Visual Arts

When artist Emily Camp lived in Buffalo, New York as a child, her mom would tell her to pack her bags; they were going to the city
 for the weekend. That intrepid spirit rubbed off on Camp, now 21. Instead of renewing her lease on her Glendale apartment in January, she’ll load her car (currently a Jeep Patriot, although she’s on the lookout for a larger sprinter van) with art supplies and embark on a painting tour of the fifty states, paid for by sales of her art via a GoFundMe campaign.

While the Labor Day holiday has strayed from its collectivist roots, it’s still possible to enjoy some of the finest entertainment that Denver has to offer on proletarian wages. Here are ten events that cost less than ten bucks, and six are free.

Kick back and kick off your Labor Day weekend with art. Here are six First Friday openings all set smack in the middle of metro-area arts and cultural districts.

Jamil Jude, an up-and-coming young director whose relationship with Curious Theatre Company artistic director Chip Walton goes back over six years, is currently in Denver rehearsing the cast for Appropriate, which opens September 2. Jude is very enthusiastic about Branden Jacobs-Jenkins play.

Joel Swanson is one of the region’s top conceptual artists. Not only is his work relentlessly intelligent, but it’s also relentlessly beautiful, as seen in Joel Swanson: Sticks & Stones at David B. Smith Gallery.

Over 700 unique works of art by Colorado artists deck out the new Kimpton Hotel Born Denver.

Though Denver is awash in hot-ticket entertainment all weekend long, Westword hasn’t forgotten about all the Johnny-come-lately readers with empty pockets and nothing to do.

There are more than 1000 ants in the Boulder basement art gallery where Jacob Lemanski sits cross-legged, explaining how he got from biking across continents to building ant farms. All four walls of the room host what Lemanski calls Ant Spaces: thin layers of soil and brightly-hued sand set between glass and illuminated by LEDs that change color. The ants tunnel through the soil, creating slowly-shifting patterns in the dirt to reveal the background image of the Carina Nebula. In a word, it’s mesmerizing.

Colorado Ballet has been going through big changes, including the exit of principal dancer Sharon Wehner.

A second wave of I-70 viaduct street art has brought out nearly thirty local artists. The community can view the new installations on Saturday, August 26 from 2-6 p.m.

Say goodbye to summer vacations and hello to a new season of arts and culture: Here are six ways to get a head start on fall exhibits.

The artists at current shows at the William Havu Gallery and Tina Goodwin Fine Art are all taking their own routes to the same goal: using old-fashioned representational imagery in some kind of contemporary way.

After diving into how ticketing works at Red Rocks, we wondered how other Denver Arts & Venues properties, like the Buell Theatre, handle ticketing for high-demand theatrical productions, such as Frozen and Hamilton.

Whether you were celebrating body art, protesting white supremacy, dancing to music at Red Rocks or tubing down the Platte River, you were sure to miss some amazing events this past weekend. Thanks to our photographers, you can relish the memories and see the events you weren’t able to attend. Denver, here’s what you looked like.

Sure, Denver’s a hub for music fans, art lovers, and craft brew and cannabis connoisseurs, not to mention all stripes of outdoorsy types. But for people who prefer to huddle inside and create arts and crafts, the Mile High City has you covered too. Here are six of our favorite metro area resources for craft lovers.

Art lovers, cinephiles and comedy nerds in particular have plenty to look forward to this week: Nearly every day holds a free gallery opening, movie screening or performance for the viewing pleasure of this city’s thrifty and adventurous residents. Here are five of the best free events in town.

Earlier this week, Westword reported, “The River North Arts District is booting out actual artists: That’s the claim of a group of arts activists/residents who ramped up the fight against gentrification in the River North neighborhood by redecorating three iron slabs touting the RiNo Art District with flowers, crosses and other objects of mourning on Monday, August 14, 2017.”

“The Moth is a battle of narcissists,” says Morley McBride, standing at the front of a stage at Swallow Hill Music as it fills with a crowd eager to hear the stories of strangers. It’s the third Friday of July, which means McBride, a blonde in a black jumpsuit, is seeing to the final steps of preparing the monthly Story Slam event, a live offshoot of the ever-popular story-sharing podcast where Denverites tell and receive scores on their narratives of personal experiences. If you’ve ever wondered what the in-person get-togethers are like but haven’t yet managed to snag the in-demand tickets, here’s your answer:

David and Carrie Wintersteen dove into the stuff of parental nightmares when commissioning the play they’ll perform this weekend at Boulder’s Fringe Festival. Carrie Wintersteen describes Our Boy, the two person play the Fargo, North Dakota-based couple will present, as about “parents who just learning that their son is accused of sexual assault.”

Choreographer Patrick Mueller thought it was time for his Control Group Productions dance theater to pare things down and appeal to a broader base, but that’s just a piece of what Neverhome, an immersive, site-specific performance/walking tour inspired by currently converging themes of gentrification, migration and finding your way, is all about. Carrying your life on your back, after all, means cutting back.

Summer parties and elegant receptions — they’re all within reach whether you’re an artist or just a fan of them. Mix it up this week at these six events and openings.