Happy Holidays, and keep the arts and culture coming

We’re taking a break, but it won’t be for long — after spending Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with our families and friends, Westword’s Show and Tell team will be back on the job early Thursday, December 26 with a focus on the past and the future of Denver’s arts…

MCA Denver’s Adam Lerner over-caffeinates while recapping 2013

There’s nothing stuffy about Adam Lerner, whose whimsical yet intellectual sensibility propels everything that happens at the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, where he’s the museum’s director and “Chief Animator.” The same goes for his annual holiday message to MCA visitors, supporters and friends. This year’s greeting, entitled “Caffeinated History,”…

Celebrate the Solstice and get ready for the holidays at Maison de Rose

Designer, seamstress and girl-about-town Baily Rose makes dreamy, dressy dresses that are truly one-of-a-kind and wrap themselves around your personality like a bed of ethereal fairy clover. Really. And because the holidays are nigh and the days are short, she’s opening the doors of her Maison de Rose for Don…

A compelling quartet explores Buddhist themes and more at Robischon

The marquee offering among the winter shows at Robischon is David Kimball Anderson: Altitude, the California artist’s first Denver solo. The spaces are filled with installations meant to evoke the journey of twentieth-century Tibetan Buddhist teacher Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. Viewers could hardly be expected to know this, because the references…

Powerhaüs Studio’s PAIR residency program calls it a day

Early in 2013, the artists of Powerhaüs Studio announced their idea for the Powerhaüs Artist-in-Residence Program, a juried three-month residency at the studio facility for one fine artist and one fashion designer. Along with that call for applicants, they named David Dadone of the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art and…

Artist House Tour Series: Featuring Dana Cain and Mark Putt

Editor’s note: Home designer Jeanne Connolly loves to see how creative people put their houses together. In this series, she’ll be sharing some of her favorite homes, by taking us inside the unique private spaces of metro Denver. Denver creatives Dana Cain and Mark Putt bring living with art and…

Photos: Clark Richert on display at Gildar Gallery

Michael Paglia visits Gildar Gallery and Goodwin Fine Art in this week’s review, taking in a large show focused on Clark Richert and two smaller solo shows featuring work from Mark Villarreal and pieces by Mia Mulvey. Continue reading for photos from all three exhibits. See also: Photos: the blockbuster…

MCA Denver selects finalists for Twelve & a Half Days of Xmas LIVE!

The results are in, and Denver Museum of Contemporary Art’s Twelve and a Half Days of Xmas Live! has selected 12 performers who will rock the museum’s modernist atrium throughout the holiday season. Each act earns a $50 honorarium as they compete for the winning prize of $500 and With acts ranging from the holiday inspired burlesque of Gigi D’Lovely to the self-explanatory Crazy Gorilla Drummer, the 12 days of Christmas promise to be filled with all sorts of appealing weirdness from the curated best of Denver’s diverse arts scene. Westword spoke to MCA Director of Programming Sarah Kate Baie to hear about the finalists and the selection process.

Gildar Gallery celebrates the work of Clark Richert

The plucky Gildar Gallery on South Broadway has made a name for itself by promoting young up-and-comers that director Adam Gildar uncovers. But for the current show, running through the holidays, Gildar has tapped Clark Richert, one of the greatest, most accomplished and most heralded artists in the state’s history…

Photos: High-ticket sneakers took over the floor at the Dunkxchange

Denver’s sneaker-freaks converged on the EXDO Event Center over the weekend for a frenzy of wheeling and dealing for collectible kicks, with music, live art and other hip-hop-savvy vendors. Westword photographer Kenneth Hamblin III was there with a camera: Here’s the tease. See also: Sneaker of the week? Mission accomplished…

Meet the winners for the 2013 Westword Web Awards arts categories

Nominees and friends packed into Galvanize on December 5 for the 2013 Westword Web Awards, Westword’s annual celebration of the most interesting Denverites on the Internet. With MC Jordan Doll at the helm, we handed out 21 awards across four categories, from the Best Music Video to the Best Politician…