“Pangloss” refers to Dr. Pangloss, the talkative optimist in the Voltaire classic Candide. And “Gravitron” is the name of a spinning amusement-park ride with a high thrill level. Mashed together, Pangloss Gravitron is a Denver artists’ collective informally spun around a concept. “The general idea is about invested hope,” explains…
The December 31 Noon Year’s Eve party at the Children’s Museum of Denver gives the traditionally adult-oriented holiday a kid-friendly touch. With a ball drop every hour from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., little ones get to share in the celebration with glitter and confetti — and bubble wrap. Yes,…
In late summer for the past six years, an unusual sight cropped up here and there in places as disparate as Denver’s Golden Triangle Museum District, the Lariat Loop National Scenic & Historic Byway and the 16th Street Mall: Plein air artists have been spotted outdoors, on location, painting everything…
The first night of Kwanzaa is given to the principle of Umoja, or Unity, and Denver’s African-American community will kick off the celebration with family activities today from 2 to 5 p.m. and a Grand Kinara Lighting at 6 p.m., all at the Blair-Caldwell Library, 2401 Welton Street. From there,…
Upgrade your holiday movie-going plans and prep for that 84th Academy Awards viewing party in style, with a trip to Aspen’s Wheeler Opera House, where Aspen Film is presenting a program of Oscar contenders from now through January 1. The Aspen Film Academy Screenings have become a beloved film-industry tradition…
The Denver Botanic Gardens improves on Blossoms of Light, at the Denver location — and its sister event, Trail of Lights, at the Chatfield DBG — a little bit each year, and this season is no exception. “On Fridays, folks can come in and get a drink,” says spokesman Will…
Snow arrived just in time for a white Christmas, but despite the cold, some stylish Denverites manage to be both fashionable and warm. Mario Marshall, for example, rocking a red pea coat and showing some standout style. Keep reading to learn about his winter wish, style icons and, of course,…
Icy objects are familiar sights in Vail, but a ten-foot-tall wall of ice used as a projection screen is definitely a first in this mountain town. The Logan Ice Theater will be unveiled tonight at the Sixth Annual Triumph Winterfest, coming alive with videos and images of the past fifty…
This past year has been tough for many people, and we’re eager to kiss 2012 goodbye. In hopes that 2013 will turn out to be much luckier for many, we invited some of the town’s cultural tastemakers — entrepreneurs and entertainers we’re lucky to have in Denver — to answer…
Hasbro’s Easy-Bake Ovens are getting a masculine makeover fifty years after the toy was introduced, thanks to a market-savvy thirteen-year-old girl in New Jersey who wanted to buy her little brother one as a gift — and found only purple and pink ovens. Her campaign got a media-smooch after a…
Five black and Latino teenagers were convicted of beating and raping a white woman in New York City’s Central Park in 1989, when the city was in the midst of a racially motivated witch hunt. Though no compelling evidence placed any of the boys — Antron McKray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef…
Jake Adam York passed away Sunday, dead at forty after suffering a stroke. It’s a sad loss for Denver, where he taught at the University of Colorado, and a sad loss for this country’s cultural scene. But he lives on in his poetry — and the memories of the students…
Denver’s vibrant slam poetry community has deep roots. Minor Disturbance is where the youngest poets grow into their words — poets like former East High student Libby Olga Howard, who’s gone on to find her future at Lewis and Clark College. Howard, a Minor Disturbance mainstay of a few years…
New York Times chief film critic Manohla Dargis once said Phil Solomon “makes films that look like no others I’ve seen.” When asked to describe his own work, Solomon pensively characterizes it as “something like moving, poetic, musical paintings.” While we may never have a consensus on how to classify…
As the weather gets colder, Denver’s winter fashion is only getting cooler. As proof, look no further than the Mona Lucero Design Boutique, which hosted a fall fashion show and art sale this weekend with more than a dozen runway looks ranging from all covered-up to barely covered. Westword’s Lucas…
This past year has been tough for many people, and we’re eager to kiss 2012 goodbye. In hopes that 2013 will turn out to be much luckier for many, we invited some of the town’s cultural tastemakers — entrepreneurs and entertainers we’re lucky to have in Denver — to answer…
The holiday season has felt a bit underwhelming this year. Maybe it’s the lack of snow in Colorado — which rules for those of us (read: grumps like me) who think weather below 65 degrees is pointless (but still results in this weird depression caused by a depletion of the…
Pottery and cuisine don’t have an obvious connection in American culture, but it’s common in Japan for people in the food business to become interested in ceramics as well. That’s how Kazu Oba became a ceramics artist, and his pottery work is showcased in the Den Show, an exhibition celebrating…
Few conversations reach the caliber of weirdness as ones that involve marijuana, entertainers and a tape recorder. And now that Amendment 64 has turned the ritual of pot-smoking into as normal a social custom as Sunday afternoon football, we at Westword have begun spending time with our favorite Denver musicians…
Gorinto, the Mercury Cafe’s occasional music, food and whatever Wednesday evening get-together, continues to reinvent itself. This week, it will transform into a showcase of homemade and found-object musical instruments featuring a revolving parade of local folks who toy — sometimes literally — with the definition of what we use…
For eight years, one local holiday tradition has taken winter fashion far beyond the ugly Christmas sweater craze. On Sunday, Frost: Fashion Denver’s Holiday Market brought together 31 designers and dozens of looks during its annual spotlight on the city’s scene. Roving Westword photographer Christopher Morgan was on hand to…
“The things we fear about poetry are the things that are good about poetry.” — Jake Adam York Those words inspired me as a dabbler in poems, though the genteel poet and educator Jake Adam York, who died unexpectedly yesterday of a stroke, couldn’t have known that about me. And…
