ART

JULY 17 – AUGUST 30: “Image and Likeness,” a solo exhibition by Charles Luna – Niza Knoll Gallery The exhibition brings together two related bodies of work made during different times in the 21st-century, each focusing on the relationships between humanity, technology, and the sacred. The pieces are a compelling array of paintings, digital collage and assemblage works that explore both the connection and visceral tension amongst the subject matter. The public is invited to an opening reception on Friday, July 17, 5 – 8 p.m., and to an artist reception on Sunday, July 26, 1 – 4 p.m. The show is also on view during First Friday Art Walk on August 7, 5 – 9 p.m., and during regular business hours, Thursday – Sunday, 1 – 4 p.m. “All the works are products of reflection on the integrated influence of the sacred and the technological in the human narrative.” Explains Luna, “They offer context for considering how these combined influences weave into the design of the 21st-century social tapestry.”A Colorado native, Luna was born into a family of artists, art patrons and art enthusiasts. He freely developed as a self-taught artist from childhood through adolescence, synthesizing styles and techniques derived from popular media, art, and culture. Luna received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting and drawing at the University of Colorado and a Master of Fine Arts in painting at Colorado State University. Luna is an award-winning artist with an extensive history of public exhibition spanning over 30 years. In addition to his personal artistic accomplishments, Charles has facilitated the artistic growth of countless young people through his service as a visual arts educator in Colorado. Niza Knoll Gallery at 915 Santa Fe Drive specializes in intriguing conceptual exhibits featuring work by local and regional artists as well as private concerts, guest speakers and workshops. 

NOW ON VIEW: The Stars We Do Not See: Australian Indigenous Art – Denver Art Museum This is the largest exhibition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art ever presented in North America. These works are designed to elicit a sense of awe, while introducing visitors to the art, resilience, and depth of the world’s longest continuous cultures. Through a rich display of iconic masterpieces—many of which have never before left Australia—The Stars We Do Not See charts watershed moments in Indigenous art from the late 19th century to the present. The exhibition introduces audiences to customary forms and styles in Indigenous Australian art, including the conceptual map paintings of the Central and Western Deserts, ochre bark paintings, and experimental weavings. It also highlights the work of new-media artists, who build on tradition with groundbreaking works in neon, video, and photography.

NOW ON VIEW: ANA MARÍA HERNANDO: SEGUIR CANTANDO (KEEP SINGING) – MCA Spanning the museum’s 2nd floor galleries, MCA Denver presents Ana María Hernando: Seguir cantando (Keep Singing). Ana María Hernando presents new and recent work rendered in her signature materials: tulle, textiles, paintings, and works on paper to explore how color, song, and poetry are potent emblems of strength, persistence, and rebirth. Hernando is a multidisciplinary artist whose work focuses on the feminine, using empathy to make the invisible visible, and to question our preconceptions of the other and each other, including nature and the earth, their worth, and value.   

NOW ON VIEW: NEW EXHIBITION – Space Gallery A selection of outstanding works by featured artists. Space Gallery – 400 Santa Fe Drive, Denver, CO 80204. Wed-Fri 11am-5pm. Saturday 10am-3pm. 303-993-3321 www.spacegallery.org

MUSIC

JULY 22 & 23: The Strokes – Red Rocks Amphitheatre The Strokes are bringing the “Reality Awaits” Tour to town, celebrating the quintet’s first new album in six years, out July 24, but also unofficially celebrating 25 years since the 2001 debut “Is This It” that crowned them demigods of the indie rock scene. So far on tour they been tearing deep into their catalog — choosing 19 excellent cuts across 100 minutes — with the bottled-up vigor of the teens and young adults who formed the group nearly three decades ago. 

JULY 24-26: Underground Music Showcase 2026 – RiNo Arts District (various venues) The Underground Music Showcase (UMS) is Denver’s largest multi-day, multi-venue music festival. It is entering a new era as it returns to the RiNo Art District. The festival highlights over 200 local and national artists across various indoor and outdoor stages. 

AUGUST 11: Sugar – Mission Ballroom Sugar’s 2026 reunion tour is a deafening, pitch-perfect return. Original members Bob Mould, David Barbe, and Malcolm Travis trade 1990s mosh pits for a reverent, older audience, but maintain absolute sonic ferocity. Back on the road after 31 years, they seamlessly blend old classics with new material.

COMEDY

AVAILABLE NOW: Patton Oswalt: Tea & Scotch – YouTube “Tea & Scotch”, Patton Oswalt’s 10th stand-up special, finds the Emmy- and Grammy-winning performer wrestling with religion, wolves, parenting a teenager, and musical theater. He mostly loses.

FILM

NOW PLAYING: The Invite. – In Select Theatres Joe (Seth Rogan) and Angela’s (Olivia Wilde) marriage is on thin ice. When they invite their enigmatic upstairs neighbors for a dinner party, the night spirals into unexpected places. Have they reignited the spark or lit the match that burns it all down? Preying on the dry kindling of marriage dissatisfaction with a volatile spark of unexplored sexual fascination, “The Invite” balances that precarious presentation with a cunning rarely seen in such films. The performances are impeccable, the characters impossibly well balanced. Wilde the film-maker is unimpeachable here. The Invite is one of the very best films of 2026 and a triumphant return to form for director Olivia Wilde.

OPENS JULY 24: Cruel Hands – In Select Theatres Maria and her 12-year-old son, Dai, seek refuge in an abandoned farmhouse after fleeing from her violent husband, Jason. As fires rage across the region and emergency services struggle to locate the missing family, Maria tries to build a safe new life for Dai, while Jason embarks on a relentless quest to find them. ruel Hands is the kind of film that will need a bit of online discourse to push it further into the genre fans’ circles for viewing. Call it what you will, horror, thriller, dark drama, or whatever other sub-genre you want. This 1970s-inspired slice of atmospheric tension and visceral domestic horror is worth watching.

