Visual Arts

I was born in Denver in 1980. These days, I wear my Colorado nativeness like some entitled badge of honor — and I’ve noticed others do, too. I was at a public gathering last week and when a native took the mic to speak, they made sure to mention that…

Feline-o-philes of all ages purr with joy whenever the Amazing Acro-Cats slink into town because, you know — cats playing guitars and riding skateboards and stuff. Animal trainer Samantha Martin has parked her cat bus in front of the Bug Theatre for a run of performances inside, continuing Thursdays through…

UPDATE: FashioNation has a new home. The nearly 30-year-old business will debut its new location on South Broadway on October 10. Owners Pam and Paul Italiano spent several weeks moving the furnishing and decor of the old store into the new space, which formerly housed Packrat Antiques, even removing a…

No institution has played a more important role in Colorado’s art history than the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center. Among its collections is one dedicated to modern and contemporary pieces created by Colorado artists. It’s a nice collection — not on the level of the Kirkland Museum’s, mind you –…

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. Get ready for some very special effects: Denver resident Alan Anderson, RAW…

It’s First Friday and the first day of August, so it should be a fine, balmy summer night for exploring the art districts, from Santa Fe Drive to RiNo. Here are a few one-of-a-kind shows to see, tonight and through the weekend. See also: Photos: The Heads of Hydra couple…

When photojournalist Corky Scholl started the non-profit Save the Signs in 2012, the first sign he wanted to save was the neon, Googie-style wonder that had graced Sid King’s Crazy Horse Bar on East Colfax Avenue until the place closed in 1983. Two decades later, Scholl found it for sale…

The Denver County Fair, now in its fourth year, was conceived as a big, fat blue-ribbon love letter to everything that’s cool about Denver, from local artists and a healthy geek culture to, yes, legalized pot. So it’s only fair that this year’s poetry contest has an I Heart Denver…

Lovers are already collaborators in life, but what happens when they collaborate as artists? Some would say that a deeper understanding comes into play under the circumstance, that couples creativity is different, perhaps more intimate, and rooted in unspoken simpatico. That’s what Lovers Collaborations, a group project of the Heads…

For his latest show, Takeover, Gildar Gallery owner Adam Gildar enlisted the help of Charlie James, a Los Angeles-based art dealer, who curated the show. The two have a similar approach to conceptual art. James included artists from his own stable as well as some from Colorado. All of them…

In addition to Adam Stone’s experimental work at Buntport, a cat circus and square product theatre’s multidisciplinary work in Boulder (see below), this weekend yields a unique playwriting festival, a classic musical and a one-night ode to old-time radio. Check out these onstage diversions. See also: Concrete Realities: SLAB…

The Gildar Gallery is housed in an anonymous-looking storefront on South Broadway, barely marked by a sign. That unassuming presence continues inside — but modest circumstances haven’t deterred owner Adam Gildar from presenting thoughtful programs not unlike those found at contemporary art museums. In this spirit, Gildar invited a guest…

For decades, feminists have challenged the art world to open up galleries and museums to women artists. While nominal progress has been made, many major institutions still show a disproportionate amount of work by male artists. This disparity is one of many reasons critics Eleanor Heartney and Nancy Princenthal and…

If you publish a book for teens, will they get off their phones long enough to read it? That’s the question Colorado author and small-talk expert Debra Fine had to ask when she wrote her newest book, Beyond Texting: The Fine Art of Face-to-Face Communication for Teenagers. Ironically, the book…

When the Cinderella City mall opened its doors in Englewood in the ’60s, it was state of the art in an almost Disney-esque fashion, all light and fountains and lofty arches, with a movie theater and the quaint Cinder Alley, a tchotchke lane where the hippie kids shopped. But, like…

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. The Godfather has an offer you can’t refuse. Actually, that’s the Colorado…

There are secrets behind the public art pieces at Denver International Airport — and it’s not what conspiracy theorists would have you believe. We checked in with DIA Exhibitions Coordinator Tim Vacca and Public Art Program Coordinator Mandy Renaud, and discovered there’s a method to all the madness. Keep reading…

It’s summer, when the co-ops chug along with regularly scheduled member shows — and sometimes, the art spills outdoors. Here are some new-show picks to help get you artfully through the weekend. See also: Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy: I Think I Feel Something…

The annual Denver Face Paint and Body Art Jam is taking place at Mountain Air Ranch from 1 to 5 p.m. on Sunday, July 27. And there should be plenty of bodies to work with, since Mountain Air is a clothing (very) optional facility. Unfamiliar with body art? We’ve collected…

The Museo de las Americas is making its mark this summer with Outside in 303, an incredible show that gives a glimpse into the scene of Latino taggers that have been more or less hidden from the rest of the art world — although their efforts have been visible on…

The new projector that Joe Machetta has been waiting for has finally arrived. The owner of the Sands — focus of the cover story “Can the Sands Theatre survive digital conversion?” — was looking at a questionable future for the movie house he’s been running in Brush since 1958. But…