BLOCKBUSTER MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS
WHEN: Thru Jan. 24, 2021
WHERE: Denver Museum of Nature & Science
Contemporary artist Nathan Sawaya's original artworks and reimagined versions of famous masterpieces made from LEGO® bricks will wow you. The exhibit also showcases a collection of LEGO-infused, hyper-realistic photography from Sawaya's innovative collaboration with award-winning photographer Dean West. Guests of all ages will be able to put their own ingenuity to work in an area filled with LEGO bricks.
OUTDOOR FUN
Major league baseball has returned to downtown Denver's Coors Field and the fun continues through fall. The team is hoping to allow fans again within the ballpark. Please check the team's website for the latest updates.
The Mile High City's more than 20 farmers' markets aren't just about locally grown produce, delicious baked goods and prepared foods — though you'll find those in abundance! Each market is a festive, weekly street fair, many with live entertainment and family-friendly activities.
With over 3,500 animals on 84 gorgeous acres, Denver Zoo is an amazing experience year-round. Your donation helps to provide world-class care for the lions, giraffes and elephants, as well as other wild animals and wild places, from the Rockies to Mongolia.
One of the top five botanic gardens in the nation, Denver Botanic Gardens is an oasis in the city, offering year-round events, a children’s garden, lifelong-learning opportunities and research to preserve Colorado’s precious natural resources. Meanwhile, Chatfield Farms, located in nearby Littleton, takes pride in its exemplary nature preserve and gardens. Located on 750 acres, this picturesque site includes display gardens and a historical farm with a rustic barn.
No matter where you find yourself in The Mile High City, you’re likely only a few steps away from a lush and relaxing green space. Memorial Day weekend is the perfect time to explore Denver's more than 5,000 acres of traditional parks and parkways, as well as an additional 14,000 acres of spectacular mountain parks in neighboring counties that are maintained by the City and County of Denver.
Denver street artists have been busy brightening (and enlightening) the urban landscape for decades by making canvases of the city’s alleyways, building exteriors, warehouses, garage doors and storefronts. Grab your camera and take a stroll past some of the city's favorite murals.
Carved from towering red rock monuments, Red Rocks Park & Amphitheatre in Morrison is one of the world's most renowned concert venues. The surrounding park has hiking trails that weave in, around and over the colorful red rocks.
Red Rocks Park & Amphitheatre
CAN'T-MISS EVENTS
COLORADO STATE FAIR
WHEN: Aug. 28–Sept. 7, 2020
WHERE: Colorado State Fairgrounds, Pueblo
The Colorado State Fair & Rodeo traditionally features entertainment, rides, games, fair food, shopping and a rodeo!
LABOR DAY DASH
WHEN: Sept. 5 and 6, 2020
WHERE: Denver
Two events on two days! These two summer-themed runs are fun for the whole family. Get great swag (designer shirt, custom medal), chip-timing, live results and awards, free photos, costumes, free kids dash and great post-race food.
DENVER MINI DERBY
WHEN: Sept. 5, 2020
WHERE: The Green (North)
Break out your fanciest hat and your brightest pastels for the Denver Mini Derby! We'll watch the 146th Kentucky Derby, then have our own mini "race" and showing of adorable mini horses. Enjoy live music, best-dressed contests, an open bar, BBQ, corgi races and an atmosphere like no other.
DENVER FOOD + WINE FESTIVAL
WHEN: Sept. 9-13, 2020
WHERE: Various locations
This annual festival is a multi-day extravaganza of food, wine and spirits from top local vendors.
Denver Food + Wine Festival
MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS
WHEN: Aug. 28 and Sept. 4, 2020
WHERE: Black Crow Gallery
This uplifting women’s empowerment image series was created by Austin-based photographer Teodora Pogonat. The series is a provocative photographic exploration depicting women overcoming struggles, hardships and setbacks to celebrate their strengths, all with the use of a 30-pound pink parachute.
