#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…
Why is there evil in the world?” That question and its corollaries — Where does evil come from? Why can so many create and commit it with apparent immunity? — are at the core of the film Bless Me, Ultima, whose seven-year-old hero, Antonio, wrestles with riddles that have likely…
Despite the deceptively fine weather, it isn’t spring yet. But somehow, leaving the theater after seeing The Seafarer, I couldn’t help feeling that it was. This had something to do with having seen four soul-stirring — and completely different — plays in a little over a month. There was James…
The set for the Denver Center’s Romeo and Juliet is austere. The play opens on a stage that is almost bare save for two coffins, the first on the thrust part of the stage, the second behind a transparent dividing curtain. Through the evening, most of the action will take…
Depending on your perspective, Zooey Deschanel is either the cutest, funniest, most adorable little retro-kookster on earth, or she’s an irritating try-hard with zero comedy chops. The only thing the world seems able to universally agree on is that Deschanel has nice bangs. As such, her sitcom — New Girl,…
Motherhood Out Loud. This play is performed by six actors — five women and a man — and consists of little playlets compiled by Susan Rose and Joan Stein on many aspects of motherhood: a new mother dealing with her own hovering mother, a woman raising an autistic son, and…
I started smoking cigarettes when I was fourteen. Reading that sentence now, I am shocked — mostly because I certainly wasn’t participating in any other such risky behavior. I’d been “drunk” once before that (if you count puking after drinking a Bartles & James in the basement of my friend…
John Crist has comfortably rooted himself in the world of Christian comedy, crafting niche-specific jokes that kill with the straight-laced Colorado Springs crowd. Yet somehow — miraculously! — he’s also cultivated a respectable reputation in Denver’s underground community, where the dirtiest of the dirty are constantly in search of socio-political…
Since apes don’t wear clothes, the actors playing apes in Dark Wood, a Dangerous Theatre production that opened February 8, don’t wear clothes, either. And on “Nude Night,” set for this Friday, February 22, many of the audience members will strip down, too: It’s a clothing-optional evening, and those who…
#91: Jeff Erwine From massive outdoor sculptures made from wood and junked cars to iron-and-marble furniture, Jeff Erwine’s aesthetic is a direct result of his chosen medium. The sculptor and metal worker is inherently “green” in his process — constructing his pieces utilizing 95 percent rescued materials — and Erwine’s…
Denver Comic Con streaked out the gate last summer in its inaugural year; in 2013, the popular fan convention is already on track to surpass last year’s success, at least from the looks of the guest list. Yesterday, DCC announced that New York Times bestselling graphic novelist and illustrator Chris…
When you think of the Civil Rights Movement, you likely think of Martin Luther King Jr. — for good reason. The role he played was monumental — and because of that, monuments have been erected, pages in textbooks set aside and a national holiday named in his honor. So much…
Today is your last chance to vote in round one of Westword’s Best of Denver 2013 Readers’ Poll, and we want your input. What are your favorite places, services and events in the metro area? Before the balloting closes (temporarily) at midnight, take the time to give your favorites the…
The weather was so nice this past weekend that people were out and about. Of the many Denverites absorbing the comfortable climate we spotted marketing director David Keller as a standout. Continue reading to learn his style icons, what city influences his fashion sense, and what his favorite, unusual accessory…
The Wynkoop Brewing Company has been home to great beer since 1994, but the brewpub is also the stomping grounds for one of the nation’s top female pool players. Melissa “The Viper” Little, who was Boulder bred, has won more than fifty billiards tournaments across the country since 1988 when…
Update: Congratulations to samlimanski and elishag86! You’ve each won two tickets to Artopia. Check your email for details on how to claim them. Original post: Westword’s annual Artopia takes place this Saturday, which means it’s time to start planning your one-night exploration of Denver culture right now. Split across four…
#92: Valerie Savarie A storyteller through her art, Valerie Savarie uses the physical manifestation of stories — books — as an integral part of her process. The Zip 37 member’s work is often small in scale because hardbacks are her chosen medium, but her ideas are hardly limited; among the…
