Denver Life

Summer festivals bring throngs of people out into the sunshine for one-size-fits-all fun, and leave no room for anyone of any age to get bored. That’s why we love them: It’s easy to get lost in a sweaty crowd and eat and drink and dance and look and look and look. The pinnacle of arts festivals in Denver would be the Cherry Creek Arts Festival), with its iconic stature and emphasis on tony perusing, but there are so many other ways to get into your festival groove. Here are ten of the best arts festivals in the area,

Vanessa Barcus first conceived of Goldyn, an apparel store with a high-fashion edge, as an online boutique in 2007. Ten years later, now at home in its brick-and-mortar guise in LoHi, Goldyn is not only one of Denver’s trendiest go-to shops for the millennial crowd, but it’s also morphed into one of the artsiest.

Some Denver experiences are iconic, things you must do if you’re a newcomer to this city. But natives appreciate them, too. In fact, the quintessential Colorado events are things you can do over and over again. If you’re a local, consider this a friendly reminder of ten ways to count your blessings.

As Denver heats up, so does the fashion scene. What better way to kick off your summer than with boutique parties, fashion shows and stylish fundraisers. Here are the ten best fashion events to hit in Denver this month.

You’re new in town, and you need a handy guide on how to have the quintessential Denver summer. To help out, we’ve compiled a list of the ten things you must experience if you’re a Denver newbie.

An artist has the ability to reinvent, in the process making statements that can be both provocative and colorful — on the canvas and in her fashion. MayG, a painter in mediums ranging from faces to jeans, describes her style as “original, colorful and fun.”

Artist Teresa Booth Brown doesn’t only make art, though she does that very well, arranging shapes and textures on wood panels in collage and oils, creating brilliant drawings in graphite and reinterpreting her familiar geometrics in printmaking media.

If it has to do with sound and music, Gary Grundei’s done it: As a performer, composer, music director, sound designer, pianist and teacher, he’s stitched together a creative career in stage and theater, right up front and behind the scenes — when he’s not performing his own songs as part of the duo High Fiction.

A recent graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Denver artist/activist Cory Feder brings an intensely personal point of view back to her home town of Denver, where she now supports and works among the city’s close-knit DIY community.

For some, art is a lifestyle, and that’s evident in everything from their profession to their wardrobe. One such artist is Colorado native Forest Ivy Rayne, who dabbles in performance art, music and theater. Although Rayne has faced his share of struggles, including overcoming homelessness, he retains a whimsical attitude in his fashion sense.

Seven of History Colorado’s community museums will be offering people eighteen and under free admission over the next few months. From Trinidad to Platteville to Denver, kids will have the chance to experience Colorado history in the very places it unfolded.

Jonny DeStefano is the prime example of a Denver renaissance man; the creative entrepreneur has his hands full running Deer Pile, the venue above City, O’City, and, with his life partner Christy Thacker, the monthly local arts and culture zine, Birdy Magazine.

Colorado native Paul Tashlykov loves being immersed in Denver culture, and watching the fashion scene evolve and thrive. Now he’s part of that fashion scene himself, as a model.

Hip-hop dance was born on the street, but for talented practitioner Ian Flaws, it’s also a tool to raise kids up off of that hard road.

The second annual Prototyping Series is looking for submissions on the theme, “My 16th Street,” for a project this summer.

Artist Teresa Castaneda’s motor-mouth mind is always looking for something to do, and more often than not, the result is good for the community.

May is here, and along with Cinco de Mayo and Mother’s Day, there are more than a few reasons to dress up this month. Here are the ten best fashion events.

Author, pop-culturist, freelance journalist, editor-in-chief of the quarterly Denver lit zine Suspect Press and former Westword contributor, Josiah Hesse is a habitué of the city’s underground whose first novel, Carnality: Dancing on Red Lake (a Suspect Press imprint), hit the shelves two years ago.

Johnny Morehouse is an analog kind of guy.

Stuart Sanks, known professionally as Shirley Delta Blow, is a schoolteacher by day and a drag queen by night, but as far as his performance style goes, he does a lot more than strut around in women’s clothing.

A traveler whose monumental inflatable sculptures have taken her around the world, Nicole Banowetz blows up microscopic rotifers and radiolaria into larger-than-life airborne monsters and forms, sharing them through residencies as close to home as the Children’s Museum of Denver and as far away as Ustka, Poland.

Models are always on the go, and dancers are always on the move. Denver-based model Jewels Ramer is both, so she is always ready for an audience. We spotted Ramer at Denver Fashion Weekend, and caught up with her to learn about her inspiration, her favorite ways to accessorize an outfit, and her fashion philosophy.