NATURAL FORCES: WINSLOW HOMER AND FREDERIC REMINGTON
WHEN: Thru Sept. 7, 2020
WHERE: Denver Art Museum
Born a generation apart, Winslow Homer and Frederic Remington succeeded in capturing the American spirit during an era of growing industrialization and the closing of the Western frontier. Explore the connections between the artistic themes and techniques used by these acclaimed American artists at Denver Art Museum.
37TH ANNUAL ALL COLORADO ART SHOW
WHEN: Thru Sept. 12, 2020
WHERE: Curtis Center for the Arts, Greenwood Village
Explore some of the best art in Colorado by more than 50 Colorado artists of different experience levels working in all styles and mediums. This exhibit will also feature a special installation that is a collaboration between artist Jennifer Ghormley and students from Aspen Academy.
THE EARLY YEARS: CLYFFORD STILL IN CANADA, 1920–33
WHEN: Thru Sept. 13, 2020
WHERE: Clyfford Still Museum
This exhibition illustrates the early development and legacy of Still’s artistic practices in two distinctive geographical settings: Bow Island and Killam, Alberta. Nearly all of Still’s works from Bow Island represent the area’s seasonal prairie environment, while the exhibition concludes with some of Still’s later, mature abstractions.
TERRY MAKER: BECAUSE THE WORLD IS ROUND
WHEN: Thru Sept. 13, 2020
WHERE: Longmont Museum, Longmont
Celebrated artist Terry Maker has created a unique exhibit, especially for the Longmont Museum. Terry mines commonplace materials, cutting and re-combining them into dense and tactile wall reliefs and large-scale freestanding sculptures. For this show, she is focusing on a recurring theme in her work: the circle.
NARI WARD: WE THE PEOPLE
WHEN: Thru Sept. 20, 2020
WHERE: MCA DENVER — Museum of Contemporary Art Denver
This exhibit will feature a selection of paintings, sculptures, videos and installations from throughout Ward's career that illustrate his status as one of the most influential sculptors working today.
I5OLATION
WHEN: Thru Sept. 25, 2020
WHERE: fooLPRoof contemporary art — gallery
This exhibition is an opportunity for viewers to experience female artists' creative responses to the coronavirus pandemic.
WHEN: Thru Sept. 27, 2020
WHERE: 2219 E. 21st Ave.
In this1,200-square-foot pop-up installation, you'll follow Shiki, a spiritual yeti guide and leader of the Spirits of the Forest. The immersive experience explores the dreams of this wise spirit in a multi-sensory experience of stunning creativity.
RHYTHM AND RITUAL: MUSIC OF THE ANCIENT AMERICAS
WHEN: Thru Oct. 17, 2020
WHERE: Museo de las Americas
This unique exhibit is a hybrid of in-person museum experiences and digital engagement opportunities.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN QUILT MUSEUM 30TH ANNIVERSARY EXHIBIT
WHEN: Thru Oct. 17, 2020
WHERE: Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum, Golden
This exhibit showcases decades of exquisite quilts — both hand-stitched and machine-stitched — from traditional to modern and art quilts.
PHANTOM CANYON: A DIGITAL CIRCUIT
WHEN: Thru Oct. 18, 2020
WHERE: Denver Art Museum
Journey along the circuit of balconies, landings, and stairs within the atrium of the Denver Art Museum’s Hamilton Building to discover the 15 digital artworks that make up Phantom Canyon: A Digital Circuit.
LA MISIÓN: HECHO DE TIERRA Y ESPÍRTU
WHEN: Thru Oct. 23, 2020
WHERE: Museo de las Americas
Featuring around twenty unique pieces of art dating from the 17th Century to the present, La Misión explores the narrative of the peoples living in the Rio Grande River Valley and the visual language unique to the colonial artwork of New Mexico. For an immersive experience, the gallery has been made reminiscent of a mission church interior to provide context for the many Santos, retablos and other artworks in the exhibit.
GAME CHANGERS: 100 YEARS OF NEGRO LEAGUE BASEBALL
WHEN: Thru Nov. 1, 2020
WHERE: History Colorado Center
Game Changers highlights broader social transformations from Reconstruction to the Civil Rights Era through the lens of America's favorite pastime.
