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Best Photo Show

Reality of Fiction

Month of Photography hit a kind of critical mass this year, with one wonderful show after another, but RedLine served as the event's unofficial heart by hosting Reality of Fiction, put together by MoP founder, photographer and arts advocate Mark Sink. He included artists from around the world but relied on local talent for most of the inclusions. Everything in this show, which is still open, is about the relationship of true to false, with lots of things that fool the eye — even without the use of digital magic.

Best Place for a Drink and a Film

Movie and a Martini

The Wildlife Experience at CU South Denver

Taking advantage of the Wildlife Experience's massive forty-by-sixty-foot HD screen, the Movie and a Martini series keeps selling out the house with its monthly film and food pairings. Coupling classics like Casablanca, Sixteen Candles or Strange Brew with specialty cocktails makes the grownup soiree worth a trip to Parker. And the museum's companion series, Whiskey and a Western, offers double-barreled fun with screenings of movies like Blazing Saddles accompanied by adult beverages from such local businesses as Black Canyon Distillery.

Best Political Open Mic

Mutiny Words Night

Courtesy Mutiny Information Cafe

The Mutiny Words Night free-for-all, hosted by comedian and devil's advocate Onus Spears on Thursday nights, invites poets, musicians, comedians, storytellers and raving lunatics to talk, read or sing about what concerns them — or simply dispense their activist screed. Mindless haters, Spears warns, are not tolerated, so take your anger elsewhere unless it's directed into a cogent, arguable point of view that's less about finger-pointing and more about cultivating change. Otherwise, there's no censorship (or alcohol or drugs) at this all-ages forum, which begs participants to "SAY IT," whether their causes be personal or communal: sexuality, war, guns, bicyclists, pot-litics, local and world issues — it's all fair game. Talk may be cheap, but Mutiny Words Night is free. Rant on.

Best Political Theater

Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins

Most Coloradans know of the hard-drinking, straight-talking Texas reporter Molly Ivins, who died much too soon — just when we needed her most, some would argue — at the age of 62. Ivins helped break the gender barrier in journalism, and she did it as a dame, a broad, a liberal in a deep-red state, a fiery populist. She loved skewering members of the Texas Legislature, and they — as she freely admitted — gave her an awful lot to work with. When Zeik Saidman, a Denver friend of Ivins's, heard of this one-woman play, he decided it had to show here, and LIDA Project's Brian Freeland offered his space and his services as director. In a match made in heaven, he persuaded Rhonda Brown to take on the role. And the tough, warm-spirited actress did indeed kick ass.

Best Pop-Up Gallery

Dikeou Pop-Up Space

Devon Dikeou's private Dikeou Collection gallery in a 16th Street high-rise is worth seeking out, but it's hard to find unless you know what you're looking for. Far more visible is its adjunct pop-up gallery in the Golden Triangle, which hosts openings and other special events, highlighting new additions to the collection in a more accessible spot. Think of this as a hands-on billboard for the collection itself, a spot in the heart of the museum district where the hustle and bustle brings an audience right to its door. Pop-up openings have introduced such works as Nils Folke Anderson's sculptural Styrofoam installation and, currently, the doctored photographs of Dutch artist Sebastiaan Bremer; during Denver Arts Week, the debut of Dikeou's extensive vinyl record collection provided some of the entertainment. The pop-up concept suggests an element of surprise — which means the impermanent Dikeou space is doing a surprising number of things right.

Best Pop-Up Shop in a Museum

Design Within Denver

MCA Denver

We loved the Denver Art Museum gift shop's nod to local designers when it displayed and sold Denver-made styles during the Yves Saint Laurent retrospective's run. But even more enduring is MCA Denver's shop-local-themed Design Within Denver series, which brings in changing trunk shows on selected Friday nights, giving local artists, designers, crafters and jewelry makers a chance to shine in a museum setting. Like the shop's own collection, Design Within Denver is carefully curated to appeal to the MCA's modern-art-loving constituents, mainly by presenting the shop's regular vendors and merchandise — from whimsical miniature diorama lockets by Becky's Buttons to the graphic hand-letterpressed stationery by Rick Griffith's Matter Studio — in a sharper focus. A boon during traditional gift-shopping seasons, the series benefits both eclectic and quirky artists and buyers looking for something different.

Best Pre- and Post-Movie Party Spot

Sie FilmCenter

Whether you're hanging out before a movie, between film-festival showings or after an unrelated event, Sie FilmCenter always has the makings of a great party. The FilmCenter makes good use of its indoor and outdoor space, hosting shindigs on the rooftop, cocktail hours and yoga classes in Henderson's Lounge, concerts on the front steps, and trivia nights in the lobby. More than just a theater, the Sie has become the place to hang out, mingle, celebrate birthdays and, of course, catch some of the best movies to come through Denver.

Best Projection Screen

The Oriental Theater

Scott LaBarbera has a very diverse booking policy at the Oriental Theater, and he and his team have brought in some impressive acts, including Crime and the City Solution, Dead Prez and Woven Hand. Part of what makes these shows such a rich experience is the projection screen that occupies the entire back wall. With it, even local bands on a small budget can turn an otherwise standard show into a multimedia extravaganza. Using the entire back wall makes for an immersive environment than can truly transport an audience.

Best Proof That Fashion Is Art

Yves Saint Laurent: the Retrospective

Among the amazing coups by the Denver Art Museum last year was landing Yves Saint Laurent: the Retrospective; in fact, it was the traveling blockbuster's only stop in this country. Curator Florence Müller, with backing from the late couturier's partner, Pierre Bergé, surveyed Saint Laurent's career, with the dramatic exhibition design by Nathalie Criniére setting a new standard around here. Some of the most remarkable pieces were those that referred to paintings, like the luxurious jackets based on van Gogh's work and the stylish cocktail dress that took on a Mondrian. Saint Laurent didn't do these kinds of things on a whim; he and Bergé were art connoisseurs of the highest order. And this show may represent a new trend at the DAM, which is opening a new textile gallery this summer.

Best Public Art at DIA

"Mustang," by Luis Jiménez

"Mustang," a 32-foot-tall blue fiberglass stallion with glowing orangey-red eyes, has truly captured the public's attention. The piece conflates the Wild West with lowrider culture and is the greatest accomplishment of its creator, the late Luis Jiménez. When it was unveiled in early 2008, fifteen years behind schedule and two years after a chunk of the then-work-in-progress had fallen on Jiménez and killed him, it generated cheers from some and jeers from many more. This past February, the sculpture turned five years old, which meant the city could start considering any official requests that it be moved — or dumped altogether. But the issue turned out to be a non-starter, because "Mustang" has only gained popularity over the years. Even some of its most vehement detractors have come around. Hold your horses!

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