OPENS MARCH 15: NATURAL FORCES: WINSLOW HOMER AND FREDERIC REMINGTON – Denver Art Museum Natural Forces: Winslow Homer and Frederic Remington, featuring 60 artworks, will reveal connections between artistic themes and techniques used by the two acclaimed American artists. Born a generation apart, both artists succeeded in capturing the quintessential American spirit through works of art at the turn of the late-19th and early-20th centuries, an era of growing industrialization and notions of the closing of the American western frontier. Winslow Homer (1836-1910), who was considered the most original painter of his time, prospered by creating masterful depictions of the Eastern Seaboard, while Frederic Remington (1861-1909) became famous for his iconic representations of the American West. The work of these two self-taught artists continues to be celebrated as independent, innovative, and homegrown. A 225-page exhibition catalog, published in collaboration with Yale Publishing, will be available in The Shop at the Denver Art Museum and online. National leading scholars.
MARCH 16: Destroyer, Nap Eyes – Bluebird Theater Dan Bejar is touring Have We Met, his 13th album as Destroyer. Thematically, the songs do seem to point at a very modern dread — one that heightens the more you consider it. Have We Met glides deftly into territory that marries the old strident Destroyer with the new, aged crooning one of late.
MARCH 18: Tarot & Flow – Urban Sanctuary Denver Another New and Unique class offered exclusively at Urban Sanctuary! Join this magical class where the use of tarot cards will give the students clarity, guidance and direction. A reading will be done at the beginning of class, another at the end and in-between your beautiful practice. Come join US with a open heart and mind to support your healing with guidance, clarity direction and healing.
MARCH 20: David Spade – Boulder Theater A natural prankster most of his life, Spade, started in stand-up comedy which lead to his work on SNL, Just Shoot Me!, 8 Simple Rules… for Dating My Teenage Daughter and many classic comedy films including his run with Chris Farley.
OPENS MARCH 20: Poposition Press/Cutty Up Opening Reception – Mirus Gallery Mirus Gallery presents two concurrent exhibitions by Cutty Up and Popsition press opening March 20, 7-10pm. The exhibition is FREE and open to the public through May 2, 2020. Poposition Press designs, paper engineers and self-publishes pop up books with popular visual artists. Founded and run by Rosston Meyer, Poposition works with contemporary artists to create pop up books out of existing or new work. Mirus will present a group exhibition featuring both pop up creations by Rosston as well as originals by the artists he collaborates with including Skinner, Jim Mahfood, Mike Giant, Junko Mizuno, Kristen Liu-Wong and More. Concurrently Mirus Gallery presents a solo exhibition featuring Jamie Molina, also known as “Cutty Up,” a visual artist, sculptor, and muralist based out of Denver. Molina focuses on characters that are inspired by his New Mexico roots, that also highlight in his folksy style. Each piece created by Molina is a humble representation of his notable style. The exhibition will feature both new original paintings and immersive installation.
MARCH 20 – MAY 3: Until The Flood – Jones Theatre The headlines only tell a piece of Ferguson’s story. This is the rest. After the death of Michael Brown, The Ferguson Unrest shook the nation to its core and put a spotlight on the police brutality and discrimination that plague our institutions. Using extensive interviews she conducted herself, Pulitzer Prize finalist and Obie Award winner Dael Orlandersmith created eight fictional characters to represent the broad spectrum of perspectives that continue to define and divide our country at large. Discover why she’s been called “one of the country’s top talents for solo performance” (Time Out Chicago) as she embodies people from all sides of the controversy in this mesmerizing, fluidly poetic piece. Go on a gripping, emotional journey and see why The Chicago Tribune called it “palpably compassionate” and raved it “achieves a great beauty by bringing us together rather than driving us apart.”
MARCH 23: Indie 102.3 presents The Districts, And The Kids – Bluebird Theater It’s not uncommon for musicians to grow and evolve between releases — but even by those standards, the Districts’ Popular Manipulations is stunning. You might find yourself wondering why people don’t make indie rock like this anymore.
