The three tall sculptures at the Arapahoe at Village Center light-rail station look like they could fit together as a puzzle. But as it turns out, there’s nothing puzzling about the concept behind this piece: Sculptor Michael Clapper created it to represent Greenwood Village itself. He recently talked with us…
Even as the third annual US Pro Challenge takes off from Aspen today, a bicycle-art show is taking off a Denver International Airport. Using bicycles, artists have created representation of all the cities involved in the US Pro Challenge: Aspen/Snowmass, Breckenridge, Steamboat Springs, Beaver Creek, Vail, Loveland, Fort Collins and…
Zoe Yabrove has been profiling RTD’s public-art pieces, and this Monday, her series reached”Winter Crossing,” the stunning mural by Denver artist Stephen Batura that hung at Union Station for a decade — and then disappeared when the historic facility was closed for major renovations. “RTD removed the work more than…
In the thirty-plus years that Pirate Contemporary Art has been part of the Denver arts landscape, dozens of member artists have marched in and out of the trail-blazing cooperative’s doors. Every once in a while, they come back. See also: – My first art purchase: a Louis Recchia piece from…
No need to check your watch if you’re at the light-rail station at Littleton and Mineral: Robert Tully took full advantage of Colorado’s sunny days when he created his public-art piece, “The Silver Band of Present Time.” He recently took a few minutes to talk with us about art, public…
Collin Parson wears two hats in the local art world — three, if you count the fact that he is the son of prominent area sculptor Charles Parson. One is as the director of the visual-art program at the Arvada Center, where he has shown himself to be a gifted…
It takes a lot of work to be creative. It takes even more to become a Certified Creative District in Colorado. But for the areas that are successful, it’s worth the effort. Born out of a 2011 state law, the Certified Creative Districts program allows areas all over Colorado to…
When Desperately Seeking Susan arrived in theaters in 1985, Madonna was already a star. In the movie, she played Susan — who unknowingly trades places with co-star Rosanna Arquette’s Roberta, a bored housewife — and that character seemed uncannily similar to the real-life Madonna, only in widescreen format. Over the…
From Yves Saint Laurent’s couture homages to Mondrian, Matisse and Braque to Yayoi Kusama’s dotty collection and shop environments for Louis Vuitton, high fashion and fine art have long been entangled. It’s a mutual admiration club you can wear on your body — if you can afford it — that…
Sculptor John McEnroe has created some of the most controversial pieces of public art in the area. But not only has he given Colorado plenty of talk about, he’s also taken inspiration for his work from Colorado. We recently caught up with McEnroe to talk about how his piece “Fools…
“Are giant bears walking through downtown Colorado Springs?” asked a nitwitted FoxNews anchor last week, after video of the dumpster-diving bruin outside of the Edelweiss German Restaurant in Colorado Springs aired for the umpteenth time on the network. And Fox wasn’t alone; the schnitzel-hunting bear became an instant celebrity around…
The public art that RTD has been commissioning for light-rail stations — and we’ve been profiling this summer — is just the latest wave of transportion related work. Stephen Batura’s painting “Winter Crossing” originally hung in Union Station — but with all the construction going on there, this piece of…
Editor’s note: Artist Charlie Boots is part of the inaugural pair of PAIR residents at Denver’s Powerhaüs Studio. As part of his residency, he and his fashion-designing counterpart will be reporting from the real world via Show and Tell, as they learn the ropes from studio mentors Mona Lucero, Lauri…
At this station, you’ll want to keep your eyes down — because Scott Parsons’s “Ha-no-oo Star Calender” lies beneath your feet. We looked up Parsons, so that we could talk with the artist about the vision behind this piece. See also: – RTD art: Scott Donahue at the Alameda station…
Next stop, Alameda. Scott Donahue says he designed “Hand Up” to express ideas about history and multi-cultural issues. He recently took a few minutes to talk about this sculpture that enlivens the Alameda light-rail station. See also: – RTD art: Brian Swanson’s chess pieces at the 16th and Stout streets…
If you thought the fall was prime time in the art world, think again. This summer has seen an unprecedented exhibition season in the Denver area, and, as might be expected, the big players are predominating. None is bigger than the Denver Art Museum, currently featuring the third in a…
Michael Paglia visits Robischon Gallery in this week’s review, taking in four separate shows focusing on conceptual abstraction. There are three solos featuring works from Jae Ko, Lisa Stefanelli, and Andrew Millner. The group show contains pieces by Ted Larsen, Peter Millett and Don Voisine. Continue reading for photos from…
The conquest of Colorado’s 14ers is a culture with cult-like, rite-of-passage properties — inside the state, at least. Ask someone outside of Colorado if they’ve ever heard of people obsessed with climbing every peak over 14,000 feet, though, and they may think you’re suffering from oxygen deprivation. See also: -…
Four years ago historians of bad behavior got a rare glimpse into Denver street life and drug culture of the 1950s-1990s with the posthumous publication of Vato Maldito: My Life of Crime, by John “Bubbles” Gallegos, a local heister and heroin fiend. Now underground filmmaker and provocateur Raoul Vehill, who…
Artist Theresa Anderson is also a writer, so it’s no surprise that when she journals, she documents the development of ideas both personal and artistic. Using found objects, Xerox transfers, various art mediums and even a needle and thread, Anderson sketches her way into finished works, all between the pages…
We chatted with Emanuel Martinez a few weeks ago about his murals that brighten the streets of Denver. This time around, we’re talking with him about his sculpture “Mestizaje,” which stands tall at the Tenth and Osage light-rail station. See also: – RTD art: Brian Swanson’s chess pieces at the…
Taylor Gonda co-hosts and produces the Denver-based podcast These Things Matter, which features writers, filmmakers, musicians, academics, comedians, and Taylor’s mom engaging in wonky discussions about their guests’ beloved pop-cultural obsessions, which range from Superman to Wu-Tang Clan. Gonda and her co-host, local snarkmeister Kevin O’Brien, shared a victory when These Things Matter was named best podcast at the Westword Denver Web Awards. Each episode opens with a clip of the John Cusack soliloquy from High Fidelity that inspired both the podcast’s title and the intensely personal nature of the minutiae-dissecting conversations contained in each episode. Gonda also produces Adam Cayton-Holland’s podcast, My Dining Room Table. This week, Westword caught up with Gonda –who endearingly came to the interview prepared with tidy, careful notes– to talk about her favorite books and the shared mission statement of These Things Matter and Westword Book Club.
