ART

NOW ON VIEW: Andrea Carlson: A Constant Sky – Denver Art Museum A Constant Sky is the first museum survey of mixed-media visual artist Andrea Carlson (descended from Grand Portage Ojibwe and European settlers, b. 1979). Carlson creates works that challenge the colonial narratives presented by modern artists, museum collections, and cannibal genre horror films. Utilizing a combination of text and complex visual references to animals, art objects, and cultural belongings, Carlson creates prismatic landscapes that foil American landscape genre painting. Known for her intricate, colorful works drawn and painted with many different mediums, Carlson recently expanded her practice to include sculpture. Columns for a Horizon, a monumental sculptural work, will be presented in the exhibition in two installations. The exhibition will also feature 30 works on paper spanning her career, highlighting three large-scale paintings presented together for the first time—as the artist originally intended them to be shown. Carlson’s meticulous, multilayered art expands the narrative around how landscape and narrative function in a colonial space. By drawing objects from museum collections and placing them in her own landscapes, Carlson refuses the idea of a singular ownership and deconstructs what it means to be interpreted by others.

NOW ON VIEW: DEBORAH JACK: THE HAUNTING OF ESTUARIES…AN (AFTER)MATH OF CONFLUENCE – MCA Deborah Jack’s solo exhibition (her first in Colorado) includes a dynamic, six-channel video installation featuring tumbling waters and fauna from the shorelines of four geographically distant places: Maine, Louisiana, Brazil (Belém), and the island of St. Maarten. Entitled a sea desalts, creeping in the collapse… in the expanse…a rhizome looks for reason… whispers an elegy instead, 2024, this installation offers a meditation on the dynamic nature of coastlines and humanity’s relationship to water. Jack is a multidisciplinary artist whose artistic practice includes video installation, photography, and text. She engages a variety of strategies for mining the intersections of histories, cultural memory, ecology, and climate change. For her exhibition at MCA Denver, Jack’s photography and videos combine footage from the coastline of Jack’s home of St. Maarten with the shores of York, Maine and the shorelines of Louisiana’s Lake Peigneur (a lake created by a man-made disaster), as well as Louisiana’s Neptune Pass and Quarantine Bay (areas of the Mississippi delta where the land made from river sediment continues to rebuild despite human interventions). These shifting edges of where the water meets the land underscores the limitations of humans’ ability to control nature.

NOW ON VIEW: Southwest Impressions: Prints from the Barbara J. Thompson Collection – Denver Art Museum Southwest Impressions: Prints from the Barbara J. Thompson Collection, on view in the Western American Art galleries, highlights works on paper by artists who lived or traveled in the American Southwest during the late 1800s and first half of the 1900s, drawing inspiration from the region’s unique landscapes, people, architecture, and animals. The exhibition celebrates Barbara J. Thompson’s collection of over 100 prints gifted to the Petrie Institute of Western American Art (PIWAA) in 2024 in honor of her grandfather, the printmaker C. A. Seward. Southwest Impressions acknowledges the important role of printmaking in western American art, particularly during the first half of the 20th century. Presented in two rotations of around fifty prints each, visitors will be guided through a range of print processes including intaglio, block printing, lithography, and serigraphy.  

NOW ON VIEW: NEW EXHIBITION – Space Gallery Featuring work by Karen Scharer: The Persistence of Hope, John Wood: Floral/Forest/Found, Wendy Kowynia: Burn Series – Mono No Aware, Joshua Enck: Iterations. Space Gallery – 400 Santa Fe Drive. 303-993-3321 www.spacegallery.org

MUSIC

JANUARY 31: Fitz and the Tantrums – Boulder Theater Fitz and the Tantrums are know for their infectious, high-energy live shows, that blend retro soul, Motown, and modern pop with catchy hooks, strong audience engagement, and the dynamic interplay between lead singers Michael Fitzpatrick and Noelle Scaggs. If you love upbeat, retro-flavored pop with strong vocals and a party atmosphere, this show is highly recommended.

