Art shows and festivals are popping up all over Denver and around the state. But before you sample everything else opening this weekend, you can still catch Vault, the Metropolitan State University alumni exhibition at the Center for Visual Art, which closes July 25. Here’s what Michael Paglia has to…
When you’re pushing art and community, your work is often without profit — and you often don’t have the time or money to deal with filing all the right forms with the IRS to gain tax-exempt status. But Anthony Garcia Sr.’s Birdseed Collective is now an official non-profit. “It’s just…
The 2015 Biennial of the Americas, with exhibits and events running through August, strikes me as being more modest, less public, less local and more expensive than either the original, in 2010, or the last one, in 2013. That last one included two components that should have been fine-tuned and…
Nativ Hotel has had to repack its business plan a few times since opening its doors at 1612 Wazee Street on May 28. After its landlord expressed concerns, the owners clarified their policy regarding the consumption of cannabis: Officially, it’s prohibited at Nativ, and guests must now sign a waiver…
The main Biennial of the Americas event is at MCA Denver, but there’s another official show, Vis-à-Vis, at the McNichols Building. It includes installations by four selected “ambassadors” – two from Denver, two from Mexico City. The Denver artists, Melissa Furness and Matt Scobey, did a residency in Mexico City, while…
In high school, I was voted most likely to become a bag lady. I’m sure that given my thrift-store punk-rock ways, this was more a statement on my fashion sense than my future earning potential, but in my mind it also speaks to my lack of interest in earning money.…I am…
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. “Growing up, I was always the kind of kid who would commandeer…
This week in Denver galleries and performance spaces, you can experience the sophisticated work of an American original, take a walk with some figurative dogs or wander through the technology-scape with a Colorado performance collective. What are you waiting for? Here are the details: John Buck Robischon Gallery Through August…
When Andrea Moore’s artists’ residency culminates in an opening, it’s nothing glamorous. After all, it happens in her garage. “It’s rough,” she says. “There’s only one finished wall, so it’s not like there’s a whole lot of presentation space.” Still, there’s something charming about The Detached Garage — literally the…
When you’re young and behind bars, it can be difficult to keep hope alive. And it can get even tougher after setbacks such as the recent Colorado Supreme Court decisions that did little to modify the sentences of 48 prisoners in the state prison system who are serving what amounts…
One of the largest galleries in town, Michael Warren Contemporary, is currently hosting three freestanding solos. Each is showcased alone, free of intrusions from the sensibilities of the others. To the left of the entrance is Patsy Krebs: Time Passages, made up of the artist’s austere ruminations on the horizon…
Now!, the 2015 Biennial of the Americas theme, asks the public to be present, eyes wide open, in the immediate world. And though we might all be tired of hearing “now” by the end of this week, the concept has reverberated through the arts community this summer, with galleries developing…
Metropolitan State University of Denver’s off-campus Center for the Visual Arts is turning 25, and celebrating with an art-centric street fair on Friday, July 17, where you’ll find work by talented Metro State students, food, musical performances and on-site gaming — and also catch the unveiling of a brand-new mural by…
A rocket scientist, a poet and a barista walk into a bar…no, make that the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art’s pop-up Poetry and Performance Café at 1550 Wewatta Street, in the Biennial Pavilion. The spot will debut on July 15, when Steam (STEM+Art) Day will give special emphasis to the importance…
So much Biennial, so little time. The 2015 Biennial of the Americas, which begins today, is so rich in programming that it’s hard to decide what to do and see. You can go with the dependable: There will always be something happening at the Biennial Pavilion at 1550 Wewatta Street…
I believe it’s an artist’s job not to provide answers, but to ask questions. Artists are the canaries in the coal mine for problems we face as a society. We are the first to speak up, often under threat of punishment — or even death, in some regimes and times…
Creating a link from one community to another is a central theme of the 2015 Biennial of the Americas. Visiting artist Marcela Armas wanted to dig deeper into that theme — quite literally. Since her work focuses on the intersection of arts, science and technology, after being invited to crease…
Denver’s third Biennial of the Americas celebration is big and bright and filled with activities and exhibits exploring the hemispheric crossover of art, politics and economic trends in the Americas in the here and now. The hardest thing about navigating your boat through this busy sea is knowing where to…
High summer brings variety to local galleries, where new exhibits range from a Biennial-inspired group show to an all-out bash remembering Frida Kahlo with art, film and music. Follow the muse to these five events. Nothing Belongs To Us Rule Gallery July 10 through August 15 Opening reception: 6 to…
Metropolitan State College of Denver was founded in 1965, with the goal of providing higher education for students who had previously not had much of a chance to seek out a college degree, particularly minorities and low-income individuals. The concept appears to have worked, because the school continues to have…
Heidi Keyes’s Puff, Pass and Paint is a very different kind of art class, combining canvas, cocktails…and cannabis. Over the past year It’s proved popular with locals and tourists alike, and last month it moved from the beleaguered Green Labs to a studio space at 2900 Marion Street shared with…
Denver has never been a great town for fans of architecture. Important buildings from the past routinely go under the wrecking ball, while only a tiny percentage of their replacements are any good at all. It’s actually a brilliant strategy on the part of developers: Short-circuit any future historic-preservation struggles…
