Arts & Entertainment

Great hip-hop clubs have come and gone in Denver. These days, one of the best places for an artist to be seen is Onyx Barbershop, home of the Barbershop Uncut YouTube series. Armando Trevino, the shop's owner, never intended to be a player in the music industry, but when he realized that Denver has a massive underground hip-hop scene that isn't getting the national attention it deserves, he took action and launched a video series based at Onyx, hosting rap battles and cyphers to give young artists a chance. Barbershop Uncut has put out videos with Old Man Saxon, TheyCallHimAP, Jakob Campbell and dozens of others, and in-person events should return soon.

For skeptics, the term "free concert" might conjure up the image of a snoozy evening of nearly unbearable music...but, hey, at least it's outside. But when those naysayers finally get themselves to Denver's Ruby Hill Park to check out one of the fifty free shows offered every summer at the nonprofit Levitt Pavilion, they'll realize they had it all wrong. A Levitt show offers full production: high-quality sound, lighting design and massive projections to bring the audience up close to the action. In addition, the artists showcased by the venue are a who's who of up-and-coming local and touring bands. Chances are they'll soon be among your favorites.

With the arts community in an economic crisis over the past year, cultural groups and artists alike needed somebody to champion them. That somebody was Louise Martorano, executive director of RedLine Contemporary Art Center — an indefatigable advocate who knows how to work with large-scale institutions to bring their resources to often scrappy artists. Creatives in this city looking to get something done — and make it through challenging times — are lucky to have Martorano on their side. Not only does she go to bat for the creative community with the state and foundations, but she's also willing to help artists pull off their wildest ideas.

Jeff Campbell took a creative path to activism — first as a hip-hop artist, then as a playwright and actor. His purpose has always been political, but when Campbell unveiled From Allies to Abolitionists — a challenge to BIPOC allies to stand up vocally and actively for social justice matters — he threw away all artifice and got down to business, picking up the outcry over Denver artist Raverro Stinnett's beating by Allied Universal security guards working for RTD...and getting results. Now the group is addressing city abuse of Denver's homeless community, using a "Message to the Mayor" campaign that includes an all-star hip-hop video. We're looking forward to Campbell's future endeavors.

High-rise construction downtown was largely on a decades-long hiatus until about five years ago, when a boom started that has already resulted in a number of conspicuous additions to the skyline. The newest on the block is Block 162, on 15th Street between California and Welton streets. It's the structure that looks like it's coming unzipped at the top, where the curtain walls are theatrically canted out; this flourish gives the tower a distinctive profile that's visible for miles. Closer up, the detailing perfectly integrates with the clean yet complex overall form of the building. The tower is thirty stories, with a podium that houses retail and lobby space on the ground floor, then nine levels of parking before the partly open-air Sky Terrace. From there on, the tower is all office space — and thanks to a remarkable feat of engineering, none of these office floors have internal columns. Block 162 was designed by Gensler, an internationally renowned architectural firm, with Raffael Scasserra serving as design director, overseeing a large team. Despite its extremely prosaic name, Block 162 is downright poetic.

Bauhaus master Herbert Bayer arrived in Aspen in the 1940s, after having fled the Nazis in Europe. Several of his works made their way down to Denver, most significantly "Articulated Wall," an 85-foot-tall stack of yellow bars in the Denver Design Center completed in 1986, the year after Bayer died. A few years ago, a repaint of the stack brought together Dan Cohen from D4 Urban, which owns the center, and Bayer's step-grandchild, Koko Bayer. Koko had uncovered models for hundreds of never-built Bayer sculptures, and Cohen came up with the idea of commissioning some of them for D4's Broadway Park neighborhood. And that's how the fabulous new posthumous Bayer, "Four Chromatic Gates," wound up being erected at the Alameda RTD light rail station. The piece, based on a 1982 maquette from the Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art, comprises simple shapes evoking the uprights and lintel of a door frame; nested together are four of these painted steel "gates," with the lintels overlapping above but never touching one another. The sleek minimalism and basic colors employed both hark back to Bayer's Bauhaus beginnings, yet somehow his aesthetic still looks contemporary, even decades after his death.

Ann Sabbah and Nancy Larned took a chance last year by going ahead with the first Denver Fringe Festival, believing that local theater-goers were ready for the concept's infinite possibilities and challenging interactivity. They were pleased enough with the results to bring it back this June for a second round, with a mix of virtual and live walkabout programming in RiNo. Denver's not a cowtown anymore! The 2021 schedule and ticket sales will drop in May, with popular Denver groups like Rainbow Militia, Frequent Flyers and Theatre Artibus already on the docket.

