This Friday, 10 days of culinary artistry begin with the return of Denver’s annual Restaurant Week. First Friday Art Walks and celebrations will also sweep the state.
There are also two show openings this week – one a comedic play at Buntport Theater, and the other a gallery show of Polaroids capturing UFOs.
The No Man’s Land Film Festival, elevating the stories of adventurous women and nonbinary folks, also makes its return.
Read on for your weekly arts and culture recap, plus find things to do and places to be.
El Disco: Charged Particles in the Vicinity
From March 6 through April 19, RULE Gallery will host its final show in its current space on Santa Fe Drive in Denver.
The exhibition, “Charged Particles in the Vicinity,” features Polaroid photographs of UFOs. The collection was created by El Disco, a three-artist collaborative that emerged in Los Angeles in 1987. Together, artists Joe Clower, Steve Thomsen and Tennyson Woodbridge created an archive of Southwest Americana — an ode to UFO mythology and the culture that envelops it.
“Still today, people are really curious about whether or not UFOs are the real deal,” said RULE curator Valerie Santerli. “The fact that [El Disco] documented a lot of these sightings on Polaroid makes you wonder, ‘What is the truth?’ It makes you question, ‘Is this something that's real? Is it a hoax, is it a joke?’”
“Charged Particles in the Vicinity” doesn’t answer these questions — it invites viewers to draw their own conclusions.
The exhibition kicks off with an opening reception on Thursday, March 6, from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Music will be provided by DJ Milk and guests are encouraged to don silver attire “for an evening where unexpected ‘happenings’ are bound to unfold.”
When the exhibition ends, RULE will close its doors in Denver’s Sante Fe Art District. But it isn’t the end for RULE, it’s a new beginning.
“The ‘white box’ model is 150 years old, and it was designed as a way to look at art in a neutral space,” Santerli said. “That's definitely under question at this point. People are looking for more intimate experiences, more casual, less pressure.”
She said she’s used to seeing people out on the sidewalk, viewing and discussing the art. They’re very engaged, she said, but they don’t come inside.
So RULE is trying to reimagine what a gallery is, and how it works.
Santerli said she’s keeping her mind open about what the future of RULE will hold, but that audiences can expect more exhibitions that marry art and environment.
RULE’s gallery in Marfa, Texas, will remain open in its brick-and-mortar location while the Colorado gallery experiments with the future of art viewership.
Preview images from “Charged Particles in the Vicinity” here.
Denver Restaurant Week
The 21st annual Denver Restaurant Week returns on Friday, March 7. The event lasts 10 days, ending on Sunday, March 16.
Restaurant Week was founded to elevate local food and tourism while invigorating restaurants during a traditionally slow time of year.
According to the Denver Restaurant Week website, this year’s offerings include special menus with “Colorado grass-fed beef and lamb, international fusions, fresh seafood that’s flown in daily, and innovative vegetarian options, spiced up with local ingredients like the famous green chile.”
More than 300 local restaurants are participating this year, including Michelin-rated restaurants like Ash’Kara and Kawa Ni, longtime staples such as African Grill and Bar and Blue Bonnet Restaurant, and up-and-comers like Wildflower and Nana’s Dim Sum & Dumplings.
Each special menu is offered at a fixed price point. This year’s price points are $25, $35, $45 and $55 for multi-course meals. Some menus are pre-fixed, while others give diners a choice.
Visit Denver encourages diners to make reservations early, cancel reservations if they can’t make it, and tip their servers generously.
View this year’s Denver Restaurant Week menus here. You can filter by cuisine type, price, dietary restrictions, and other categories, such as “Michelin-rated,” “minority-owned” and “woman-owned.”
No Man's Land Film Festival
The No Man’s Land Film Festival, an all-women and genderqueer adventure film showcase, returns to MCA Denver’s Holiday Theater on Friday, March 7, and Saturday, March 8.
The programming “meets a need and desire to highlight and connect women and gender-nonconforming communities in pursuit of the radical,” according to a festival press release. “Our mission transcends the films presented; this festival acts as a platform for progressive thought and movement in the outdoor industry.”
The festival premiers in Colorado, then travels the world, putting on about 150 events globally.
This year’s Denver programming includes 30 films, 18 speakers, and a Friday evening performance by local Colorado musician, N3PTUNE.
The festival prioritizes accessibility, including ASL interpreters for all panels, closed captioning for films and other accommodations.
A weekend festival pass is $120 and individual day passes are $65.
Find details about this year’s No Man’s Land Film Festival here.
Premiere of ‘The Menagerist’ at Buntport Theater
A new play, “The Menagerist,” premiers at Buntport Theater on Friday, March 7 and runs through Saturday, March 29.
Producers describe “The Menagerist” as a “comedy about being stuck in a tragedy with your annoying unicorn friend and a handful of imaginary spoons.” It’s a satire based upon Tennessee Williams' “The Glass Menagerie” and it questions the portrayal of disabled characters in a fresh and playful manner.
The show was made in collaboration with Regan Linton, a disability activist and the former artistic director of Phamaly Theatre Company, which is known for its unconventional productions by and about people with disabilities.
According to Buntport, its “long history of adapting and corrupting classic literature, combined with Linton's experience creating new work via a disability lens, have resulted in a wild comedy that turns a questioning eye on their medium of choice.”
All performances are captioned and select performances include ASL interpretation and audio descriptions.
All tickets are donation-based via the theater’s “name your price” model.
Learn more about “The Menagerist” here.
First Friday
It’s the First Friday in March, meaning arts celebrations are happening across the state. Here’s where to find art walks, exhibitions and other First Friday events near you:
Boulder
First Friday in the NoBo Art District
Castle Rock
First Friday in Downtown Castle Rock
Carbondale
First Friday in the Carbondale Creative District
Colorado Springs, Old Colorado City and Manitou
First Friday Downtown, First Friday Art Walk in Old Colorado City, First Friday Art Walk in Manitou
Denver
First Friday Art Walk at the Art District on Santa Fe and First Friday at RiNo Art District
Fort Collins
Downtown Fort Collins First Friday Art Walk
Grand Junction
Lakewood
First Friday in the 40 West Art District
Silverthorne
Colorado arts & culture things to do this weekend
- 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.
