Founded in 1992, the Mexican Cultural Center (MCC) has two primary goals: to increase cultural diplomacy through the United States and Mexico and to uplift and elevate Mexican culture in Denver (and beyond). “We’re a small but mighty team,” says MCC Executive Director Rachel Garcia. Currently a team…
National Hispanic Heritage Month, from Sept. 15–Oct. 15 each year, commemorates the histories, cultures and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. The celebration begins each year on Sept. 15, the anniversary of the…
It’s a quiet and cloudless summer day in northeast Park Hill. In front of the Dahlia Campus for Health & Well-Being, tidy rows of crops bask in the sunlight on an acre of urban farmland. A nearby greenhouse features one of the city’s largest aquaponics systems supporting the growth of bountiful…
Located in a brightly painted building on Larimer Street in the heart of the River North Art District (RiNo), Raquelitas Tortillas is not your average tortilla manufacturer and retail tortilla store. It has deep roots in Denver and the historically Latino section of Larimer Street, dating back to…
What happens when a top Indigenous ceramic artist has the freedom and space to design a sculpture for a leading museum? The result is “Mud Woman Rolls On.” Larger than life, this evocative piece greets visitors to the gallery of Indigenous Arts of North America at Denver Art Museum. “Mud Woman Rolls…
Each summer, the dragons awaken at Sloan’s Lake Park in northwest Denver. In 2025, the Colorado Dragon Boat Festival—the largest dragon boat festival in the nation, will return to the park and celebrate its 25th anniversary. The annual bash includes exciting dragon boat races, tons of food vendors…
Despite each country’s unique culture and differences, a commonly shared cornerstone of Hispanic and Latino cultures is the importance of family — and food. Everybody contributes and everybody eats. When Aurora resident Chef Lindita (and the owner of Lindita’s Salsa & Spice Company), was a child…
In 1972, Chicanos (Americans of Mexican ancestry) were required to take a remedial reading class in order to attend the University of Colorado Denver. Finding this requirement demeaning, university faculty member Rowena Rivera proposed something else entirely — she wanted to create an…
This city contains multitudes, to borrow from our old friend Walt Whitman. And Kalyn Rose Heffernan is an exemplar of that abundance. The front person for the hip-hop band Wheelchair Sports Camp, a one-time mayoral candidate, a playwright, an installation collaborator at Meow Wolf Denver, and an…
In Colorado's high country sits a relatively new memorial dedicated to the nearly 1,400 immigrants, predominantly Irish, who were buried in unmarked graves. It honors the hopes and dreams, struggles and sacrifices of those who settled on Leadville's east side, seeking a better life after silver was…