Robert Gray (aka Rob the Art Museum) and Annie Phillips of IRL Art (a Denver group providing artists with opportunities and exposure) had to hustle when they teamed up to create the Black Love Mural Festival amid protests over the George Floyd murder by police in Minneapolis, but last summer's event featuring an all-Black muralist group in Civic Center Park turned out beautifully, prettying up Denver's most central park and sending a strong social justice message to the public. The free fest returns this year, again in Floyd's memory, when an expanded number of artists start working on May 30.

True, 2020 won't be remembered as a year with a lot of hope. But if you've been in Denver for over twelve months, you saw plenty of artist Koko Bayer's hope hearts wheat-pasted all around town. The paper hearts, printed in concentric lines with the word "hope" or "esperanza" in the center, started popping up on businesses, at street art festivals, and even on some apartment buildings in April 2020, and they haven't stopped going up since. The entire effort, dubbed Project Spread Hope, was funded through Bayer's generosity and occasional donations; it's been a constant source of positivity in a year that has been anything but. And even as some of the earlier hope hearts fade, new pieces are surfacing all the time.

For the past two years, ColorCon has brought some of Denver's finest street artists to paint in the alleys of the Golden Triangle neighborhood. The 2020 edition of the festival, which took place in August, included the work of Moe Gram, Olive Moya, A.L. Grime, We Were Wild, Anna Charney and others, who turned a once dull alley behind the 1100 block of Broadway into a spectacular temple of Denver street art. While the Golden Triangle isn't the first neighborhood that comes to mind when thinking about Denver muralism, this festival has spread the color beyond RiNo and created a must-see spot for new work.

If you're yearning for a hit of experimental art, take a trip to the Colorado Convention Center, where Understudy, the Denver Theatre District's 700-square-foot arts incubator, has set up shop under a stairwell. There you'll find regularly rotating exhibitions showcasing collaborations between people working in various nooks and crannies of the city's cultural scene, from musicians and photographers to performance artists, collectives and educators. Because the work is not commercial, it's often more interesting than the typical offerings at galleries, and the space's exhibits are entirely free.

Since August, a charming historic building across the street from City Park has been home to ARTAOS. Launched by street artist Jason Rodriguez, aka Forge, and New Mexico gallerist Gregory Farah, the space has exhibited an exhilarating mix of new street art from around town and beyond. Rodriguez brings his passion for social justice and a commitment to pop-art stylizations to the gallery, persuading collectors to embrace underground culture; he's even riding the NFT wave, joining creatives pushing the boundaries of what types of art can be commodified and how.

Black girls become Black women, an idea not lost on Denverite Charlie Billingsley, who embraces the "Black Girl Magic" ideal and believes that the confidence and resilience it manifests has roots in girlhoods spent surrounded by a strong community. That's what convinced her to call upon other Black women artists and creatives to help build the Museum for Black Girls, a joyful reflection on supportive culture and role models, with lots of opportunity for positive reflection and proud selfies. The pop-up is still going strong after opening its second iteration in February.

After a two-year hibernation in storage, the Denver Museum of Miniatures, Dolls and Toys debuted in its new Lakewood home last August, unveiling more spacious, up-to-date digs, with the promise of even more space opening to the public as funds allow. With a collection of over 20,000 objects, albeit tiny ones, the museum can use every inch of space — for bigger exhibits, workshops, meeting rooms and other DMMDT business. In the meantime, you can help keep the museum moving forward by visiting and viewing dollhouses, exquisite miniatures and trendy toys that have languished in storage for years, as well as some DMMDT favorites.

In the post-Adam Lerner world of MCA Denver, recent hire Miranda Lash — the museum's Ellen Bruss Senior Curator — comes to the MCA from earlier roles at the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky, and the New Orleans Museum of Art, bringing a fresh eye for diversity. Of Latinx heritage, Lash not only brings an understanding of Colorado's deeply rooted Chicano culture, but one that makes room for everyone, including LGBTIA artists and artists of color. What she does with those skills remains to be seen (new director Nora Burnett Abrams curated MCA's current shows), but we're expecting big things.

Artist Adrienne DeLoe was feeling deflated by inactivity a year ago and started the Pandemic Self-Portraits Project as a way to get busy. The concept quickly went global, and today it presents as a diverse visual diary of how artists everywhere were feeling in a single moment, and how they each dealt with the same familiar issues. Turns out everyone really is completely different from everyone else. The project will live on, archived by DeLoe in a book she's preparing for publication as soon as June; watch her Instagram for updates.

