After a tarot reading in the early 1990s in San Francisco that she calls “mind-blowingly amazing and accurate,” Hoa Nguyen became interested in the mystical art of divination. Now the world-renowned poet, founder of poetry journal Skanky Possum and current teacher at Ryerson University in Toronto will be traveling to…
We here at Westword really don’t mind telling you that Artopia is dazzling. There’s nothing else in town quite like the annual arts circus put on by ours truly at multiple Golden Triangle venues every February; the affair throws together the city’s best in random performers, live music and DJs,…
Ladies and gentlemen, grab your scorecards: It’s time for the third annual Caveau/New Genesis Oscar Viewing Night. Guests won’t need a tux or a Vera Wang gown, though, says Denise Newman, of New Genesis, a transitional housing program that will benefit from the event. “You don’t have to get super-dressed…
It’s not every weekend you get the opportunity to learn dance moves from some of the very best genre-specific instructors in the country — or see those same instructors in action, for that matter. But that’s what happens every year at the Rocky Mountain Balboa Blowout, a swing-dance spectacular hosted…
Offering a weekend of up-close-and-personal interactions with cycling enthusiasts and custom-made-bicycle artisans from around the world, the North American Handmade Bicycle Show fits right into Denver. “I think we were wondering why the heck we didn’t go to Colorado earlier,” says Paul Skilbeck, spokesman for the exhibition, which has traveled…
Obscene/Courageous Theatre is known for its offbeat, entertaining and sometimes disturbing productions. But the company’s newest show is a little different. “It’s a really cute play; it’s a love story,” says Sarah Crockarell, co-artistic director for Obscene/Courageous. “There’s no horror, nobody gets stabbed. It’s really based on slapstick and irreverent,…
Late last year, a collective of local artists shared the stage for an exhibit, Stuff(ed), which focused on the subject “soft.” Inspired by the writings of Félix Guattari that explore how shape and medium can make art more approachable, the group, led by Pirate co-op member Theresa Anderson, enlisted curatorial…
Artist Tracy Tomko thinks Michael Benninghoven’s little Love Gallery could use some extra attention, but she still couldn’t believe that the February slot was actually open there when Benninghoven — who even works under the tagger’s name “Love” — invited her to curate a show. “When I heard it was…
James O’Hagan Murphy had several reasons to audition for the title role in Jack Holmes’s play RFK — A Portrait of Robert Kennedy: He’d been wanting to work with director Terry Dodd; he’d never done a one-man show before; and he liked Vintage Theatre’s intimate playing space. And then there…
The idea of a black Odyssey, inspired by Homer’s ancient Greek yarn, isn’t a new one: One version, a modernized drama, just hit the stage as a dramatic reading at the Denver Center Theatre Company’s New Play Summit. But veteran Denver poet SETH’s version, a new poetic memoir called A…
Comedy roasts are full of cruelty, irreverence and line-crossing, but at their heart, they’re meant to show sincere love for the guest of honor. In the case of POTroast, taking place tonight at Comedy Works South, the object of deep affection is marijuana — which will get a good grilling…
In the spare yet grand Happy People: A Year in the Taiga, co-director and tour guide Werner Herzog talks us through one season cycle in the life of a not-of-this-century trapper in the Siberian town of Bakhta, population 300. We follow Anatoly Soloviev through the forested vastness and puttering over…
The Burton U.S. Open Snowboard Championships will be in Vail today through March 3, marking the end of a thirty-year run in Burton Snowboards’ home state of Vermont and the start of a new chapter in snowboarding history. That move came as a surprise to many, but Burton’s roots in…
When it comes to fashion, there are trends and then there are trendsetters. Trends are often derived from the runway, and they trickle down to more accessible department stores. One local trendsetter we spotted this week is tattoo artist Airen VanDiggelen, who was rocking two-tone leggings: one white and one…
If you haven’t checked into The Narrators recently — or ever, for that matter — there’s never been a better time. Over the past six months, Andrew Orvedahl’s storytelling showcase, which tasks local artists, writers, comedians and other creatives with telling true-life stories centered on a loose theme (and earned…
Chad Kultgen is the epitome of everything that is lewd in this world. His work is dirty, offensive and polarizing (see: The Average American Male). He makes a living transcribing explicit sexual fantasies with the women who frequent your local fitness center, and could give a rat’s ass about how…
#90: Eric Matelski Much more than just a curator, Eric Matelski is a supporter, advocate and all-around positive public relations man for artists all over Colorado — which made him an obvious choice for Westword’s 2010 MasterMind award. But the self-proclaimed “art pimp” is also an accomplished artist in his…
Artist Dylan Scholinski has been on an unending mission to offer help through art to young people struggling with issues of sexuality and suicide; for close to 25 years, he says, he’s done everything possible to keep the doors of his Sent(a)Mental Studios and Haven Youth Project open, offering whole…
The Edge Gallery is really living up to its name right now. Taking up the first member space is fox tales ft. 7 and marbles, an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink show by Estee Fox, who is a whirlwind of creativity. The artist has made videos, including one in which she convincingly pretends to…
20th Century Modernists. For her first show, Thérèse O’Gorman — who moved from Santa Fe to become the exhibition director at David Cook Fine Art in LoDo — has put together 20th Century Modernists, which highlights abstraction done in the West. The show proper, in the street-level space, is dedicated…
Denver is full of aesthetic adventurers and artists who are changing the cultural landscape. They’re one of this city’s greatest assets, the reason we’ve attracted more of the desirable 25-to-34-year-old demographic than any other area over the past few years. They’re Colorado’s creative capital. But some of their efforts are…
On an unseasonably warm winter day, Ben Roy is jogging through City Park. Dressed in running sneakers and a black hoodie that covers a galaxy of chest and arm tattoos, he passes a Latino family pushing strollers loaded with children, a yuppie couple walking a Labrador, an elderly loner trying…