OPENS AUGUST 7: Late Fame – In Select Theatres Ed Saxberger (Willem Dafoe), a forgotten New York poet, works in the post office. After an eager and flattering young admirer appears on his doorstep, Saxberger is beckoned into a coterie of twentysomething admirers who anoint him as a rediscovered genius. Intoxicated by the attention, and by the alluring presence of Gloria, the group’s «tragic heroine,» Saxberger gradually reckons with the authenticity of his newfound poetic circle. This thoughtful, witty film is a wistful yet unromantic look at a lost idea of downtown New York. The classic theatricality of its characters juxtaposed with the modern world gives ‘Late Fame’ the feeling of a eulogy for an artistic world that young idealists desperately want to revive.

OPENS AUGUST 7: One Night Only – In Select Theatres Academy Award® nominee Monica Barbaro (A Complete Unknown, Top Gun: Maverick) and BAFTA nominee Callum Turner (Masters of the Air, Fantastic Beasts franchise) star as Allie and Owen, two love-starved strangers who crash into each other in an ever-so-slightly fictionalized New York City on the one night of the year when single people are allowed to have sex. Recently dumped Owen and hopeful romantic Allie might be the only two singles in the city looking for more than just a quick encounter. They both feel a spark when they meet, but a series of missteps and side quests complicate their night, keeping them apart. As they each race toward and away from each other across the city, they just might discover that the one thing they want most is closer than they think.

THEATRE

AUGUST 1: Thaddeus Phillips- “ArounD the WorlD in 80 ToyS” – Buntport Theatre Denver native Thaddeus Phillips returns home with Around the World in 80 Toys, an inventive theatrical experience inspired by film pioneer Georges Méliès. Using more than 80 miniature toys, live cameras, shadow play, and cinematic illusion, Phillips transforms a simple toy shop into a globe-trotting adventure filled with wonder. Part theater, part silent film, and entirely original, this family-friendly production is a joyful reminder that the biggest adventures often begin with the smallest spark of imagination. There’s no dialogue. Instead, cinematic text slides in and out of frame, classical music surges and recedes, and the rhythm of movement becomes its own language. 

EVENTS

JULY 24-26: Underground Music Showcase

– RiNo Three days and 200+ musical performances across multiple outdoor stages, and over a dozen indoor music venues in Denver’s RiNo neighborhood. Showcasing the best of Discovery talent, Denver’s festival fashion, Broadway street culture, tasty bites, Underground Parties, vibrant bars, an inclusive sober scene, and a strong sense of community, UMS is truly the best weekend in Denver. Established in 2001, the Underground Music Showcase stands as Denver’s longest-running and largest music festival. 

JULY 23-26: Blucifer’s First Rodeo – Various Venues on South Broadway Blucifer’s First Rodeo (BFR or Bluce) is a four-day, multi-venue showcase of Denver’s local music scene, organized by artists for everybody. With 200+ bands playing in venues along South Broadway (and a little beyond), this event will ignite the comforts of beloved local haunts with indie rock, punk, cumbia, jazz, psych, funk, hip-hop, dream pop, trip-hop DJs, metal, bluegrass, and more.  

NOW THRU OCTOBER 1: Skynets Over Downtown – Denver Union Station to Glenarm Plaza This summer, Downtown Denver becomes the canvas for a globally recognized temporary aerial art series at three public locations. Denver’s installations are uniquely woven into active downtown spaces, stretching across Skyline Park, crossing over 16th Street at Glenarm Plaza and floating above the fountain at Union Station.​ Made from thousands of hand-attached ribbons constructed from ultra-light material, each installation is kinetic, responding to changing wind and weather conditions. The canopies appear almost weightless as they ripple and shimmer in a light breeze,  while stronger gusts can transform the artwork into soaring waves of color overhead. No two visits are ever the same.​

AUGUST 4: Adulting 101: The Money Stuff – Lotus Group (1005 S. Gaylord Street) Credit. Budgeting. Spending. Saving. Paychecks. Real life. Designed for late high school and early college-age students and their parents, this session offers practical guidance to help families build confidence around money before adulthood begins. Join LotusGroup’s financial advisors for a practical conversation about the money habits that shape your future. Topics include common financial mistakes young adults make, saving versus spending, building strong credit early, the power of compound growth, and navigating the financial pressures of social media and peer influence. 6-7:30pm. RSVP: To Lori – mailto:Lori@LGAdvisors.com

AUGUST 28: Wash Park Summer Sendoff – Large Playground at Wash Park Wash Park Summer Sendoff is a family-friendly end-of-summer celebration hosted by WPENA (Washington Park East Neighborhood Association). Join neighbors for kid’s activities, food and drink trucks, ice cream, and a visit from the Denver Public Library Bookmobile as we celebrate the final days of summer and kick off the back-to-school season together. More details to be announced, visit wpena.org to learn more. 4-6pm

NOW THRU SEPTEMBER 29: What We’ve Been Up To: People – Denver Art Museum What We’ve Been Up To: People showcases more than 60 photographs of people from the DAM’s collection that have not been exhibited in our galleries before. The exhibition features a rich variety of portraits, self-portraits, and candid scenes that touch on the joys and challenges of everyday life as well as personal relationships, solitude, and the way people see themselves and each other. Works by acclaimed artists hang side-by-side with photographs by unknown and emerging artists active between the 1890s and the present day. Individually, the pictures focus on the range of emotions and experiences that are part of life. Taken together, these photographs invite us to consider, despite our differences, all of the hopes, needs, fears, and joys that people hold in common.