Best Annual Immersive Installations 2024 | Spectra Art Space | Best of Denver® | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Denver | Westword
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Best Annual Immersive Installations

Spectra Art Space

Local artists have a major supporter in Spectra Art Space, which is always there to put on dedicated creatives' first shows and where you're always sure to find quality work. But the gallery has also cemented itself as a purveyor of the immersive arts, mounting annual installations that fill its backyard with the visions of the city's artists. In the late spring and summer, there's Novo Ita, a dreamy world lush with plants and flowers, and in the fall and winter, it's Spookadelia, a blend of creepy and kitsch that keeps the Halloween spirit alive.

Best Immersive Installation to Find a Yeti

Shiki Dreams
Prismajic

Lisa Fox

After knocking it out of the park with Natura Obscura at the Museum of Outdoor Arts, Prismajic found a permanent home for Shiki Dreams at Colorado Mills mall. The five-room installation creates a welcome escape as soon as you enter, with forest-evoking scents and dim lighting that direct your attention to the illuminated scenes throughout. You'll be given a headset that plays an ambient soundtrack as you traverse fairy-tale rooms and perhaps spot Shiki, the yeti that the installation is named for. As Prismajic co-founder Jennifer Mosquera promised, "One of the things we're really interested in is tempering the crazy — from the outside world, traffic, everyday things — and bringing some wonder and creativity as well as some calm to people." And Prismajic nailed it with Shiki Dreams.

14500 West Colfax Avenue, Suite 359B, Lakewood
prismajic.com

Best Immersive Membership Club

Invisible City

After Paul Laurie found success with his Silver Spork Social underground supper club in 2014, he created Invisible City, a members-only club, in 2017. Invisible City now has a very visible permanent home in its Clubhouse at 941 Santa Fe Drive, which opened last September; it's an immersive-art social lounge that hosts concerts, workshops and more for its members, as well as ticketed shows when the public is able to come check out the space. A gathering place for the adventurous and imaginative, Invisible City transcends the conventional, making for a realm where the extraordinary becomes the standard.

Best Art District for Street Art

RiNo Art District

Whether you're in RiNo for First Friday, a concert at one of the area's many venues or just brewery-hopping, the street art is impossible to miss. It's almost everywhere you look, from murals dating back to the years of Crush Walls to new works that are seemingly going up all the time. That's because the nonprofit art district throws a lot of support to the local artists who make our city so colorful, providing opportunities for them by way of mural festivals, a BIPOC artist fund, and programming that includes workshops, markets and more.

rinoartdistrict.org

Best New Mural Installation

Denver Nuggets mural by Detour

The Mile High City was filled with pride when the Nuggets brought home the NBA championship trophy in 2023, and so was Thomas Evans, the local artist who goes by Detour. His murals are instantly recognizable for their bright splashes of color rendering portraits of people who inspire him, and as an avid fan of Denver sports, the artist immediately took to his canvas — i.e., the 7-Eleven wall he's been painting up since 2020. The mural was even covered by the New York Times. But of course, that isn't all the prolific artists has in the works: Detour has a major installation project at Denver International Airport, and just adorned Empower Field.

1919 East Colfax Avenue
iamdetour.com

Best New Mural Festival

Denver Walls

After local artist Ally Grimm, aka A.L. Grime, painted at the D.C. iteration of international mural festival World Wide Walls, she convinced organizers that the Mile High City would be the perfect fit for the fest. While she originally planned for the Denver version to happen in 2022, that effort fell through because of a lack of funds. But Grimm found an enthusiastic partner in the RiNo Art District, and after much planning, Denver Walls had its inaugural festival last September, bringing local, national and international artists together in RiNo to paint seventeen new murals around the neighborhood. The largest spot? That went to Detour, who painted the entire floor on top of a parking lot.

denverwalls.com

Best Street Art

Chris Haven

The Mile High City is known for its colorful street art, and some styles are becoming instantly recognizable. Who hasn't seen one of Chris Haven's goofy, smiling triangular dudes spray-painted on a building or alleyway? Whether they're throwing up peace signs or holding a mic as if about to bust out a cypher, they add a lot of joy to the streets of Denver. Haven also creates photo-realistic portrait murals. That breadth of talent really underscores the boundless energy of the Denver arts scene.

@ChrisHaven

Best Art Collective Events for Misfits and Risk-Takers

Voltaire Collective

Voltaire Collective brings visual and performance art to the city in its own creepy and original way, with "theatrical draglesque productions." The producers of the events and shows are all artists themselves. From an event described as a "kink extravaganza" showcasing burlesque and pole performances to the Inkwell, an original production that follows a wizard and his apprentice, you never know what the collective will come up with next. Voltaire events can be found all around the city, and its Instagram (@voltairecollective) shows off some of the fun things in the works.

ragdollclothingco.com/voltaire-collective

Best Artist Couple

Sushe Felix and Tracy Felix

Artists Sushe and Tracy Felix have been making stunning oil and acrylic paintings for decades, capturing landscapes through their own unique lenses. Both inspired by the West, they illustrate enigmatic mountainous scenery in flat, stylized strokes that give weight to saturated colors. You'll often find the talented pair showing their work together, and their styles both complement and supplement each other. They don't just share walls in the galleries; they share a life together, too, in a heartwarming creative collaboration.

felixfineart.com

Best Depiction of Blue Cows

Max Coleman

The cows that local artist Max Coleman paints are all blue, with phrases behind them such as, "How can we expect to build a peaceful world by using violence?" His murals and other work can be seen on walls around metro Denver, and they almost always reference animal advocacy in some way. If you're pro-cow, his series titled The Burden of Cattle, now on display at the Banshee House, is a sight to behold. If you can't make it there, your next best bet for cow art is the Westword office.

maxcolemandesign.com

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