MARCH 24: Pussy Riot Bluebird Theater
MARCH 24 – APRIL 4: 29 Lives Art Gallery Pop-Up – Dairy Block 29 lives, a special art show for younger collectors created by Annie Decamp, is the next pop-up art exhibit to grace the Block. The exhibit will be open March 24th through April 4th. The goal is to encourage younger collectors – those age 29 years and under – to learn about art through direct communication with artists, and to encourage them to buy original art by offering them a minimum of 29 percent off all pieces. Discounts will begin at 29 percent for those age 29 and under, with some artists offering much deeper discounts. Artists participating in 29 Lives include Denver artists Michael Dowling, Forge, Cody Kuehl, Annie Decamp, Juan Usubillaga, Jen Starling, Jessica Davis and Javier Badel, along with Canadian sculptor Edward Henley and German painter Thea Moreno. Find the 29 Lives show in the 1821 Blake Street space in The Alley.
MARCH 24: Drop-In Writing: “American Spirit” – Denver Art Museum Explore your creativity through the written word at an informal writing session at the Denver Art Museum led by Theresa Knowles from Lighthouse Writers Workshop. Bring your own writing projects or get started on something new. Open to all levels, from published authors to the occasional journaler! Materials provided. March’s session will focus on Natural Forces: Winslow Homer and Frederic Remington. Meet on level 1 of the DAM’s Hamilton Building. Drop-In Writing is a monthly program that occurs on the fourth Tuesday of the month from 1 to 3pm. This program is included in general museum admission; no reservations required. 1pm
MARCH 27: Music and Art: A Symphonic Exploration – Boettcher Concert Hall The Colorado Symphony presents its debut collaboration with Denver’s Clyfford Still Museum. Music Director Brett Mitchell guides you through a program of contemporary works and premieres a specially commissioned piece on this evening’s program. Powerful and awesome – massive areas of color – jagged, flame-like shapes – strange shadows, echoes: these are our experiences of paintings by Clyfford Still. How would this vision sound if it became music? James Clarke’s new work for the Colorado Symphony is a ‘kindred spirit’ with Clyfford Still’s art – a meeting of minds as two art forms explode together. 7:30pm
MARCH 25 – APRIL 12: Mean Girls – Buell Theatre Direct from Broadway, Mean Girls is the hilarious hit musical from an award-winning creative team, including book writer Tina Fey (“30 Rock”), composer Jeff Richmond (“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”), lyricist Nell Benjamin (Legally Blonde) and director Casey Nicholaw (The Book of Mormon). Cady Heron may have grown up on an African savanna, but nothing prepared her for the vicious ways of her strange new home: suburban Illinois. Soon, this naïve newbie falls prey to a trio of lionized frenemies led by the charming but ruthless Regina George. But when Cady devises a plan to end Regina’s reign, she learns the hard way that you can’t cross a Queen Bee without getting stung. New York Magazine cheers, “Mean Girls delivers with immense energy, a wicked sense of humor and joyful inside-jokery.” USA Today says, “We’ll let you in on a little secret, because we’re such good friends: get your tickets now!”
THRU MARCH 28: HARD PRESSED: MONTH OF PRINTMAKING EXHIBITION – Space Gallery Space Gallery is pleased to present this exhibition featuring new work by Sue Oehme, Patricia Aaron, Taiko Chandler, Wendy Kowynia, Diane Cionni, Sangeeta Reddy, Charles Woolridge, Pattie Lee Becker and Alicia McKim. Space Gallery – 400 Santa Fe Drive. 303-993-3321www.spacegallery.org
MARCH 30 – APRIL 3: DU CultureFest – Anderson Academic Commons University of Denver Culture is . . . something to celebrate! CultureFest has been a DU tradition for over 35 years, celebrating the diversity of the DU community. Everyone has culture – from the sports we play, the music we listen to and our shared and individual experiences. CultureFest hopes to build a sense of community and bring together members of the DU community from all walks of life. Please direct inquires to CultureFest@du.edu.
