Photos: Backstage at the Distant Vagabond Fashion Show at City Hall, 2/19/11

DVLP’s “The Distant Vagabond” went down at Westword’s Artopia party on Saturday, February 19, 2011 at the City Hall Amphitheater. Presented by Abella Bala, Justice Talent Agency, Flippin’ Entertainment and Making the Model, the show featured designers DVLP, Akomplice, Jiberish, Tricia Hoke, Fallene Welles and more. Photos by Aaron Thackeray…

100 Colorado Creatives: Dana Cain

#100: Dana Cain If the overarching Colorado arts scene is like an awesome picture of a unicorn galloping across a rainbow — and we’re going to go ahead and say that it is — then Dana Cain is like the glitter: essential. A tireless arts cheerleader and all around rolling…

MasterMind Award winners for 2011 and their wonderful works

This week’s print issue marked Westword’s seventh annual awards for local MasterMinds. There were five in this year’s MasterMind class, about which you can read via the links below, and as an added bonus, you can view their works, thanks to the technology of this modern age…

Today: Ian Bogost lectures on video game theory and doing nothing

As a cultural construct, video games are better known for blowing shit up and somehow causing rape than as a scholarly pursuit. Still, like any other form of entertainment, video games engage us, capture our attention and, perhaps, alter the way we see the world — and examining how they…

Browser game of the week: The Great Gatsby

Yes, your childhood dream of being able to play The Great Gatsby instead of reading it is finally here. While it’s not going to help your high school term paper score, it’s still a welcome addition to the book-turned-into game genre, and it’s filled with nods to the original story,…

Smitten Kitten closes its Denver doors

Denver’s Smitten Kitten outlet — the local outpost at 70 Broadway of the infamous Minneapolis boutique — has shut its legs, er, doors. Between the store’s DIY pasties workshops — and others, like Treats for Your Sweets and Real Sex vs. Porn Sex with Jayme Waxman, which just took place…

Gettin’ Crafty: Conversation hearts that say what you really mean

For all those who give pom-pom critters for birthdays, feel an urge to stick googly eyes on everything or just occasionally get a twitch to fold some origami, we bring you “Gettin’ Crafty,” where we feature a craft you can easily make with minimal supplies and limited finances. Here at…

Westword welcomes its seventh class of MasterMinds

Seven years ago, Westword added a very special component to Artopia: the MasterMind awards. Recognizing that the local arts scene needed a little fertilizer to really get going, and growing, we created a program that every year honors five cultural visionaries — artists and organizations alike — working to change…

MasterMinds: Slam Nuba, Denver poets

When Slam Nuba was started four years ago by a small group of Denver poets fresh off a win at the Poetry Slam nationals with the team from the Mercury Cafe, there was some concern that the upstart group would cause some friction. The Merc was the established anchor of…

MasterMind: Sarah Slater, founder, Titwrench

The Titwrench music festival — built from the ground up three years ago as a way to highlight women in music and give a stage to “folks who don’t necessarily fit comfortably into any scene,” says founder Sarah Slater — is almost the definition of DIY: a grassroots, community-run project…

MasterMind: Tricia Hoke, clothing designer

Tricia Hoke does so much more than design clothes — but she does even that with an intense artistic flair. An excellent illustrator who teaches classes on the fine art of fashion sketching, Hoke creates clothing from the most cozy material on earth — sweatshirt — but the pieces magically…

MasterMind: Illiterate/Adam Gildar

I was probably one of your top-five worst interns,” confesses Adam Gildar. And he could be right, which means there’s absolutely no favoritism involved in this MasterMind award. “I was obsessed with Illiterate at the time and trying to put out another issue.” This was back when Gildar was a…

MasterMind: Tiffiny Wine, swing dance instructor

Tiffiny Wine knows how to swing — in the healthiest understanding of the term. “Dancing is a really, really important thing for people on a very human level,” she says. “We are all supposed to dance. I am of the belief that we all have some very mysterious but innate…

Photos: Mondo Guerra’s fancy Goodwill clothing swap and fashion show

Last night, Project Runway contestant and Denver’s current fashion star Mondo Guerra was at the Infinity Park Event Center for a clothing recycling bonanza known as the Good Exchange Fashion Show and Clothing Swap in Glendale. There was a fashion show featuring Goodwill clothing — repurposed by Denver School of…

Browser game of the week: Hot Throttle

Hot Throttle is a game — er, experience — from Cactus and Doomlaser, best known for, well, not really known for anything, but best associated with the weirder side of gaming. Case in point, the premise of Hot Throttle is that you play as a naked man who believes he…

Gettin’ Crafty: Post-season football fun

For all those who give pom-pom critters for birthdays, feel an urge to stick googly eyes on everything or just occasionally get a twitch to fold some origami, we bring you “Gettin’ Crafty,” where we feature a craft you can easily make with minimal supplies and limited finances. With the…

Photos: Fashion Denver Anniversary Bash, 2/4/11

Friday night, February 4, 2011 was Fashion Denver’s anniversary party, marking eleven years in business and one year at its Bannock Street location. Local designers and music were offered to those who hit up this free public party. Photos by Hunter Stevens. See the full slide show…