Best Celebration of LGBTQ+ Chicano Culture 2024 | Amor Es AmorNorthglenn Arts Center | Best of Denver® | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Denver | Westword
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Best Celebration of LGBTQ+ Chicano Culture

Amor Es Amor
Northglenn Arts Center

Pride isn't limited to one month, and the Northglenn Arts Center and Chicano Council for the Arts and Humanities made that clear with Amor Es Amor, which included works from twelve Latino and Chicano artists, many of whom are also in the LGBTQ+ community. The exhibit revolved around unique narratives, identities and stories of queer individuals. "Queer joy is my priority," artist Tania Maldonado said, "and seeing a wall full of that art — that is something that all of the oppressive systems and things we are having to combat can't take away from us."

Parsons Theatre, 1 East Memorial Parkway, Northglenn
303-450-8888
northglennarts.org

Best Look Backward

Roots of an Era: Mixtape to the Old North Denver Art Scene
BRDG Project

Many locals bemoan the loss of old Denver. There's been a lot of change over the years, particularly in the last three decades, when the city slowly and inexorably moved away from $150-a-month rents for whole floors of old warehouse and factory spaces near downtown that artists could fill with their own work and that of others. Roots of an Era: Mixtape to the Old North Denver Art Scene at BRDG Project honored that time and all the creativity that sprang from it. The show included works from photographer Mark Sink and other local stalwarts such as artists Phil Bender, Reed Weimer, Arlette Lucero, Jerry Jaramillo and the late Stevon Lucero. Because of efforts like this, the city can honor its artistic roots and create some fertile soil for new growth.

3300 Tejon Street
303-808-8912
brdgproject.org

Best Artist Residency

RedLine Contemporary Art Center

Courtesy RedLine Contemporary Art Center

Artist residencies are a vital part of the artistic community — personal creative think tanks meant to support artists in their development with the time and space to work. RedLine offers the best opportunities in Denver: full two-year residencies for up to eighteen emerging local artists, who get 0x200Bfully subsidized studio spaces and "the freedom to explore and experiment without commercial constraints." Those who receive the residencies also receive mentorship, career development, promotion and the opportunity to work in close proximity with a supportive peer community during their time at the center. If that sounds much like what some of the best collegiate art programs also offer, you're right — but this experience is free, and may just provide the key that unlocks a brighter future for program participants and the art world overall.

Best Member Exhibits at a Co-op

Pirate Contemporary Art

Pirate Contemporary Art was born in 1980, when several recent grads from Metropolitan State College were commiserating about the lack of local galleries eager to showcase contemporary work. Luckily, Denver at the time was all about bootstrapping, so they started their own group, and the co-op has grown over the decades to become a nonprofit, member-owned gallery where the most audacious and compelling of local pieces have a temporary home, and where those who appreciate such work can find it. The model has been impressively successful in the last forty-plus years; Pirate's continued participation in and influence over the local arts scene is testament to that.

Best Gallery Competition Show

Next Gallery

Like the story of Casa Bonita itself, Next Gallery's annual exhibit devoted to the pink palace has taken some weird twists and turns over the years. Next now shares the same shopping center home as the famed eatertainment complex, which was closed for more than three years after the COVID shutdown and then was taken over by the creators of South Park. This year's show, with the theme How Do You Like Me Now?, was as strong as the previous six, full of creative work that vied for a grand prize: a table for six at Casa Bonita itself. No small beans, that, since some people are still on the waiting list ten months after Casa Bonita (sort of) reopened.

6501 West Colfax Avenue, Lakewood
303-433-4933
nextgallery.org

Best DIY Gallery and Event Space

Squirm Gallery

The DIY scene is being reinvigorated by Squirm Gallery, which took over the same space that housed the legendary Rhinoceropolis. Most of the artists who started Squirm — Zak Ashburn, Zach Burke, Cyrena Rosati, Ruby Sumners, Alishya Swenning and Peina Vella — had been to that venue and its neighbor, Glob, and felt that while the city has a healthy DIY scene for music, it was lacking for the visual arts. And when Burke heard that the space was available, it seemed like destiny. Squirm opened with a visual-art show from Michael Stein, as well as concerts by KYC DJs, American Culture, Fragrant Blossom and Angel Band. And in the back, Squirm members have outfitted studio space with screen and risograph printers, a kiln, a darkroom, a metalsmithing setup, paints and more. DIY is far from dead.

3553 Brighton Boulevard
@squirmgallery

Best Immersive Installation for Parties

Meow Wolf

Evan Semón

Beginning as a renegade DIY collective in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Meow Wolf brought its wild spirit to Denver with Convergence Station in 2021 and has become a major attraction for tourists and locals alike. And when the community speaks, Meow Wolf answers. After receiving requests for adults-only events, Meow Wolf created the Adulti-Verse, which happens on the first and third Wednesday of the month for those ages 21 and up, so we can roam the multiple universes with a drink in hand while listening to DJs spin. Meow Wolf also hosts concerts in its Perplexiplex venue, whose walls and floor are covered in motion-activated lighting. Whether you're there for music or an Adulti-Verse event, one thing's for sure: It's a party!

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.

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