For some of us, half the battle of being in a band is having the wherewithal to start one in the first place. Even if you’re not a musician, you probably have at least one musician friend who has a ton of fancy gear in his or her basement but…
#68: Gretchen Marie Schaefer Artist Gretchen Marie Schaefer, another TANK Studio member with roots as a RedLine resident, explores issues of mortality, decay and rebirth in two and three dimensions, building installations that take off from where her drawings leave off, using and reusing materials from one work to the…
More than just a spot to enjoy an inexpensive evening of roller-coaster rides and soft-serve ice cream, Lakeside Amusement Park is a place packed with living history. Built in 1908, the beautiful park has stood the test of time — and in some areas within its gates, time has actually…
You can find art all over town — not just on gallery walls. In this series, we’ll be looking at some of the local artists who serve up their work in coffeehouses and other non-gallery businesses around town. “The thing is, I don’t usually hang my work in coffee shops,”…
Spit-shined Mustangs, T-Birds, Corvettes and other automotive classics were the focal point Saturday at the Denver Automotive and Diesel Center’s car show. Along with the stylin’ rides, the event featured a rockabilly costume contest and other diversions. Feast your eyes on these examples of automotive style, taken by photographer Jake…
There’s still plenty of time left for summer reading, and for inspiration this week you can hear authors of popular mystery and pop-culture series. Or you can bone up on your wedding-photography skills just in time to hop on what could be a burgeoning local market for same-sex ceremonies. Here…
Yee-haw! Although summer activities can quickly empty out your saddlebags, we’ve rounded up a trio of fun events this week that are abolutely free. Share information about other free activities in the comments section below, and check the Westword calendar for our complete guide to all events in metro Denver…
Heavier bike traffic can lead to fewer traffic collisions, according to a recent study by the University of Colorado at Denver. The study, though administered by UC Denver research students, focuses on Boulder, given that city’s large cycling presence. See also: Reader: Bicycles should only be allowed on trails and…
Pop-ups, takeovers and celebrations rule the gallery scene this weekend, when a plethora of unexpected exhibitions will take flight all over town. Here are some picks to guide you through the many alternatives. See also: Writing on the Wall: Street Werkz at the Firehouse Art Center…
When Marie-Juliette Bird made her way to London more than a decade ago, her original mission was work on music. But after unexpectedly crossing paths with celebrated jeweler David Courts, Bird’s course changed forever. She returned to the states a few years ago as a jewelry maker after having spent…
Ophir, the upcoming board game from Denver-based publisher Terra Nova, is a battle of commerce. Players take the roles of merchants in an ancient civilization, amassing trading fortunes by outwitting and outmaneuvering their opponents on the high seas. Thematically, it’s like Monopoly or Steam, but with an interesting twist: Building…
Last weekend was packed full of America-themed activities, something that may have taken a toil on your wallet. This weekend has plenty of activities to keep you and your bank account cool, though. Try out a German biergarten, pet a goat at a concert or watch some soccer on a…
For its show, (Residency): Process to Consumption, the city’s arts arm, Create Denver, handed out empty four-foot-by-four-foot wooden boxes to a group of selected artists. They were asked to use the back as a canvas and the inside to build something. Some collaborated; others created alone. Tonight, the show opens…
Psst, hey kid — want to go on an adventure? Fight some fearsome beasts, save the day, take home some loot? Maybe collect a shitload of polyhedral dice and a stack of arcane rulebooks as tall as you are? Sound fun? Then step into the world of pen-and-paper roleplaying –…
Nathan Winograd released his book about animal shelters, Redemption: The Myth of Pet Overpopulation and the No Kill Revolution in America, eight years ago — and the response was so successful that he decided to create a documentary about animal shelters not only to reprise the information in the book…
From participatory performance art on a stage in a picture window to an improvised gag-fest about the pitfalls of speed dating, there are many ways to find relief from the summer heat, whether it’s in a gallery environment or a dark theater. Here are a few of the coolest performing-arts…
If the clothes of Yves Saint Laurent were groundbreaking, the designer’s mystique was as subtle as the curve of an invisibly molded sleeve. Those who have picked up just a little Saint Laurent lore may know about his beginnings at the House of Dior in the late 1950s, and his…
Who knows why, but the sight of apes sitting tall and proud on horseback is stirring in a primal way. That’s one of the best images in Matt Reeves’s Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, the sequel to the enormously successful 2011 Rise of the Planet of the Apes…
Jan Ole Gerster’s debut feature, A Coffee in Berlin (originally titled Oh Boy), arrives in the U.S. riding a wave of success, having swept several major categories at the 2013 German Film Awards, where its main competition was Cloud Atlas (co-directed by Gerster’s friend Tom Tykwer). By comparison, Gerster’s film…
In the third act of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro at Central City Opera, sopranos Sinead Mulhern and Anna Christy sing “Che Soave Zefiretto,” the duet in which the Countess (Mulhern) composes a letter for her maid Susanna (Christy) to take down; the two women are playing a comic trick…
The Arvada Center sits on a very large site, but until recently, the venue had never used the seventeen-acre field just to the south to showcase art. That changed when exhibitions director Collin Parson, along with assistant curator Kristin Bueb, decided to transform the empty land into a xeric sculpture…
I Hate Hamlet. I Hate Hamlet is a bit like the curate’s egg: hilariously funny in parts, and in others so idiotic that you’re embarrassed for the actors. Why is the radiant Jamie Ann Romero wasting her talents wafting about as Deirdre, a stagestruck 29-year-old virgin who’ll have sex with…
