TEDx Mile High premieres tomorrow with sixteen regional speakers

TED, which stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design brings sixteen local leaders innovators and entrepreneurs to Ellie Caulkins Opera House tomorrow for an independently organized TEDx Mile High event. The theme is “Emergence” — of new ideas, thinking and technology — which will be threaded through the presentations. Educators, musicians,…

Gallery Sketches: Three shows for the weekend of June 13-15

It’s Friday the thirteenth, but that’s no reason to stay home: Tonight and in the days to come, Friday Flash, Denver Comic Con and OhHeckYeah will transform downtown into a wham! pow! high-tech and pop-culture art paradise, while the otherworldly, monumental glass shapes of Chihuly will wow the crowds at…

A gorgeous new Jeff Wenzel solo pairs paintings and ceramics

Jeff Wenzel is one of Colorado’s great abstract artists, with a solid body of work done over the past few decades. Though his roots are in ceramics — he was a protégé of Peter Voulkos, whose abstract-expressionist approach to clay completely revolutionized that medium — Wenzel has only rarely exhibited…

Vintage European outdoor posters coming to Gallerie Rouge

Colorado is a state that loves outdoor activities — which makes the poster show debuting this Friday, June 13 at Gallerie Rouge a natural. Owner Lisa Taylor will feature the largest collection of vintage European posters celebrating the great outdoors ever shown in the Rocky Mountains. The timing is no…

Photos: The art and people of Fantasia at Rhinoceropolis

Arts commune Rhinoceropolis turned into a wonderland of video, performance, music and art landscapes over the weekend for the two-day Fantasia festival. Fifty years ago they called this sort of thing a “happening,” and photographer Brandon Marshall was there to catch all that happened. Here’s a taste; if you like…

Photos: First Friday on Santa Fe Drive

June means more sunshine, better weather and evening throngs in the streets on First Friday, especially in Denver’s Art District on Santa Fe, where the whole stretch becomes a living art installation — and everyone’s a part of it. Photographer Danielle Lirette was there to document the district-wide street party;…

Gallery Sketches: Eight shows for the weekend of June 6-7

This first First Friday is jammed with new art, as is the whole weekend, which also includes two June traditions: the Capitol Hill People’s Fair and the Art Students League Summer Art Market. From fine art photography to collectible-toy decorating, you’re bound to find something artful to see and do…

Photos: The new Space Gallery’s grand opening exhibition

Michael Paglia visits Space Gallery in this week’s review, taking in its new architect-designed building on Santa Fe Drive. The opening show fittingly entitled Space Gallery Grand Opening showcases work from every artist associated with Space, including painters and printmakers. Continue reading for photos from Space. See also: Tobias Fike’s…

The new Space Gallery went from prefab to fabulous

Though Denver’s art world can trace its roots back to the late nineteenth century — the Denver Art Museum, for example, was founded in 1893 — it has only reached critical mass since the dawn of the 21st. The most obvious evidence of this was the construction of the DAM’s…

Westword‘s second annual Comics issue: Meet the winners

For our second annual Comics issue and contest, we asked cartoonists (and would-be cartoonists) to send us comics depicting life in Colorado. The winning entries tackled a variety of subjects, from overcrowding to the nightlife of Colorado’s casino mountain towns. Here, we present the cream of the crop. Having trouble…

Jeff Raphael on collage, art teachers and thrift-store books

Jeff Raphael was once the drummer of early San Francisco punk band The Nuns. Along with The Avengers, that band opened the infamous last show that the Sex Pistols in its first run played at Winterland in February 1978. Since then, Raphael has gone on to play with several of…

Photos: Denver Chalk Art Festival 2014

Larimer Square was jammed over the weekend with spectators watching an asphalt canvas come alive with color during the annual Denver Chalk Art Festival, a favorite summer kickoff for fest-goers of all ages. Scott Lentz was there to capture the crowd, the artists and the masterpieces-in-progress. See also: Hoodlab will…