Tourists of all ages will find something to like at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. Enjoy an out-of-this-world experience at the recently remodeled Space Odyssey, or take a trip into the past at shows about ancient Egypt, Stonehenge, dinosaurs and more. You can also explore blockbuster exhibitions, IMAX movies and a virtual-reality arcade — then grab a bite in the cafeteria and buy gifts for your friends in the well-stocked shop. After you're done at the museum, take a stroll around City Park — or make it a double-feature day with a trip to the neighboring Denver Zoo.

Upending the entire concept of an art museum from the moment it was founded, Black Cube Nomadic stays free from the confines of the white-cube gallery walls as it exhibits ambitious public-art projects, from sculptures to performances, in town and beyond. While the nonprofit has deep ties to Colorado artists and gives them an international platform, it also brings in lesser-known creatives to do site-specific installations in uncanny spaces. Executive director and curator Cortney Lane Stell ensures that the programming is challenging, sophisticated and smart, and encourages dialogue between artists and the community along the way, using her museum to forever change the sites that Black Cube activates, delivering a fresh and provocative experience every time.

Every neighborhood business district seems to have an art walk these days, but you might not know that Five Points has one, too, along the Welton Street corridor. Sponsored by the Five Points Atlas and Vibe Palace, it's deliberately small and neighborly, featuring work by a changing selection of Black artists from the community installed inside cafes, salons and other small businesses along the street. Catch the art walk on the third Wednesday of every month, from 4 to 8 p.m.; it's fabulous and free.

Colorful Colorado didn't earn that moniker because of the murals and street art that cover the walls of so much of the state — but it could have. And it's that art that the Colorado Tourism Office and Colorado Creative Industries have begun to document statewide, creating a series of travel itineraries across various regions under the name Mural Trails. The state recommends popular public art, from Gregg Deal's "MMIWG2S" in Boulder to Carlos Sandoval's "Sierras y Colores" in San Luis, and couples it with suggestions for lodging and dining in various regions. What are you waiting for? Road trip!

You hate tours. When you go to a new city, you want to see it through the eyes of a native, and not necessarily in a hip way, though a touch of glamour doesn't hurt. That's the type of adventure that Treasure Box managed to create online during the pandemic, and it recently released its 2021 Treasure Map of possible in-person tours so tempting that even natives might want to join in. Neighborhoods, history, museums, community gardens, food, main drags and day hikes are just some of the directions in which Treasure Box tour guides will take you.

In the early days of the pandemic, when partners Susannah and Chloe McLeod were stuck at home, Susannah began documenting — and mocking — how their lives started changing (and their hygiene began disintegrating) week by week, in a satiric series of photographs. They won so many fans that the couple published a book, Quarantine Week by Weak, which they sold in a benefit for the Denver Actors Fund, established in 2013 to provide immediate assistance for members of the Colorado theater community. When COVID-19 arrived, the DAF set up a separate relief effort, the Denver Emergency Relief Fund, which distributed tens of thousands of dollars to artists who'd lost jobs when shows were postponed or canceled by the shutdown.

When Metropolian State University of Denver associate professor David Heska Wanbli Weiden, a member of the Sicangu Lakota tribe, set out to write a detective novel set on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, he had the knowledge necessary to bring his protagonist, Virgil Wounded Horse, to life — and then his talent did the rest. Since its release last summer, Winter Counts has been deluged with enthusiastic reviews and crime-novel nominations and awards. And that brings up another mystery: When will the next Virgil Wounded Horse book be released?

The horror-movie crowd found a place to gather over drinks when horror-phile Nathan Szklarski brought a pop-up film series to Bellwether late last year, complete with a matching horror-themed cocktail program. The project was such a hit that Szklarski took over the joint and reopened it in March as Horror Bar, with a nightly schedule of films and fun. Tired of being scared while home alone? Head to Horror Bar: This place is a scream!

Against all odds, Denver Film managed to program movies through the pandemic and into the next year, even as its theaters have been shuttered. Through its online Virtual Cinema, the nonprofit opened programming to new audiences and forged ahead with its signature Denver Film Festival, along with smaller strands of programming such as the Dragon Boat Film Festival, Women + Film and Cinema Q. The programmers even managed to do a drive-in version of Film on the Rocks. No matter what the rest of 2021 throws at Denver Film, you can be sure the organization will keep screening great movies one way or another, and that the Virtual Cinema program will be a powerful tool in the arthouse's arsenal long after COVID-19 fades from memory.

