Nan Desu Kan, Colorado’s annual anime convention, took the Marriott Hotel in the Denver Tech Center by storm (and in costume) this past weekend as fans from across the state flocked there to to live out their fantasies. Dreamers representing all walks of fiction made the three-day fest a circus…
Call it a stampede. This weekend, the Marriott Hotel in the Denver Tech Center was taken over by Colorado’s largest anime convention, Nan Desu Kan 2012, and the fantasy enthusiasts who both populate and propel it. In our full slide show of the weekend’s costumes, you’ll notice well-dressed fans of…
Nan Desu Kan is a world unto itself, and the culture of that world sucks you in. It’s something akin to jumping headlong into a manga book, and you begin to see things in terms of that skewed universe: Pink and blue locks, tails, huge eyes and supernaturally spiky hair…
Legendary folk singer Woody Guthrie was born a hundred years ago, and a century later, he’s left quite a legacy. David Amram, a legend in his own right who met Guthrie in 1956 and was commissioned by the Guthrie family to write a symphony piece based on “This Land Is…
In the 1980s, the Rotary Club of Denver held massive Artists of America auctions, which raised more than $2 million for charitable projects around the world. Those annual events stopped in 2000, but the concept has now been reborn as Artists of the World, an online auction that will raise…
Remember when you turned eighteen? Maybe you felt like you’d seen it all — but more likely, you knew that a grand personal story was about to unfold. You felt excited and afraid. But how about a theater company? What about Brian Freeland and the LIDA Project, a company that’s…
The annual Westword Music Showcase is always a good time, but in one small but noticeable way, this year’s event has become a permanent street party. During the course of the 2012 musical mayhem, eight local artists shared their time, paint and skills with Westword to completely re-envision our traditional…
Three of the companies featured in our January cover story on Colorado’s “microbrew” ski industry just made the cut in Freeskier Magazine’s Top 10 Skis list of the best microbrew and independent brand skis for the 2012-2013 season. And Folsom Custom Skis took the top spot with its Rapture skis,…
If you were at the Denver County Fair in August, you might have caught a steampunk vibe in the air — thanks to the amassed presence of the Colorado Steampunks and the Denver Victoriana & Steampunk Society, all decked out in their beautiful costumes. Among their ranks were world travelers…
Founded by curator Dianne Vanderlip in 1978, the Department of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Denver Art Museum is one of the institution’s most important divisions — if not the most important. Occupying nearly all of the third and fourth levels and the atrium of the Hamilton Building and…
As light rail expands full force to the east and to the west of Denver and the B-cycle bike sharing program builds in Denver and Boulder, it’s clear that Colorado is embracing a desire for accessible transportation. Historic Denver and the Denver Architectural Foundation are capitalizing on that with “Traveling…
The Space Creators, the realtor/masterminds behind the RiNo artist enclaves of Wazee Union, Walnut Workshop and Laundry on Lawrence, do one special thing that sets them far apart from the pack in real estate: They are active partners in the communities they build. Not only do they provide legs for…
If you were ogling those photos of Sonya Looney posing for the 2013 Cyclepassion calendar we posted last week and wondering if she’s the real deal, here’s your confirmation: She was busy training for Saturday’s Vapor Trail 125 High Altitude Ultra-Marathon Mountain Bike Enduro race in Salida when those steamy…
One upshot of the current handmade/crafting renaissance: Quilts are back. Walk into Fancy Tiger in Baker, for instance, and you’ll be greeted by a rainbow of cheerful fabrics cut in squares suitable for the age-old tradition; modern quilts also took ribbons last month at the Denver County Fair. And the…
Since mid-August, painters have been gathering at locations all over town and in the Foothills for paint outs planned by the Golden Triangle Museum District as part of the Plein Air Arts Fest. Today’s paint-out on the 16th Street Mall is one of the last in the ten-part series before…
By now, everyone knows the drill: On the first Friday of every month, Denver’s art scene opens up to public exploration — and occasionally, a little public mayhem. Westword photographer Elyse Mitchell caught a bit of both through her lens on September 7. Continue reading for our twenty favorite scenes…
Ever since E.L. James’ first rectal-extraction, the book Fifty Shades of Grey, hit the market like a drunken Rip Torn ramming his car into a tractor-trailer, the merchandise spin-off has been explosive — or catastrophic, depending on your point of view. Stockings, garters, underwear, pajamas, robes, kitchen and bath décor:…
From 4 to 7 p.m. tomorrow, September 8, Denver Urban Gardens and Art Farm will join forces for the sixth annual Harvest outdoor community art show and garden gala, held at the West Washington Park Community Garden located at 201 Grant Street in Denver…
When it comes to artists decorating objects for charity we’ve probably seen it all by now — giant cow statues, guitars and violins, skateboard decks, fiberglass cats and even those hideous masks that seemed to start it all. But we’ve never before seen the likes of Breasts of Colorado, at…
Peek into the partially real, partially imagined world of Barkley Towers at artist Sara Guindon’s new show that opens Saturday night. The artist creates beautiful, cartoon-like depictions of characters in everyday situations that all revolve around an apartment complex she lived in when she was growing up in Ontario. The…
The DocuWest Documentary Film Festival, a Westword Best of Denver recipient, will continue to champion nonfictional film when the tight little fest returns to the Foothills Art Center and other satellite locations tonight. Nearly forty films of varying lengths, many of them Colorado premieres, will be shown over a five-day…
When I first heard about a pair of shows at Ice Cube Gallery and another at Pirate: Contemporary Art that were going to deal with feminism, I honestly thought, “Gosh, hasn’t that battle been won? Aren’t women now regarded by one and all as having full equality?” Then, of course,…
