The heat is on, but Denver galleries are settling in for the long, hot summer with seasonally correct exhibits that focus on busy bees and sunny thoughts and nature and flowers and…Christmas? Read on, and it will all begin to make sense.
We’ve seen artist-run galleries come and go in Denver, but at a time when such venues seem to be in flux, the collaborative artist duo Hollis + Lana aka muralists/sculptors/fabricators Conor Hollis and Amorette Lana) are making their stand at Druther, a new gallery space on South Downing Street that will showcase interesting artists, as well as the busy couple’s new furniture line.
Over six months after the disastrous fire at Ghost Ship in Oakland and Denver’s subsequent closure of two DIY spaces for safety issues, Denver Community Planning and Development and the Denver Fire Department today are announcing their proposal for a Safe Occupancy Program, a “voluntary path to compliance for existing spaces.”
Summer’s not even here yet, but it might as well be. June’s weather’s been hot, the parties have been lit, and the swimming pools have been at capacity. So before you set out for another June weekend, check out some of our favorite photos from some of the funnest events around town.
The Narrators, the storytelling show founded in Denver, is headed to Tijuana.
You can’t say Denver’s art scene isn’t diverse. We’ve got it all: co-ops, highbrow galleries, indies, pop-ups, street art, nonprofit programs and more. Venture out, and you’ll find a little bit of everything opening up this week.
The Denver Botanic Gardens has a growing reputation in the art world, and Calder Monumental only adds to that. Even without the Calder sculptures, the Gardens are worth a visit, but with this show, it’s a must.
The art-gallery exodus to Lakewood continues. At the end of the month, Sally Centigrade, our Best of Denver 2016 winner for Best Lowbrow Art Gallery, will close its three-and-a-half-year-old space in Larimer Square and open in a new spot in Belmar. “We’re super-excited to be in a bigger space with other galleries,” says Maya Bailey (aka artist Mayah Mazcara). “We’ve way, way outgrown our space and being able to show the amount of artists that we have….We had to move.”
Some people might be different, but in Damon McLeese’s mind, that doesn’t mean they are disabled. He’s been mentoring differently-abled folks in creative pursuits as the director of Access Gallery and its parent organization VSA Colorado for more than twenty years.
If sunny June is making you swoon, you’re certainly not alone. Denverites own their city on balmy summer days, and spend their evenings experiencing the best of what our city’s creative community has to offer.
Natural Grocers has paired with local graffiti artist and entrepreneur Ratha Sok to paint several large murals on the walls of Denver store.
Denver has ranked as the eighth best theater city in the United States.
Whether you choose to live vicariously at a talk through the experiences of two Colorado artists fresh back from the Venice Biennale, head to Boulder for a slate of summer shows at BMoCA or just sniff around to see what’s new in Denver, there’s no shortage of experiences to be had this week, June 7-9, in the local art world.
Artists get back to nature in Out of View at Robischon Gallery, and the way their work has been stitched together through their different if interrelated aesthetic concepts and media indicates that the show was very thoughtfully curated. Once again, Jennifer Doran and Jim Robischon, the gallery’s owners, have put on an exhibit that rivals those at top museums in the area.
For thrifty locals looking for things to do, endless opportunities await you.
Denver is planning a major renovation of the Denver Performing Arts Complex , a project known as the Next Stage. It might want to start with some more helpful signage….especially if it wants to keep those dollars coming in from philanthropists.
Forms evocative of those found in nature connect the paintings and sculptures now on the first floor of the William Havu Gallery, and with growing season just under way, the presentation is perfectly timed. Although there’s an aesthetic seamlessness to the whole endeavor, what we’re actually looking at is three single-artist shows — two dedicated to painters and one to a sculptor.
If you venture out into Denver’s arts and retail districts on the First Friday in June, you’ll get a serious injection of aesthetic politics and have a whole lot of fun. Consider these five openings as you look for places to start your journey.
Fine artworks often begin on paper, as a sketch, or perhaps a quick study scrawled on a napkin. But what happens when that most basic and malleable surface then becomes the transformational medium? Paper, with a versatility that can both guide the nut of a brief idea and carry the…
Denver’s all about the outdoors: jaunts to the mountains, Red Rocks shows, brewery patios, urban festivals and gallery walks.But there is no shame in staying home or cozying up in a coffee shop and surfing online.
Bobbi Walker, gallery director of Walker Fine Art, which just celebrated its fifteenth anniversary, has traditionally dedicated the front of her space to two solo shows; a painter would take over the walls and a sculptor would fill the floors.
Meow Wolf is notifying the Denver recipients for a total of $54,000 in arts grants for DIY venues and organizations: $20,000 from the City of Denver, and $34,000 from Meow Wolf’s own fund.
