This weekend, Colorado is bursting with creativity, offering a wide range of events celebrating visual arts, music, theater and cultural heritage.
From large-scale murals addressing climate change to intimate storytelling performances and a fashion show exploring identity, there's something to pique everyone's interest.
Arts and culture news
Aurora Fox Arts Center postpones its next August Wilson play, adapts its next season
Last year, the Aurora Fox Arts Center announced an ambitious plan to produce playwright August Wilson's entire American Century Cycle over ten consecutive seasons. So some theater watchers might have been surprised when the company released its 40th season announcement recently without listing the next play on the lineup, “Joe Turner's Come and Gone.”
Rich Cowden, the artistic director at the Aurora Fox Arts Center, explained they had to postpone due to unforeseen complications with the Wilson Estate.
"What my predecessor and (production manager) Jen Orff didn't realize until very recently was that in order to be able to do all of those plays in that way, the Wilson Estate... really wants to weigh in on that and sort of give a blessing to any company who would like to do it."
Cowden said when applying for rights to produce Wilson’s plays there isn't a clear message about the need to get the family's blessing for an official full-cycle series. He said that oversight by the Fox led to tension with the estate. Faced with looming deadlines and no settled agreement, “we had to make some tough choices" for next season.
The season will now open in late January with "Gee's Bend," a play about African American quilting traditions, maintaining the spirit of Wilson's work while negotiations continue.
Political satire to lighten up the election season
Forging ahead despite recent financial challenges, Curious Theatre opened its 27th season last week with the satirical comedy “POTUS Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive.” The play by Selina Fillinger offers a “chaotically funny” take on American politics with a timely exploration of the women who work behind the scenes to keep the country on track. This all-female production runs from Sept. 7 to Oct. 13.
Arts and culture events around the state
Front Range
Art: The Street Wise Mural Festival livens up Boulder with 19 new murals themed on environmentalism and climate action. From Friday to Sunday, visitors can watch artists at work, participate in tours and workshops and explore the intersection of art and environmental advocacy.
Art: Honoring the Ute, Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes using a range of artistic media, "Homelands: Reconnection Exhibition" at the Dairy Arts Center in Boulder provides a venue for people to interact with the history and culture of these tribes as well as for artists to connect with their background. The exhibition opens Friday and runs through November 3rd.
Art: "Smoke & Mirrors," a new group exhibition at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art (BMoCA) plays with optical illusions and our perceptions of reality. Featuring works by eight artists using reflective materials and unconventional techniques, the exhibition opens Thursday and will be on view until Jan. 12, 2025.
Art: As the name implies, 99 Pieces of Art on the Wall at Denver’s Access Gallery showcases works by 99 different artists. Many are members of the Access Gallery community, including those with disabilities. Continuing the theme, every item costs $99, to ensure the art is easily accessible while supporting the cause, and admission, which covers entrance, food and drink, is $9.99.
Theater: “The Sporting News,” presented by Stories on Stage in Denver, celebrates America's love for sports through captivating storytelling. Actors Gareth Saxe, Allison Watrous and Sean Scrutchins will bring tales of baseball, football and basketball — and what they say about American history and culture — to life. Performance on Sunday at 2 p.m. at Su Teatro Cultural and Performing Arts Center in Denver.
Theater: Miscreant Theatre Collective’s production of Martin McDonagh's dark comedy "The Pillowman” offers a provocative and darkly funny examination of narrative, violence and the abuse of power. The show opens on Friday the 13th and runs through Sept. 30 at the Creepatorium in Denver.
Theater: It’s the final weekend for Dana Cain’s "The Android's New Soul," a sci-fi musical at Denver's historic Bug Theatre. This far-out musical tells the quirky love story of a scientist and her android companion in a post-apocalyptic world.
Music: Three-time Grammy Award-winning musician Lucinda Williams brings her "Don't Tell Anybody The Secrets: The Story Of A Life in Songs" concert to Boulder's Macky Auditorium Saturday night. The evening combines music with narrative to provide an intimate career retrospective.
Music: The art and craft of the archtop guitar design take center stage at the Rocky Mountain Archtop Guitar Festiva. Over 30 renowned guitar builders will be there, along with workshops and concerts by acclaimed musicians, all at the Hilton Garden Inn in Olde Town Arvada. Events run from Friday through Sunday.
