhang, who now lives in Milwaukee, returns to his once-adopted home of Denver, it’s reason for a celebration, and his current visit will include that and more, with both a wedding and a new solo show at Plus on the talented Chinese emigre’s agenda. The…
The Fourth of July is all about the bombs bursting in air and the stars and stripes forever, but it’s also about family and community and eating watermelon. Get your patriotism on a night early at the annual Independence Eve celebration in Civic Center Park, a party with fireworks that’s…
Artist Nathan Abels paints light and its infinitesimal atmospheric changes, something that can’t be easy, though his facility with a brush somehow makes it appear so. And that’s just one subtle theme running through West With the Night, a show of new works that celebrates, among other things, sunrises and…
As a break from this weekend’s flag-waving and fireworks, wouldn’t it be nice to cool off indoors in a darkened theater for an hour or two? Here are some options — ambitious, naughty or light-hearted, depending on your mood — to chill with over the holiday. See also: Dead Man…
#70: Thomas Scharfenberg As an artist, Thomas Scharfenberg isn’t so interested in getting ahead. Instead, he prefers to brighten the underground with patterned murals and painted rocks placed in unexpected settings. He borrows a little from street art, the DIY movement and his one-time mentor at the Rocky Mountain College…
It’s high summer as we head into the Fourth of July holiday, when author tours take a break — just like the rest of us. But in the meantime, we can hear poetry to raise a fist to, goof off literarally or see an art show that celebrates books and…
Constant reinvention keeps our art scene vibrant, so it’s fitting that emerging artists and others in their prime are all part of this weekend’s mix of new exhibitions in Denver. Want to keep up with the times? Here are few ways to stay on top of local art. See also:…
#71: Andy LynesAndy Lynes toiled behind the scenes at MCA Denver for seven years, eventually overseeing the art museum’s visitor services and managing its super-cool shop. And for the last few years, he also presided at Black Sheep Fridays, MCA’s silly Friday-night series of adult activities, ranging from an annual…
The finished Levitt Pavilion in Ruby Hill Park is still a dream on paper as fundraising continues to help finance the proposed 7,500-seat amphitheater, slated to open to the public for fifty concerts in 2016, under shared sponsorship by the national Mortimer & Mimi Levitt Foundation and the City of…
The story of Damien Echols — a member of the West Memphis Three, who were released from prison in 2011 after serving nearly eighteen years on a murder conviction for crimes they say they didn’t commit — isn’t quite over yet. On the heels of Echols’s best-selling memoir Life After…
It’s been just over a year since the Denver Actors Fund — John Moore’s project that offers cash and assistance to members of the theater community facing medical crises — became a formal thing, and it’s grown exponentially in that time to include a board of directors, sixty volunteers on…
Perhaps it’s the pull of longer days and glorious nights that shuts down local stages in the summertime. But there are still places where you can catch a great musical or a dance performance when the heat of the day begins to subside. Here are our picks for this week…
#71: Sarah Rockett A draftsman first, artist Sarah Rockett re-imagines the basics of line and movement and all the tricks of drawing in three dimensions, making installations built from everyday materials and soft sculpture. Inspired by the horror movie genre, she takes those shapes into dark yet appealing places. Last…
In 2014, the members of Denver’s LGBTQ community have a lot to celebrate. But their political struggles aren’t over, either. And that’s what Denver PrideFest was all about this past weekend: a blend of celebrating and raising voices toward an improved future. Thousands gathered in Civic Center Park and marched…
Whether you’re looking for summer reading, poetic inspiration or just a good time with a side of culture, there’s a literary event for you this week. Read on and we’ll tell you where the poets are rhyming and the hottest authors are reading. See also: Ed Ward’s “Stories, Stories, Bring…
Where’s the art this weekend? You can start in the Art District on Santa Fe, where collector-oriented Third Friday events will keep galleries hopping up and down the street. Or you can venture around (and outside of) the city for more show openings…. See also: Paper Work, Center for Visual…
#72: Adán De La Garza Adán De La Garza glides through a world of moving pictures and performance, making fleeting experimental work that shimmers in the moment. Whether working alone or with others, he’s all about taking personal chances and just making things happen. A partner with Christina Battle in…
Director Jeremy Seifert struck gold with his first film, DIVE!, a prize-winning low-budget doc about the wisdom of putting waste to use in a second life. To make his second movie, GMO OMG, Seifert took his family with him on a journey to explore the proliferation of GMOs in the…
Out in the open is the place to be on pleasant summer nights, and that’s where you’ll be seated for tonight’s performance at the Arvada Center amphitheater by Denver’s Wonderbound dance company. In a program called Memories, choreographer Garrett Ammon and the troupe will explore themes of Jewish life and…
Denver’s PechaKucha community, which puts on high-energy, lightning-fast slide shows with local creatives, likes to take to the streets when the weather gets nice. “Most of our summer PechaKuchas are outdoors, when the weather is great and we can get a big audience,” says spokeswoman Martha Weidmann. “Having them outside…