JANUARY 31: Billy F. Gibbons and the BFG Band – ParamountTheatre Billy F. Gibbons and the BFG Band are electrifying live, showcasing Gibbons’ legendary guitar skills, storytelling, and the band’s tight blues-rock delivery. The often blend ZZ Top classics with deeper cuts and covers, from his Latin-infused solo albums like Perfectamundo.

FEBRUARY 7: Del Water Gap – Ogden Theatre Del Water Gap (S. Holden Jaffe) have is riding the success of his recent album Chasing the Chimera, which has been praised for its mature blend of indie-pop and folk, highlighting deep, philosophical, and relatable lyrics about love, isolation, and the human condition. He has been compared to Taylor Swift or The Beatles, with praise for his clever production and emotional depth.

COMEDY

AVAILABLE NOW: Sarah Squirm: Live + in the Flesh – Netflix In her first HBO stand-up special Sarah Sherman’s unholy alter ego, Sarah Squirm, unleashes a festering hour of bodily fluids, open-wound confessionals, and jokes that will leave scars on the soul.

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FILM

NOW PLAYING: The Chronology of Water – Landmark Theatres Oscar-nominated actor Kristen Stewart makes her feature directorial debut with The Chronology of Water, an unflinching portrait of womanhood, survival, and artistry at the fragmented crossroads of memory and memoir, adapted from the book of the same name by Lidia Yuknavitch. Imogen Poots stars as Lidia, a young woman who finds escape from an abusive home through competitive swimming in the 1980s. After her athletic dreams are derailed, she navigates love, loss, addiction, sexuality, and her own self-destructive impulses while discovering her voice, and healing, through the transformative act of writing. “This might be the best film adaptation I’ve ever seen and is a perfect example of why we need more women directing.” 

OPENS JANUARY 16: A Private Life – In Theatres The renowned psychiatrist Lilian Steiner (Jodie Foster) mounts a private investigation into the death of one of her patients, whom she is convinced has been murdered. It’s so ordinary nowadays for crime stories to have an absolutely terrific setup leading to a whimper of an ending, so when one plays its cards as well as A Private Life does, it should be praised from the rooftops. A Private Life mixes Hitchcockian suspense, glossy aesthetics, and a playful streak of camp into an entertaining if somewhat slight mystery that’s held together by Jodie Foster’s captivating presence.

NOW PLAYING: I Was Stranger – Landmark Theatres A doctor, a soldier, a smuggler, a father, and a captain. Each one on their own journey. Their paths cross in a desperate pursuit of safety and belonging. Set across four countries and inspired by real stories from the frontlines of the refugee crisis, this sweeping drama captures the heartbreak, danger, and fragile beauty of those who dare to start over when the world gives them nothing. The cinematography was incredible. Acting was absolutely gripping. At times it was difficult to watch, but that’s the purpose of the film. The antagonist is war and it’s inescapable reach. Families being torn apart, even over a dinner argument of the ‘right’ way to deal with refugees. Inspiring film that feels otherworldly from the short-minded perspective of someone living in the United States of America. Constant reminder that this is reality for so many families.

OPENS FEBRUARY 6: Pillion – Landmark Theatres Pillion is a fascinating glimpse into a world that isn’t often explored in film, centering around the relationship between commanding biker Ray and his timid new submissive Colin. Perhaps strangely, it makes for a deeply moving and involving story of love and lust and control and identity. It presents a really fresh perspective on these themes and how relationships exist in different forms but boil down to the same basic wants and needs. It’s a masterfully worked script, using silence and physicality alongside dialogue to convey the full spectrum of human emotion.

THEATRE

JANUARY 24-25: The Simon and Garfunkel Story – Buell Theatre The Simon & Garfunkel Story covers the duo’s humble beginnings as Tom & Jerry, to their incredible success as one of the best-selling music groups of the ‘60s, as well as their dramatic split in 1970. The Simon & Garfunkel Story culminates with the pair’s famous “The Concert in Central Park” reunion in 1981 which had more than half a million fans in attendance. The show features a set list of nearly 30 songs and uses state-of-the-art video projection, photos and original film footage. A full live band will perform all of the hits. 