OPENS IN MARCH: Emma – Esquire Theatre Jane Austen’s beloved comedy about finding your equal and earning your happy ending is reimagined in this delicious new film adaptation of Emma. Handsome, clever, and rich, Emma Woodhouse (Anya Taylor-Joy) is a restless queen bee without rivals in her sleepy little town. In this glittering satire of social class and the pain of growing up, Emma must adventure through misguided matches and romantic missteps to find the love that has been there all along.
OPENS IN MARCH: The Last Thing He Wanted – Mayan Theatre In the gripping thriller The Last Thing He Wanted, a veteran D.C. journalist (Academy Award winner Anne Hathaway) loses the thread of her own narrative when a guilt-propelled errand for her ailing father (Oscar nominee Willem Dafoe) thrusts her from byline to unwitting subject in the very story she’s trying to break. Academy Award nominee Dee Rees (Mudbound) directs her adaptation of Joan Didion’s namesake novel, co-starring Oscar winner Ben Affleck.
OPENS IN MARCH: Saint Maud – Landmark Theatres The debut film from writer-director Rose Glass, Saint Maud is a chilling and boldly original vision of faith, madness, and salvation in a fallen world. Maud, a newly devout hospice nurse, becomes obsessed with saving her dying patient’s soul — but sinister forces, and her own sinful past, threaten to put an end to her holy calling.
OPENS IN MARCH: The Woman Who Loves Giraffes – Mayan Theatre In 1956, four years before Jane Goodall ventured into the world of chimpanzees and seven years before Dian Fossey left to work with mountain gorillas, 23-year-old biologist Anne Innis Dagg made an unprecedented solo journey to South Africa to study giraffes in the wild. She was simply following her passion, having no idea she was making history. But despite her trailblazing research she encountered gender prejudice from the academic establishment and went unrecognized. Decades later Anne, now a lively 85, is finally becoming known for her work. Documentarian Allison Reid retraces Anne’s steps, with letters and stunning, original 16mm nature footage that offers an intimate window into her life as a young woman, juxtaposed with a firsthand look at the devastating reality that giraffes are facing today. Both, and the species she loves have each experienced triumphs as well as setbacks. The Woman Who Loves Giraffes gives us a moving perspective on both.
APRIL 1: Billie Eilish Pepsi Center
THRU APRIL 5: TERESA HUBBARD / ALEXANDER BIRCHLER: FLORA – MCA Denver Teresa Hubbard / Alexander Birchler’s Flora is based on the artists’ discoveries about an unknown American artist, Flora Mayo, with whom the Swiss sculptor Alberto Giacometti had a love affair in Paris in the 1920s. While Giacometti is one of the most celebrated artists of the 20th century, Mayo’s oeuvre was destroyed when she left Paris in the 1930s and her biography reduced to a footnote in Giacometti scholarship. With this work, Hubbard and Birchler combine their historical research with memories of Flora Mayo’s son, David (now in his eighties), whose understanding of his mother’s past wistfully came to life for him only through their discoveries and conversations. Utilizing her letters and diaries to create a re-enactment of her life and art in the 1920s-30s, the artists’ filmmaking unearths an important story of the personal sacrifices and sometimes insurmountable bias and financial deprivation female creatives faced in that era.
THRU APRIL 5: THE LIGHT SHOW – Denver Art Museum The Light Show at the Denver Art Museum explores physical and symbolic representations of light in art through a thought-provoking narrative. The exhibition features about 250 objects drawn from the DAM’s nine curatorial departments. The Light Show focuses on the quest by humanity and artists to understand physical light in the natural world as well as metaphorical, spiritual, and divine representations of light. The exhibition helps visitors reflect on a variety of light-related themes through a broad range of materials and artworks, including ancient sculptures, paintings, photography, textiles, and contemporary installations. The cross-departmental exhibition is co-curated by Rebecca Hart, Vicki and Kent Logan Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, and Jorge Rivas Pérez, Frederick and Jan Mayer Curator of Latin American Art.
