What are the hundred things everyone should do in Colorado before they die? We posed this question to our writers and editors, and over the next few weeks, we’ll be rolling out their answers across our blogs. Check back on January 16 for the full list — and in the…
#25: Kalina Ross Kalina Ross has a big heart and a knack for making things happen, which might explain why the events she plans always come iced with a frosting of love and community. A former player for Urban Cipher, a group that supports entrepreneurial activities and events for local…
When the Bike Art exhibit debuted last year at Boulder’s Dairy Center for the Arts, it was an instant hit — not surprising for the cycling-happy town nested beneath the Flatirons. But Dairy Center gallery curator Mary Horrocks says it wasn’t just Boulder that appreciated the bike-inspired mega-show. “Here in…
While past summer/fall outdoor exhibitions at the Denver Botanic Gardens have taken us to South Africa and the bamboo forests of Japan, this year’s sculptural blockbuster is sticking closer to home. Catalyst: Colorado Sculpture, which opened to the public on May 4, is strictly an in-state showcase, featuring works by…
Aspen-based artist Pamela Joseph has found success internationally in a variety of mediums, but a project near and dear to her heart will stick close to home when Pamela Joseph’s Sideshow of the Absurd opens today at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center. Joseph’s been adding to and exhibiting the…
The greatest film directors all bleed a little of themselves into their work; it’s why the movies they make strike deeper chords with us as viewers. And although Federico Fellini’s Amarcord takes license with the facts, it’s one of the most touching films ever: Sweet, poignant, satirical, fantastic and surreal…
Sure, improv can be funny, but if you ask Denise Maes of the improv school and performance venue Bovine Metropolis Theater, it’s also redemptive for the people who practice it, and a useful tool in navigating life. “It allows people to learn how to be more collaborative, how to listen…
On Sunday, December 29, a quiet ripple passed through the Internet as the news came out that longtime Denver gallerist and curator Robin Rule had passed away, leaving a long trail of mourning artists and collectors distraught and caught by surprise. See also: Gildar Gallery celebrates the work of Clark…
We all have our New Year’s Eve rituals — from parties wild or romantic to a quiet toast at home. Some folks turn in before the clock even strikes midnight, and in Denver, others will be bundling up their families to catch fireworks downtown for free. How bout you? Looking…
In 2013, we’ve gone to Paris at the Denver Art Museum and invited the rest of the world in for the city’s second Biennial of the Americas, visited galleries in garages and warehouses, and found unexpected art wheat-pasted on brick walls, projected from LED screens and gracing billboards. To be…
I’ve been at Westword for a long time, and during that two-decade stretch, my job description has changed and morphed. But in the present, I’m enjoying a renaissance of pure, unabashed fandom. This professional pastime reached a pinnacle for me in 2013 as I curated the 100 Colorado Creatives blog…
While their Christian brethren gathered in churches and around the tree with family and friends on Christmas Eve, Denver’s young professional Jewish community came out to party at Heebonism 2013, which also served as the first big event to show off the newly renovated and renamed 1UP Colfax. Photographer Brandon…
Breaking bread in the kitchen is a major part of the human experience, wherever you live, but Museo de las Américas director Maruca Salazar thinks her own Mexican kitchen culture illustrates the importance of cooking in a particularly sensual way. So after much discussion within the Museo community, she put…
Nothing gets folks into the holiday spirit more readily than holiday lights — there’s just something about the way the whole world turns into a sparkling wonderland just when the days are at their shortest and darkest. Plus, they’re mostly nondenominational (if you ignore that big to-do about the Denver…
Think of the last thing you would ever dream of doing on a chill winter’s day, and that’s how you could, um, celebrate the new year. Intrepid adventure-seekers will welcome 2014 with a leap into frigid waters at today’s 31st annual Boulder Polar Plunge, a tradition that draws a surprisingly…
There’s a holiday for everyone, and in the African-American community, today marks Umoja. It’s the first of seven days of Kwanzaa, which kicks off with a nod to unity and, in Denver’s Five Points community, with the lighting of the first candle on the Grand Kinara — a giant, seven-pronged…
You’ve seen one Nutcracker, you’ve seen them all? Not quite, says the Colorado Ballet’s Sanya Andersen-Vie, who promises that theirs is not only the most classic, crowd-pleasing rendition around, but it’s also one of the few in the area to feature a live orchestra performing Tchaikovsky’s familiar and signature tunes…
For most of the year, These Things Matter podcast hosts Taylor Gonda and Kevin O’Brien stick to a tried-and-true script: They interview a guest on his or her obsession and crack wise in a studio, then package it up for online consumption by listeners who sometimes find themselves yelling at…
We’re taking a break, but it won’t be for long — after spending Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with our families and friends, Westword’s Show and Tell team will be back on the job early Thursday, December 26 with a focus on the past and the future of Denver’s arts…
There’s nothing stuffy about Adam Lerner, whose whimsical yet intellectual sensibility propels everything that happens at the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, where he’s the museum’s director and “Chief Animator.” The same goes for his annual holiday message to MCA visitors, supporters and friends. This year’s greeting, entitled “Caffeinated History,”…
Designer, seamstress and girl-about-town Baily Rose makes dreamy, dressy dresses that are truly one-of-a-kind and wrap themselves around your personality like a bed of ethereal fairy clover. Really. And because the holidays are nigh and the days are short, she’s opening the doors of her Maison de Rose for Don…
What goes on behind the scenes at an art museum usually stays behind the scenes. That’s about to change as MCA Denver turns its local-themed Critical Focus series spotlight on its own installation team. The exhibition, Critical Focus: MCA Installation Team, which opens to the public tonight, consists of diverse…