Since Helen Murray took the helm at the Aurora Fox Arts Center, the small theater company has consistently put on a mix of challenging, literary and engaging productions, continuing its longstanding tradition of celebrating cultural diversity. Staying two steps ahead of social movements, the Fox uses its shows to engage the community in urgent conversations about race, gender, identity and politics, all while delivering contemporary theatrical works. Through in-person and virtual offerings, Murray and company have rallied to entertain and stay relevant during the pandemic, with no plans to stop anytime soon.

Like most companies in Colorado and across the nation, Boulder's acclaimed Local Theater didn't actually have a season in 2020. Faced with a big blank space on the roster, director Pesha Rudnick dubbed the season "Dwell in Possibility" and created new virtual public programming. Instead of canceling the annual Local Lab play-development initiative, she expanded it to include ten playwrights instead of three, giving artists in limbo valuable work. The company stayed sharp without losing faith, and now anticipates going live again this summer with an outdoor run of its Discount Ghost Stories: Songs From the Rockies at the Boulder Bandshell, including free Monday night performances. Local for the win!

The Armory Denver is a creative production facility in a massive building that dates back to the late 1800s. Back then, it housed weapons for the Colorado State Militia; it later became home of the Olympic Auditorium and Art Neon. But this latest incarnation may be its best. In addition to having recording studios and rehearsal rooms, the Denver Armory boasts a stage with lighting rigs, projection mapping, multiple high-end cameras and engineers who have worked in some of the city's biggest venues. As a result, it's a no-brainer match for bands looking for an ideal spot to produce high-quality livestreams and get creative with the filming.

KUVO 89.3 FM has long offered some of the best musical programming in the city, with smart DJs who consistently display their depth of jazz knowledge. But since summer 2019, we've been blown away by the new effort from KUVO: the Drop, a much-needed R&B and hip-hop channel that launched on KUVO's HD2 signal, the KUVO app and thedrop303.org. And this past year, things got even better when the Drop secured its own FM signal, 104.7. Nikki Swarn, who deejays as Amerykah Jones, heads up the station and is joined by fellow DJs Dif'Rent, Unique, and Bella Scratch. Love hip-hop? Tune in.

Darold Vigil, aka "Pocho Joe," host of the Chicano-flavored La Raza Rocks radio hour, is a walking encyclopedia of Latin rock, soul and R&B. And he graciously shares his immense knowledge of those musical styles and their purveyors past and present, taking La Raza listeners on a guided tour, from Denver's Brass Monkey to Cali's Champs and beyond. But in his quiet, affable way, Vigil, a 2018 Chicano Music Hall of Fame inductee, lets the music he plays speak for itself. The show, which runs on Sundays from 1 to 2 p.m. on KUVO 89.3, will set the mood for your weekend afternoon ("Suavecito," anyone?), especially with Vigil at the helm; consider it a learning experience with a groove.

The folks at ArtHyve like to compare the Record to Record discussion series to a book club, only with music — and that's not a bad comparison. The periodic online events focus on a single LP, encouraging participants to have a critical listen to the chosen album in advance, and then join in a lively discussion of the recording with special guests and a knowledgeable host. So far, the club has considered records by Charles Mingus, Morphine and X-Ray Spex, among others, with big things planned for future programming. Why not take it for a spin?

While the Rusty Bucket is known as a haven for Pittsburgh Steelers fans and heaven for burger lovers, the Lakewood neighborhood joint also hosts some of the area's finest blues talent on Saturdays, whether it be Randall Dubis, Boa & the Constrictors, BlueKrewe, Eddie Turner or the Delta Sonics. Over the past year, the Rusty Bucket has had to hold off on its long-running Wednesday night blues jams because of COVID-19 restrictions, but there are plans to bring those back, too, once those limitations are lifted.

For more than two decades, Dazzle has been Denver's prime spot for jazz, bringing in nationally recognized musicians and the area's best players, whether they're up-and-comers or jazz veterans. While restaurants and venues struggled all over the state last year, the folks at Dazzle knew that out-of-work musicians were struggling as well, so the venue stepped up to help through its Bread & Jam program, a pop-up food pantry for professional musicians who have been out of work. The club also offered virtual programming and mental health support through a partnership with Music Minds Matter. That's music to our ears!

Denver is often touted as the bass-music capital of the world, thanks to the city's longstanding underground dance-music scene, raging warehouse parties and sweaty, head-banging fans. While some of that underground energy has floated into massive venues run by mainstream promoters, the spirit of the rave scene pulses on at the Black Box, a club owned and run by longtime Sub.mission promoter Nicole Cacciavillano, who set up the space to make sure Colorado's scene would have a welcoming home with a killer Basscouch Sound combo and a community vibe. While the venue itself just opened in 2016, its roots run deep...bass deep.