EVENTS

JANUARY 10-25: National Western Stockshow – National Western Complex   No city embodies the Spirit of the West better than Denver. And that’s on full display each year in January, during the National Western Stock Show, with more than 20,000 animals on display. The National Western is the world’s largest stock show and has grown massively since the first year the event was held in 1906. The show quickly grew into one of the biggest fairs in the West. Today, the Stock Show is larger than life, just like the Old West. During the month-long event, cowboys and cowgirls from across the West and beyond pour into Denver to compete in rodeos, equestrian events, stock shows, BBQ competitions, and more. The stock show lasts nearly the entire month of January, and there are events each day of the week.

JANUARY 23-25: Winter X Games – Aspen Each January, the world’s best winter athletes descend upon Aspen for the Winter X Games. They’ve been competing for medals and prize money for over 20 years. There are various competitions for skiing, snowboarding, and snowmobiling. Hosted by ESPN, the first Winter X Games was held in 1997 at Mountain Resort in Big Bear Lake, CA. The following two years took place in Crested Butte, and then another two years in Mount Snow, VT. Since 2002, the games have found a longstanding home on Aspen’s Buttermilk Mountain, going on 25 straight years in 2026. No tickets are necessary since it’s free to watch and entirely outside.

JANUARY 24: Denver Winter Whiskey Tasting – Downtown Denver If you’re looking to warm up from a cold winter day with a delectable round of spirits (and you’re over the age of 21), the Denver Winter Whiskey Festival is a blast. Featuring over a dozen Colorado distilleries, guests will have the opportunity to try a myriad of samples. Visitors will get to try 15-20 different 0.25oz pours of whiskey. Previous brands that were in attendance included Barrell Craft Spirits, Branch & Barrel Distilling, Breckenridge Distillery, Copper Sky Distillery, Distillery 291, Golden Moon Distillery, Ironton Distillery & Crafthouse, Mythology Distillery, and The Long Drink Company. In addition to being able to purchase other drinks and food, some tickets come with access to a buffet or small bites area, early admission, gifts, and extra time to meet the brands. 

JANUARY 25 & 26: Colorado Indian Market and Southwest Art Fest – Convention Center Heading into its 44th year in 2026, the Colorado Indian Market & Southwest Art Fest is held annually in late January. This Denver event showcases a juried selection of 150 craftsmen of Native, Southwestern, and Western Arts. It’s held in the Mile High Ballroom of the Colorado Convention Center in Downtown Denver. On display will be jewelers, potters, sculptors, painters, and photographers. They will come from over a dozen states and two dozen Native Nations. The artwork here for sale is unique and comes directly from the makers. There will be live entertainment, including tribal dancers and singers. See live birds of prey and taste real Navajo foods.

FEBRUARY 6: Wish Lantern Festival – Silverthorne Pavillion Held annually since 2018, the February First Friday Wish Lantern Festival is a community celebration honoring the diverse cultural traditions of Summit County residents. Welcome in the Lunar New Year on Friday, February 6th, 2026, from 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm, at the Silverthorne Pavilion. Both Mexico’s Noche de Candela and the Chinese Lunar New Year traditions make use of wish lanterns. In Silverthorne, they will be floating theirs down the Blue River, next to Silverthorne Pavilion.These traditions for the search of light occur at a mid-way point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. The darkest days of the year are behind us, and well wishes are ushered in for a new year. They aim to bring good fortune for the coming year. Members of the community can decorate wish lanterns ahead of the 6:45 pm launch at Silverthorne Pavilion. For spectators, head to either the Pavilion Bridge or the one north of the Chipotle restaurant. The Blue River Trail is also a wonderful place to see the colorful action.