Five Things for Art Lovers to Do and See This Weekend in Denver

First Friday celebrations all around town hit a pinnacle last week, and the art scene appears to be catching its breath. This weekend, then, it’s time to kick back and do what art lovers do in the summertime: Hit some outdoor arts festivals, go looking for a scattering of new shows in Denver’s nooks and crannies, or take the weekend seriously and attend a two-day meeting of the minds at RedLine. Here’s where to turn over a rock and find something new.

Hard Lines: An Exploration of Geometry
Space Gallery, 400 Santa Fe Drive
August 9 through September 22
Opening Reception: Thursday, August 9, 5 to 8 p.m.
Lines and angles take on new meanings in color and black-and-white for Hard Lines, an exhibit of geometric abstractions from five artists — Ramón Bonilla, Jodie Roth Cooper, Anthony Falcetta, Howard Hersh and Frank Martinez — who work the genre from an aesthetic point of view. Architectural themes overlap, as do dimensional visual tricks. Have fun with it!

Socially Engaged Art Projects at the 48 Hours Summit
RedLine, 2350 Arapahoe Street
Friday, August 10, and Saturday, August 11
Register in advance online
Free, donations welcomed
RedLine’s 48 Hours of Socially Engaged Art & Conversation Summit, inspired by the City of Denver’s Imagine 2020 Cultural Plan and touching on such topics as social responsibility and giving back to the creative community, does so in a myriad of ways while showcasing local artists and arts-related nonprofits. The public is invited to participate in the full two-day summit or any part therein; within a framework of performances, workshops, ten-minute talks, demonstrations and panels, its Socially Engaged Art Projects segments promote art-directed participatory experiences. They vary from interactive musical and spoken-word activities with Denver poet and musician Bianca Mikahn Shaw to an ongoing art-patch sewing party with Colorado Springs shadow puppeteer Patti Smithsonian. Contribute a layer of paint to Alejandro Perez's BUFFED//GRITO: Cycles of Erasure or earn a newfound appreciation for the work of caregivers with Barbara Loisch. Find the complete schedule of Socially Engaged Art Projects during the summit at RedLine’s website.

The Waiting Room
Rino Dental, 3258 Larimer Street, Suite 300
Friday, August 10, 6 to 9 p.m.
What does it take to drag you into a dentist’s office? RiNo Dental, with help from Dateline Gallery, hopes that art — really cool and hip art — will do the trick. Jeromie Dorrance, Jack Estenssoro, Jillian FitzMaurice, Mark Fitzsimmons, John Hastings (aka RUMTUM), Anima Hoitt, Raymundo Munoz and Kidrobot artists Johnny Draco and Sharon Park will all contribute to brightening the waiting room. Come to look...and then make an appointment?

Sculpture in the Park
Benson Sculpture Garden, 2908 Aspen Drive, Loveland
Saturday, August 11, 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Sunday, August 12, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
$8 (children ages 14 and under free)
Shuttle buses available to and from five Loveland locations

Art in the Park 2018
North Lake Park, 2750 North Taft Avenue, Loveland
Saturday, August 11, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sunday, August 12, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Free
It’s an art-fest bonanza in Loveland this weekend, anchored by the 35th annual Sculpture in the Park, which has grown to be the largest outdoor juried sculpture show and sale in the nation. Set in the Benson Sculpture Garden, itself a Colorado treasure, this year’s event boasts work by an international pool of 160 sculptors, and the admission charge of $8 goes directly back to the sculpture garden’s upkeep and growing collection. If you still have energy to spare after perusing the show, Loveland’s free Art in the Park, a local tradition for more than fifty years, will offer its own spread of juried artisan booths a stone’s throw away, just across the street from Sculpture in the Park, with all the usual festival stuff: food trucks, a beer garden and live music.

Interested in having your event appear in this calendar? Send the details to [email protected]. For more events this weekend, see our 21 Best Things to Do in Denver.