When the Larimer Lounge opened nearly two decades ago, there wasn't much else happening as far as nightlife goes in this part of Denver. But the old warehouses were already full of artists who inspired the start of the RiNo Arts District, and music wasn't overlooked as one of the area's artistic amenities. Since Larimer Lounge's start, acts ranging from Arcade Fire to Jason Isbell have gone on to headline Red Rocks, and the venue's garnered a reputation as one of the city's best places to catch a favorite band or discover new music. Over the past year, the Larimer Lounge has been remodeled, and while EDM and jam acts also grace the stage, much of the music is still rock solid.

Lesbian bars are an endangered breed in the United States: According to the documentarians behind the Lesbian Bar Project, there are only around fifteen left nationwide. Denver's lucky to have one of them: Blush & Blu, a neighborhood bar, coffee shop and restaurant catering to lesbians but welcoming people of all identities. This East Colfax staple slings killer drinks, hosts a tasty brunch and offers a mix of open-mic nights, karaoke, bingo and various themed parties. If you're looking for a casual, queer old time at a bar that shows up for the community as much as the community shows up for it, this is the spot for you.

Country fans continue to go wild at the Grizzly Rose, which has been the Denver area's dominant country bar for more than three decades. Set in a massive 40,000-square-foot building, the venue has plenty of room for dancing, dining and drinking — and even mechanical bull riding. On any given night, you might catch the best local country bands and rising national acts; some of those who showed up at the Grizzly Rose before they blew up include Garth Brooks, Taylor Swift, Kenny Chesney and Blake Shelton. Look for more national acts in the coming months — Josh Ward, Randall King and Aaron Watson are all booked — while local acts usually play multi-night runs.

If there's any guarantee that Denver's underground arts and music scene can survive the onslaught of development, you'll find it at Mutiny Information Cafe, a Broadway staple that serves as a bookstore, comic shop, coffee shop, podcast hub and music venue. With a long legacy in Denver's punk scene, Mutiny's owners keep the DIY spirit alive, offering up a stage to bands and artists who would have zero chance of playing any of the city's commercial venues. And because the spot also hosts all-ages acts, younger generations have a place where they can discover underground culture, too, and keep the tradition going.

The folks behind Seventh Circle Music Collective have long fostered Denver's DIY scene in their west Denver garage, record store, practice room and multi-use art space. Since every show is all-ages, Seventh Circle is an ideal spot for younger fans to hear music, and younger musicians to find a stage to play. Although the small venue hasn't been booking live shows during the pandemic, it's been hosting livestreams while it bides its time before getting back to business.

During the pandemic, the Salt Lick Denver Music Collective opened a new venue called The Pond in the basement of a house in Denver. The group has been broadcasting concerts from there called Songs From the Pond, by indie-rock bands and other local acts. Eventually, Salt Lick plans to open the space — which is painted with a mural of a glow-in-the-dark frog, beans and squash, and decorated with a mannequin and other ephemera — for tiny in-person shows, and to host larger outdoor shows behind the venue.

Not long after 3 Kings Tavern, a legendary rock club, closed after fourteen years on Broadway, Scott Happel and Peter Ore, two of the owners of the Oriental Theater, took over the space and turned it into HQ. While the club will gradually ramp up its live-music offerings, including punk acts like Reno Divorce and Agent Orange, in the coming months, HQ has already been hosting regular karaoke, burlesque and goth nights.

In an era filled with grief and rage, musicians Kayla Marque, Sur Ellz and Crl Crrll joined together in a new supergroup, the Grand Alliance, with the goal of offering the world a vision of a better future through song. Spanning Black musical genres from disco and R&B to hip-hop and funk, this forward-thinking trio crafted a debut album that is at once comforting, dance-inspiring and daring enough to offer hope. Rooted in Afrofuturism, their collaboration takes the masterful musicianship of these three artists and multiplies it by infinity — with swagger.

If there's anyone in the state who deserves to be on the esteemed jazz label Blue Note Records, it's cornetist Ron Miles. Rainbow Sign, mostly written when Miles's father was near the end of his life, marks his first recording for Blue Note, and it tops the aesthetic charts with Miles's heartfelt compositions and moving and intuitive interplay with guitarist Bill Frisell and drummer Brian Blade (both of whom have made other albums with Miles), as well as bassist Thomas Morgan and pianist Jason Moran.