THRU APRIL 5: FRANCESCA WOODMAN: PORTRAIT OF A REPUTATION – MCA Denver This exhibition presents an early episode in the artistic life of American artist Francesca Woodman (1958-81). Featuring over 40 unique, vintage prints, as well as notes, letters, postcards, and other ephemera related to the artist’s burgeoning career, this exhibition details Woodman’s creative coming-of-age primarily during the years 1975-79. Introducing this material for the first time, the exhibition is drawn from the personal collection of George Lange, a long-time friend and classmate of Woodman’s at Rhode Island School of Design. Francesca Woodman: Portrait of a Reputation details how the artist came into her creative voice and her singular approach to photography at a notably young age. This exhibition demonstrates Woodman’s virtuosity in formation—the creative impulses that yielded a distinctive voice, and also a more nuanced understanding of the context in which she worked and which is featured so prominently in her photographs from this time.
THRU APRIL 5: Stacey Steers: Edge of Alchemy – Denver Art Museum This fall, MCA Denver presents Stacey Steers’ animated film Edge of Alchemy (2017). This is the most recent film in Steers’ trilogy that also includes Phantom Canyon (2006) and Night Hunter (2011). Edge of Alchemy depicts silent film-era stars Mary Pickford and Janet Gaynor as magicians of sorts—fairy alchemists—working in a laboratory to produce life. Here, Pickford and Gaynor are heroines of a different sort than the ingénues they played in early-twentieth century films. Collaging together imagery of Victorian scientific instruments, plants, and insects, Steers creates a surreal landscape. The result is a science fiction that is at once nostalgic and timeless. The exhibition will also feature individual collages—each one an eighth of a second of the film. Pseudo-scientific viewing apparatuses, each of which shows a clip from the film, will complete the exhibition. Stacey Steers is one of Colorado’s most accomplished filmmakers and artists, and the recipient of grants from the American Film Institute, Creative Capital, and Guggenheim Foundation. In 2012, she received the Denver International Film Festival’s Brakhage Vision Award. Her films have been shown at the Sundance, Telluride, New Directors New Films, Locarno, and Rotterdam film festivals and exhibited at museums around the world, including the Corcoran Gallery, Denver Art Museum, and Hamburger Kunsthalle. She lives and works in Boulder, Colorado.
APRIL 8: Thom Yorke – Mission Ballroom The Radiohead frontman, Thom Yorke has added a slate of tour dates around North America and Europe thankfully including Denver. He’ll be playing music from across his solo catalog.
APRIL 17 & 18: Jim Gaffigan – Buell Theater As a stand-up comedian, Gaffigan’s clever, quiet, and family-friendly style has earned him a rapid rise through the comedy ranks, and he now stands as one of the country’s most popular comedians.
APRIL 22: Soccer Mommy Gothic Theatre
APRIL 25: Andy Borowitz: Make America Not Embarrassing Again – Paramount Andy Borowitz, New York Times best-selling author and comedian has been providing America with a daily dose of satire since 2001 through his National Press Club award-winning news column, The Borowitz Report. The tour: Hailed by the The Wall Street Journal as a “Swifitan satirist,” Borowitz enters the stage armed with a measured amount of humor and wit to embolden crowds. 8pm
APRIL 30: Yoga at History Colorado Center – History Colorado Center Join Kelsey Beeze Beeze of The River Yoga in the atrium at History Colorado Center for a FREE hour vinyasa flow. We will practice on a full map of the state and ground into the beautiful land we live in through movement and gratitude. ✨ Please bring your own mat. 5:30pm
THRU MAY 31: EYES ON: ANTHONY MCCALL – Denver Art Museum This installment of Eyes On will feature London-born, New York-based artist Anthony McCall. Landscape for Fire presents five performers dressed in white set fire to pots of gasoline laid in a vast grid across an airfield in North Weald, England. The second in a larger suite of seven fire performances staged between 1972 and 1974, Landscape for Fire is Anthony McCall’s primary record of the series. Shifting configurations of light and dark unfold across a thirty-six-point grid, as the field of grass becomes a meadow of light. The recorded performance consists of members of a local art collective called Exit walking a precisely choreographed pattern across the field to ignite small fires. The grid of flames grows incrementally throughout the film and the sharp scratching of matches, the erupting blazes, and the brisk wind create the aural tempo of the film. This pattern is punctuated by the sound of a foghorn and the hiss of a flare. These noises become the soundtrack for the non-linear visual narrative.