April is packed with fashion events to keep you looking and feeling as vibrant and bright as spring. Featuring everything from sales to fashion shows, Colorado’s fashion scene is blossoming. Here are the ten best events, in chronological order. 10) Shop Zoe Life April Fool’s Day Sale April 1-3 Online…
This past weekend, I traveled to Boise, Idaho to perform at Treefort Music Fest, a four-day event that takes over downtown Boise featuring live music, art, food, film, theater and interactive activities. I was part of the activities portion, DJing a live amateur dance battle hosted by my roommate Piper’s…
Goggles and rayguns and fancy hats, oh my: A reimagined Victorian age came alive over the weekend at AnimalyCon 2015, Colorado’s premier steampunk gathering for cosplay, mustache-grooming contests, author talks and the study of all things “more science than fiction.” Go back to the future with these photos by Danielle…
When we spotted visual merchandiser Liz Hastings, we had to learn more about her unique street style. “I also make jewelry and thrift and up-cycle clothing and sell it on Etsy,” she says. “I make flower crowns and paint skulls as well.” Nonstop Feeling by Turnstile is her album of the…
The big nerd news of the week, in case you just crawled out of a cave, is the imminent return of The X-Files. I don’t want to jump to any conclusions here, but I did make a case for its return just a little more than six months ago, and here we…
It’s 2015 and it seems we should be long past having an opinion on selfies — taking pictures of ourselves has existed as long as the technology has been available. Really, this is nothing new. But because our behavior has been under the microscope of the Internet via social networks…
Even among the most diehard zombie fans — and I unquestionably count myself among that number — the recent bonanza of zombie everything has led to something like zombie fatigue. What was the last great zombie movie you saw? Mine was The Battery, and that came out in 2012. Similarly,…
#30: Chris Bagley Filmmaker/videographer Chris Bagley studies the fringe artists of Denver and beyond, embedding himself in DIY culture concerns to create documentary portraits of musicians as well as music videos, including Wesley Willis’s Joyrides, a 2008 doc about the late savant musician that he co-directed with Westword MasterMind Kim…
After hosting the Handmade Homemade Market (HaHo), a venture that has helped launch dozens of small craft businesses, Stephen Toma and Dani Lanworthy are taking their concept to the next level with a shared workspace. But they need a Kickstarter campaign to reach its goal in order to take that step, and…
Sometimes going against the grain can help you stand out, creating very sticky style. That’s the case with Danyol Bernal, a Denver artist who creates his masterpieces using an unexpected medium: duct tape. Keep reading for his inspirations, as well as a look inside his bag. Here’s how his duct-tape…
What’s the Best Annual Festival? The Best Denver Arts District? The Best Club Night? You tell us: Voting ends at 11:59 tonight in our Best of Denver 2015 Readers’ Poll. In the first round, which started in January, we asked readers for their favorites in almost two hundred categories. In…
A few weeks ago, a friend and I started talking about planning a summer road trip to Los Angeles. We’re both working on large creative projects — he’s got a documentary in progress and I’ve been sitting on a book idea for years — and a long ride in the…
#31: Gary Isaacs Photographer Gary Isaacs, whose work has appeared in Westword’s pages over the years, qualifies as a Denver legend: Known for his gritty street portraits and ethereal photographic dreamscapes, Isaacs follows his muse down Colfax Avenue and into the dark hearts of local musicians and urban characters. “I’ve…
Reading is a vital part of early childhood education, but not all children have the means to practice their literacy skills. Reading Partners is seeking to change that by bringing books and tutors to children who need help with reading. “Access to books is something many of us take for…
“Gentle” Jen Mathiesen lives and breathes art. From tattoos to film to finding inspiration in the outdoors, she’s passionate not only about pursuing art but encouraging others to do so as well. She has been tattooing for sixteen years, and currently works at Mantra Tattoo. We recently caught up with…
#32: Rupert Jenkins Colorado Photographic Arts Center director Rupert Jenkins arrived in Denver from San Francisco in 2005 with an extensive resume in arts administration and curatorship, bringing an international flair to the respected Denver photography gallery and classroom. But Jenkins didn’t simply settle in at CPAC: He envisions a…
I’ve had disease on my mind the past three days: Since small children are nature’s perfect disease incubators and all, my toddler is sick. That means I’ve spent the past sixty hours or so wiping snot, administering drugs and having someone cough directly into my mouth every time I let…
Since I moved into a beautiful house in the Barnum neighborhood almost five years ago, my car has been hit four times while parked out front on Knox Court. A few months ago, it was completely totaled — hit so hard by the other driver that my car was pushed…
First Aspen Grove snagged the area’s first Alamo Drafthouse. Now it’s getting the Tattered Cover, which will be packing up its Highlands Ranch store and moving to the outdoor shopping center off Santa Fe Drive in Littleton next month. “While we are grateful to have served the Highlands Ranch community…
If you’ve ever dreamed of starring in a real-life heist film, Puzzah’s newest challenge is for you. The LoDo-based venue’s latest “puzzle room” — an hour-long interactive game that mashes up a live escape room with electromechanical puzzles — puts players in the shoes of a team of thieves tasked…
MasterMind, Fashion Denver founder and entrepreneur Brandi Shigley is now adding international philanthropist to her resume. Shigley and the four other members of Team Clean Water Philippines will leave Denver for the Philippines on March 22, with a goal of installing fifty clean water filters — and the team needs…
#33: Stan Yan Denver native Stan Yan started out a stockbroker and ended up a cartoonist. Self-taught as an artist, he not only found his calling in the pages of comic books but helped to found the Squid Works comics cooperative, a community of artists with similar goals. More recently,…