Fashion: “Lawless: A Fall Fashion Experience,” co-curated by Dominique Christina and DNA Picasso, is an immersive event featuring the work of four local designers – Allegra, Chance of Uniq Jeans, Menez to Society and Faatma Be One. The designers use fashion to tell compelling stories about identity and heritage. The show is on Friday at MCA Denver's Holiday Theater.
Writing: The 10th Jaipur Literature Festival features over 50 speakers this weekend. Organizers have arranged this free-to-attend festival of ideas, imagination, innovation and inspiration at the Boulder Public Library on Saturday and Sunday.
Dance: Denver dance icon Cleo Parker Robinson went deep into her archives to put together this weekend’s show, “Black Orpheus,” at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House. The production includes three pieces, all with ties to the music and culture of Brazil, and runs for two days only, Saturday and Sunday.
Festival: Highlands Oktoberfest & Market brings a taste of Bavaria to Denver's Highlands neighborhood on Saturday. This free family-friendly event features live music, food, drinks and shopping along West 32nd Avenue.
Film: Denver Museum of Nature & Science presents "MELT: The Memory of Ice," a film by Betsey Biggs, highlighting climate change through melting ice caps and glaciers. The screening on Saturday evening will be followed by a discussion with Richard Nunn from the National Science Foundation’s Ice Core Facility on the importance of ice cores in Earth's history and environmental action.
Northern Colorado
Art: Multiple artists come together for the "Greetings from Fort Collins, Colorado" mural event in downtown Fort Collins this month. The artists are in action now and the event culminates with an unveiling party on Sept. 22.
Southern Colorado
Art: The thought-provoking show "ALHAMDU | MUSLIM FUTURISM" at Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center employs a variety of different media to envision a positive future for Muslim communities around the globe. The exhibits investigate ideas of imagination, identity, community, resistance and emancipation. The show opens Friday and runs through Jan. 11, 2025.
Music: Educational Partnerships Immersive Concerts (EPIC) presents the "Songs for Horn," concert on Friday, featuring Rachel Childers, the first female horn player for the Boston Symphony. The concert includes works by Carl Reinecke, William Grant Still and August Voight, performed by a trio of world-class musicians at the Ent Center for the Arts in Colorado Springs.
Western Slope
History: History comes alive at the Art Center of Western Colorado in Grand Junction with Chautauqua performances presenting the powerful stories of Lucy Stone, a prominent 19th-century advocate for women's rights, and Frederick Douglass, a leading figure in the abolitionist movement. The “History Alive!” shows start with Stone at 9:30 on Saturday morning, followed by Douglass at 11.
Theater: Arthur Miller's classic American play “All My Sons” will be performed by the Magic Circle Players in Montrose from Sept. 13 to 21. The play delves into themes of guilt, responsibility and family secrets, all set against the backdrop of World War II.
Music: The Grand Junction Symphony Orchestra presents “Celestial Journey” featuring Gustav Holst’s suite “The Planets” on Saturday and Sunday at the Avalon Theatre in Grand Junction.
Festival: Grand Junction hosts a “Get to know your sister city” festival on Friday in front of city hall. The event celebrates twenty years of ties between Grand Junction and the community of El Espino in El Salvador and includes performances by the cumbia band, Grupo Kaoba, plus free paletas (popsicles), games, food trucks and a beer garden.
Other arts and culture events around Colorado
- Denverite Things to do in Denver this weekend
- KRCC community calendar for Southern Colorado
- CPR Classical directory of Colorado classical performance groups
- Indie 102.3 calendar
Some groups mentioned in the CO Arts Spotlight may be financial supporters of CPR News. Financial supporters have no editorial influence.
How we pick our events: CO Arts Spotlight highlights events around the state to give readers a sense of the breadth of Colorado’s arts and cultural happenings, it is not — and can not possibly be — a comprehensive list of all weekly events. Entries are not endorsements or reviews. Each week’s list is published on Thursday and is not updated. Some groups that appear on the list may also be financial sponsors of CPR but have no input into our editorial choices.
