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Best Non-Venue Venue

Mutiny Information Cafe

Courtesy Mutiny Information Cafe

Mutiny Information Cafe is first and foremost a bookstore/coffee shop. But this Bermuda Triangle of weirdness in the sea of ultra-hip South Broadway is also a space that throws some of Denver's best all-ages concerts and art happenings. Stop by any night and catch zine readings, noise shows, performance-art pieces and the occasional jazz quartet getting down in the front window of the sprawling shop. And even when there's no entertainment, Mutiny captures Denver's truest self: It's a quirky, welcoming space where you can find good used books, excellent coffee, and an experience you never knew you were looking for.

Best Nooner for Arts Patrons

American Museum of Western Art — Anschutz Collection

American Museum of Western Art, 2nd Floor Gallery

Opened in the historic Navarre Building in 2010, the AMWA has been a tough booking for fans of Remington, Russell et al., with curated public tours only a couple of days a week. But now Wednesdays are "Open Range Day," with self-guided tours available from 11:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. One lunch hour can't possibly cover the vast range of this collection, but a few visits might get you from Bierstadt to Birger Sandzén. Yeehaw.

Best Not-So-Guerrilla Art

Ladies Fancywork Society

The yarn artists of the Ladies Fancywork Society proved last year that their work, though rooted in the street, transcends the underground designation. The LFS created not one, but two major yarn installations at a pair of Denver's most prestigious art museums: MCA Denver and the Denver Art Museum. The MCA kicked off 2013 with the LFS curtain installation "Fancygasm" adorning its chilly entryway in wintry shades of white and blue; later, in conjunction with its blockbuster textile exhibit Spun, the ladies draped a massive knitted floral carpet off the roof of the DAM that was later disassembled by museum patrons, who were invited to take home a piece of the work. A sneaky art idea has become a welcome part of the landscape.

Best One-Person Show

Wendy Ishii, The Year of Magical Thinking

Joan Didion's husband died suddenly one evening while she was preparing a salad for dinner in their New York apartment. After some time, Didion explored her terrible loss in a memoir, The Year of Magical Thinking, which was eventually staged as a play starring Vanessa Redgrave. This year, Wendy Ishii took on the role at Bas Bleu Theatre Company, and her performance was mesmerizing. Didion, according to her own account, is a "cool customer," and her prose is wry, strong, musical and sometimes almost detached. Ishii, whose great strength as an actor is her emotional depth and expression, reined herself in to take on Didion's persona, shaping her own large talent to the contours of another artist's consciousness — which made the single moment when she revealed the chaos and anguish within doubly moving.

Best Open Mic

The Meadowlark

Evan Semón

Before they became the sort of international superstars who headline places like Red Rocks, the Lumineers played many an open mic at the intimate Meadowlark. Every Tuesday night from 9 p.m. until 12:30 a.m., the venue gives local singer-songwriters a chance to test out new material, refine older songs or just show people what they're made of during their fifteen-minute allotment. At the Meadowlark, you just might see — or be — the Next Big Thing.

Best Opening-Night Parties

Miners Alley Playhouse

Dedicated theater-goers know that opening night is often the best time to take in a show — not just because you're the first to see the completed production, but because many companies celebrate their openings with snacks and drinks. After every opening night, Miners Alley sets out a lavish spread on a long table in the beautiful anteroom to the auditorium, loading it with cheeses and fruits, some hot selections, candies and sweets. And you can buy drinks at the well-stocked bar.

Best Outdoor Element of the 2013 Biennial of the Americas

"Mine Pavilion," by Pezo von Ellrichshausen

The original plan for the 2013 Biennial of the Americas called for downtown to be turned into one big art fair. That didn't happen, but we did benefit from the brilliant "Mine Pavilion," a timber tower designed by the Chilean architectural firm of Pezo von Ellrichshausen. The multi-story piece, which emerged from the median at Speer Boulevard and Larimer Street, was a skeletal tower with periodic set-backs as it rose to the sky. Made from Colorado beetle-kill wood set on a base of broken local stone, "Mine Pavilion" functioned as a visual link between downtown and Auraria, a goal that has eluded Denver since the '70s.

Best Parting Glance

Robin Rule's last show

Though she was gravely ill this past winter, Robin Rule, who earlier in the year had closed her bricks-and-mortar gallery in RiNo, was still determined, after decades in the art business here, to remain a part of it. Together with Adam Gildar, she co-curated Dimension and Symmetry: Clark Richert at the Gildar Gallery. It was a handsome solo given over to one of her closest friends and one of the most loyal artists in her former stable. Poignantly, the show was still up when Rule died, in December, and remained up for many weeks after. It proved that though life is short, art is long, and Rule's contributions are lasting ones.

Best Performance on Wheels

Salon Romantik: Fear & Prophets

The motion-based performances dreamed up by Patrick Mueller and Control Group Productions cross so many disciplinary lines that it's hard to know what to call them, and perhaps it's ridiculous to even try to pin it down. For the second leg in the troupe's journey called Salon Romantik, Control Group threw a party where the audience could wander through as participants; the third portion of Salon Romantik, which took place last fall, loaded up buses for a tour of staged performances at locations along the route. Where to next? The sky's the limit. And no matter where they end up, Mueller and Control Group are sure to being new levels of sophistication to the Mile High City. Find out how high in June, when the next installment of Salon Romantik goes live.

Best Place for Dinner and a Play

Vintage Theatre Productions

Vintage Theatre has come up with a clever scheme to solve the where-do-we-eat-before-the-show conundrum, partnering with Copacabana Grill Catering so that play-goers can order anything from full meals to appetizers to dessert and coffee, and eat — comfortably seated at a table in the lobby — before or after the show. This is not your typical dinner theater, and the food is just as adventurous. Theater offerings include musicals and dramas; entrees range from Brazilian-style lamb chops to bacon-wrapped chicken breast. Perfect combinations are possible.

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