EYES ON: ANTHONY MCCALL
WHEN: Thru Nov. 29, 2020
WHERE: Denver Art Museum
Between 1972 and 1974, London-born, New York-based artist Anthony McCall recorded a suite of seven fire performances. Landscape for Fire presents five performers dressed in white walking a precisely choreographed pattern across an airfield in North Weald, England, igniting small fires. Shifting configurations of light and dark unfold across a thirty-six-point grid, as the field of grass becomes a meadow of light. See it at Denver Art Museum.
PASSING THROUGH BY SCOTTIE BURGESS
WHEN: Thru Nov. 30, 2020
WHERE: Republic Plaza
This large, site-specific installation by local artist Scottie Burgess consists of multiple wooden rectangular forms that trace the ever-changing Republic Plaza silhouette experienced through its viewer’s fluid perspective, creating a dynamic arrangement that references time, the building and the lives that traverse through its spaces.
TREASURES OF BRITISH ART
WHEN: Thru Dec. 6, 2020
WHERE: Denver Art Museum
Treasures of British Art: The Berger Collection features more than 60 paintings by masters such as Anthony van Dyck, Adriaen van Diest, John Singer Sargent and Thomas Hudson, gifted to the Denver Art Museum by the Berger Collection Educational Trust.
WHEN: Thru Dec. 31, 2020
WHERE: Denver Museum of Nature & Science
A new trove of remarkably preserved fossils found by paleontologists from the Denver Museum of Nature & Science near Colorado Springs paints a vivid picture of how Earth recovered after the devastating asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs 66 million years ago. See some of the very best fossils from the site at a brand-new bilingual pop-up exhibit to bring the discovery to life.
WHEN: Thru Jan. 3, 2021
WHERE: Denver Museum of Nature & Science
Have you ever wondered what your dog is thinking? The exhibition highlights the extraordinary ways dogs see, hear and smell their surroundings and explores why humans and dogs are best friends.
HECHO EN COLORADO
WHEN: Thru Jan. 10, 2021
WHERE: History Colorado Center
See historically significant paintings, sculptures, textiles and writings from Colorado's Chicano/Mexican American community, including prominent figures like Carlota EspinoZa, Carlos Fresquez and David Ocelotl García, as well as selections from up-and-coming artists. Hecho en Colorado (Made in Colorado) honors the artistic achievements of a community whose impact continues to shape Colorado culture.
WHEN: Thru Jan. 31, 2021
WHERE: Denver Art Museum
London-born, New York-based contemporary artist Shantell Martin has collaborated with iconic brands and artists from Puma and Nike to Max Mara and Kendrick Lamar. This interactive multimedia installation features Martin’s signature black and white drawings that explore intersectionality, identity and play.
WOMEN BEHAVING BADLY
WHEN: Thru Feb. 28, 2021
WHERE: History Colorado Center
In works combining watercolor with historical photography, news clippings and text, Denver-based artist Adri Norris highlights women who've made history.
WHEN: Thru March 7, 2021
WHERE: Denver Art Museum
The Light Show features more than 200 objects drawn from the museum's nine curatorial departments that explore both physical and symbolic representations of light in art.
RAUSCHENBERG: REFLECTIONS AND RUMINATIONS
WHEN: Thru March 20, 2021
WHERE: Museum of Outdoor Arts, Englewood
This exhibition at the Museum of Outdoor Arts showcases Robert Rauschenberg’s original works spanning from 1962 to 2008 and features more than 50 original artworks by the American Master, making this the largest collection of Rauschenberg’s artworks ever displayed in Colorado.
FORTY YEARS ON THE ’FAX
WHEN: Thru Dec. 31, 2021
WHERE: History Colorado Center
Take a nostalgic ride down Colfax, with stops at the quirky and memorable places that gave the street its worldwide reputation.
WHEN: Permanent installation
WHERE: Daniels & Fisher Tower
Night Lights Denver features rotating content designed by local artists and the community and projected on the Arapahoe Street side of the Daniels & Fisher Tower every Thursday through Saturday evening
