Matt Scobey is always busy working on something interesting. For his brand-new installation at Fancy Tiger, the artist drew inspiration from the 1920s art movement Proun to create a concrete-and-wood modular installation with pieces that viewers can purchase to take home in order to create their own personal installations. In…
Last year galleries across town gave over all of March to the Month of Photography, a biennial showcase of camera-work from not just around the region but around the globe. This year it’s Month of Printmaking’s turn, loosely tied together by Marina Graves’s arts organization without walls, the Invisible Museum…
More than thirty years ago, 36-year-old dark-horse candidate Federico Pena rode to victory as Denver’s mayor waving the slogan “Imagine a Great City.” Under Pena, the city released its first arts plan in 1989 — and now, 25 years later, Denver has released Imagine 2020, Denver’s first cultural plan in…
Joel Swanson: Left to Right, Top to Bottom is currently occupying the main level at MCA Denver. The smart, elegant solo features work by Swanson, a Denver artist and director of the Technology, Arts & Media Program at the University of Colorado at Boulder. It represents a career high point…
There’s a preciseness to Selin Kent’s designs, a defining characteristic that makes the fledgling jewelry-maker’s work immediately recognizable. Kent, a self-described “former academic” who found herself drawn to a more hands-on line of work, produces pieces that display a new side of fine jewelry, as she utilizes materials like champagne…
Lori Callahan, a pillar of the local comedy scene for 30 years passed away last friday. She was 54. The news has sent reverberations of grief throughout the community she was so instrumental in shaping. Callahan provided many new comics with their first road gigs, along much needed moral support in their nascent careers. Always a hit with audiences, Callahan won the respect of her peers with her comedic chops, but won their hearts with her motherly guidance.
That’s why the most fitting tributes to Lori’s life and career have come from the comedians she inspired. Their outpouring of grief on social media only hints at the surface of this devastating loss. Westword asked some comedians to share their memories of knowing Mama Callahan, and have excerpts of others’ heartfelt Facebook posts. We offer our sincerest condolences to her mourning loved ones.
In celebration of International Women’s Day, the Biennial of the Americas, the Women’s Foundation of Colorado and the Denver Film Society are hosting a screening of Blackfish, the film by award-winning director Gabriela Cowperthwaite that’s a psychological thriller with a killer whale at its center — but this is a…
For a cartoonist, having a show on Nickelodeon seems as far-fetched as becoming an astronaut, says Sam Spina. But for the former Denverite who’s currently based in Atlanta, that dream just became a reality through the Nickelodeon Shorts Program. The Xeric award-winning Spina (whose diary comic Spinadoodles was recognized in…
Filmmaker Guy Maddin says that watching a movie has more in common with a paranormal séance than meets the eye; he remembers the first time he realized that the French word for a movie screening is “séance,” which translates into “a sitting.” Both activities take place in the dark; both…
Like magic, Mago’s Magic Shoppe at 313 West 11th Avenue has suddenly become a must-see in the Golden Triangle, with its mix of magic supplies, oddities and art. We recently chatted with co-owner and resident magician Max Mago about where art fits into the realm of magic, how he got…
Jackie Barry is making her mark on Denver, with whimsical art appearing on everything from menu boards at Denver Bicycle Cafe to custom beer glasses at Our Mutual Friend Malt & Brew. A barista by day and artist by night, Barry came to Denver hoping to join the art community…
Conrad Kehn’s Playground Ensemble, known for sharing difficult music from a modern age, is reaching back into the twentieth century canon of contemporary music to present twelve-tone composer Arnold Shoenberg’s dark yet whimsical song cycle Pierrot Lunaire for tomorrow’s Classical Night at Dazzle Restaurant and Lounge. But Playground will further…
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. For a first on this First Friday, pop (pun intended) into Ryan…
In a showing of neighborly solidarity, the Denver Art Museum turned to Dean Sobel of the Clyfford Still Museum to bring rare, twentieth-century riches from Buffalo’s Albright-Knox Art Gallery to Denver. The resulting exhibit, Modern Masters: 20th Century Icons From the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, is the kind of show that…
As the arrival of spring melts away the remaining sludge of the February doldrums, comedy blooms anew in Denver this March. With visits from veteran standups, hilarious newcomers, and a chance to see the stars of two of TV’s funniest sketch comedy series in person, Denver has a vast and crowded field of entertainment options this month. While a lion’s share of March’s comedy offerings are imported, there’s also a promising new free local showcase starting up. The fact that so many of these events take place in concert venues like the Gothic and Paramount Theaters is a testament to the drawing power of the headlining acts we have in town this month, as well as to Denver’s boundless hunger for comedic entertainment.
The empty space at the Cherry Creek Shopping Center once occupied by Saks Fifth Avenue is slated to become a four-story Restoration Hardware gallery store, officially rebranding as “RH.” The 53,000 square- foot showroom will be four times the size of the current Restoration Hardware store and feature an atrium,…
“What do you know about Paul Robeson?” internationally renowned baritone Anthony Brown asked writer Andrew Flack a few years back. “I know a little, but show me your notes,” Flack responded. It was New Year’s Eve, and the two men began talking about Robeson’s life, his music, his political struggles…
David Kammerzell put aside his past career as a commercial artist and award-winning media designer at Starz Encore to return to his first love as a painter of retro-laced canvases inspired by the romance and graphics of another time. He calls them an “homage to commercial artists and art and…
Romantic Overgrowth, an interesting and unusual solo at Plus Gallery, showcases work done over the past few years by Melissa Furness, who teaches at the University of Colorado Denver. The show could be seen as a single installation, as Furness orchestrates the same elements throughout: paintings (both her own and…
Whether it’s food, beer, pot or art, Denver is all about showcasing what the Mile High City has to offer. And residents of the Rocky Mountain Warehouse Lofts, at 18th and Wazee streets, take the mission of supporting local artists seriously. They’ve not only decorated the upper hallways with local…
Broadway became the center of Denver’s art world Saturday night as Westword’s Artopia 2014 took over five venues in the heart of town. Artists ranging from Westword cover boy Andrew Novick to zombie portrait artist Stan Yan were on hand to show their work at City Hall and Vinyl, while…
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. Artist Natalia Musalem of NM Photography came to Denver because she wanted…
