We chatted with Emanuel Martinez a few weeks ago about his murals that brighten the streets of Denver. This time around, we’re talking with him about his sculpture “Mestizaje,” which stands tall at the Tenth and Osage light-rail station. See also: – RTD art: Brian Swanson’s chess pieces at the…
Taylor Gonda co-hosts and produces the Denver-based podcast These Things Matter, which features writers, filmmakers, musicians, academics, comedians, and Taylor’s mom engaging in wonky discussions about their guests’ beloved pop-cultural obsessions, which range from Superman to Wu-Tang Clan. Gonda and her co-host, local snarkmeister Kevin O’Brien, shared a victory when These Things Matter was named best podcast at the Westword Denver Web Awards. Each episode opens with a clip of the John Cusack soliloquy from High Fidelity that inspired both the podcast’s title and the intensely personal nature of the minutiae-dissecting conversations contained in each episode. Gonda also produces Adam Cayton-Holland’s podcast, My Dining Room Table. This week, Westword caught up with Gonda –who endearingly came to the interview prepared with tidy, careful notes– to talk about her favorite books and the shared mission statement of These Things Matter and Westword Book Club.
Want to eat lunch with a king and queen? Brian Swanson’s piece, “King and Queen,” makes that possible at the light-rail station 16th and Stout streets. Swanson wanted the public to be able to dine with life-size chess pieces and he took time to talk to Westword about his piece…
Editor’s note: Artist Charlie Boots is part of the inaugural pair of PAIR residents at Denver’s Powerhaüs Studio. As part of his residency, he and his fashion-designing counterpart will be reporting from the real world via Show and Tell, as they learn the ropes from studio mentors Mona Lucero, Lauri…
For Gutter Kids, Ben Chavez’s latest art-minded production through his company Chubby Robot, the curator, party thrower and MC once again looked into his past. Inspired by the Garbage Pail Kids trading cards he once collected, the self-proclaimed “80s baby” reached out to his friends in the local creative community…
At the heart of the RTD system, the Civic Center bus station, is a shiny mural that represents friendship, business deals, introductions and Douglas Kornfeld’s inspiration for the piece: reunions. Kornfeld’s “Welcome!” transforms as you get closer to the work, and he took a few minutes to talk about its…
A little bit Warhol and a little bit outlaw, Dunn the Signtologist (aka Dan Ericson) uses street signs as his canvases, painting graffiti-style portraits on their angular and reflective surfaces. How he gets the signs in the first place is better not discussed, and the underground aura of this work…
Galleries seem to be opening at a breakneck pace lately, with Mai Wyn Fine Art on Santa Fe Drive being the latest. The new venue combines a handsome exhibition space with a studio for owner — and painter — Mai Wyn Schantz. Occupying the former home of the Sandra Phillips…
Back in 2001, Mark Ruppert came up with the idea of creating a competition that would challenge the world’s best filmmakers to make a three-minute film in only two days, and in the process answer this question: “Would films made in only 48 hours even be watchable?” The result was…
For Copper Mountain’s all-things-axe-related Guitar Town festival running August 9 through 11, Colorado artists participating in the companion Art Guitars Silent Auction really go the extra mile. Utilizing damaged guitars donated by Guitar Center, thirteen artists were given free rein to paint, disassemble and rework the instruments into works of…
The dog days of summer are upon us. Luckily, we geeks have nothing to worry about, because August is full of opportunities to beat the heat and have some nerd-friendly fun at the same time. From gaming conventions and classic geek films to the world’s nerdiest county fair, August offers…
We brake for art! Our next stop on the light-rail line brought us to Gregory Gove’s “Connected,” a mural at the Yale light-rail station. Gove found his inspiration for the piece while watching the ebb and flow of people in their daily lives. He imagined what they were thinking, and…
If you spot the public art piece at the Louisiana-Pearl station and think, “This would make an amazing necklace” — then Ira Sherman’s work is done. Sherman says he wanted to create a piece made for movement with intricate mechanics, a piece not just interesting to look at but to…
Human blood is an unusual artistic medium. Who better, then, to explore the possibilities of blood work than Andrew Novick, a man whose name is synonymous with weird art — from his time in the infamous Warlock Pinchers band to his work with Peeps. In Blood Lustre, Novick utilizes the…
As a strong believer in public art and public transportation, Wopo Holup is proud to have a piece of her art decorate the Orchard light-rail station. And after hearing what Holup has to say about “Orchard Memory,” you’ll definitely want to make a stop to see this shiny bird. See…
Painter Ashley Williams works in Nederland and sculptor Sarah Williams is based in Chicago, but as sisters growing up in the Blue Ridge Mountains, their imaginations were as intertwined as roots in a primeval forest of trees. That included a shared fascination with natural disasters, fed by photographs in old…
What was once just an I-70 underpass at the corner of 46th Avenue and Lincoln Street in Globeville is being transformed into a work of art. With the help of well-known muralist Jolt, a Westword MasterMind whose Guerilla Garden studio is in the area, kids in the PlatteForum’s ArtLab are…
Our next RTD art stop rail is the Pepsi Center-Elitch Gardens light-rail station, to see “Seven Sisters,” the creation of David Griggs. These colorful sculptures would brighten the day of any commuter. We grabbed a few minutes with Griggs to discuss his views on public transportation and his hopes for…
Michael Paglia visits the Denver Art Museum in this week’s art review, taking in Nick Cave: Sojourn, which is part of Spun: Adventures in Textiles, the museum’s multi-departmental tribute to fiber. The show focuses on several of Cave’s sculptures, as well as his unique Soundsuits. Continue reading for photos from…
Like most street artists who grew up in Denver, Emanuel Martinez started painting as a youngster on the street — and outside the law. “I started my first mural when I was thirteen, in a school for juvenile delinquents,” he says. “That was more than fifty years ago.” And hundreds…
Never one for settling down, Roseanne Barr has kept very busy since her days changing the face of TV and women’s comedy with her hit sitcom, Roseanne. In the last two years alone, she’s starred in a reality TV show about her macadamia-nut farm in Hawaii, run for president, and…
Editor’s note: Artist Charlie Boots is part of the inaugural pair of PAIR residents at Denver’s Powerhaüs Studio. As part of his residency, he and his fashion-designing counterpart will be reporting from the real world via Show and Tell, as they learn the ropes from studio mentors Mona Lucero, Lauri…
