To the person sitting in the darkness: Art events around Denver this week, June 25-July 2

This week around Denver, artists transform the Ballpark District with murals and live music and the Cherry Creek Shopping Center with massive sculptures made from canned food. MCA Denver artist Bethany Collins reaches out to the person sitting in the darkness with a performance named after Mark Twain’s scorching 1901 critique of American imperialism, consisting of multiple versions of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” sung simultaneously. Local art galleries host panels and open new shows.

Find out about it all through this guide, which lists new art exhibitions opening around Denver, plus ongoing shows worth a visit.

In Denver arts news

• Black Book Gallery Hosts Moving Sale: The gallery is moving out of its location at 3878 S. Jason St. in Englewood and everything has to go. The gallery will host a moving sale from noon to 5 p.m. on Saturday, June 27, selling artwork, art supplies, furniture and more.
• Submissions for Colorado Photographic Arts Center’s Celebrate Colorado Competition Due June 30: Submissions for the Celebrate Colorado Photo Competition must be received by Tuesday, June 30. This online exhibition will be juried by Darrin Alfred of the Denver Art Museum and celebrates Colorado’s 150th anniversary of statehood. In honor of this milestone year, participants are encouraged to submit new or previously created photographs that capture the downtowns that define their communities — from historic main streets and civic landmarks to evolving urban centers, cultural hubs, neighborhood corridors, public spaces, and architectural details. Submission is $15 for three images here.
• Three Denver artists recieve Bonfils-Stanton awards: The Bonfils-Stanton Foundation has awarded photographer Armando Geneyro, rapper Kalyn Rose Heffernan, and musician and social practice artist Stephen Malloy Brackett with Social Impact Artist Awards, which honor Denver-based artists whose work addresses the social needs of community. Each artist will receive a $35,000 unrestricted cash award and $15,000 in project support to advance a socially engaged creative project over the next year.
• The RiNo Art District just got some big funding: the RiNo Business Improvement District awarded nearly $400,000 in grant funding to fuel a landmark festival season.
• First Friday vendor registration: July First Friday vendor registration is now open, with spots going fast. July and September registration is $50 for regular spots (assigned randomly), and $75 for corner spots. August First Friday pricing is TBA. Register on the ADSF website.

Art openings and events this week

“Sacred Reflections & Pieces of the Whole: 2026 Youth Art Exhibition”
Youth Art Exhibition Panel: Thursday, June 25, 5 to 7 p.m.; show through July 26
RedLine Contemporary Art Center, 2350 Arapahoe St.
In this youth art exhibition, young artists explore what matters most to them, individually and together, while recognizing their power to shape their communities. Through reflection and creation, students are encouraged to embrace their identities, honor their intersections, and stand rooted in self-awareness. RSVP for the panel here.

“Simulacra”
Opening reception: Friday, June 26, 5 to 8 p.m.; through Oct. 10
Marie Walsh Sharpe Gallery, 5225 N. Nevada Ave., Colorado Springs
“Simulacra (or, The Persistence of Nature in an Age of Mediation)” considers how the natural world persists when our encounters are increasingly mediated by technology and threatened by ecological collapse. The exhibition features the work of Bill Viola, Etsuko Ichikawa, and Dornith Doherty.

Grand Slam Paint Jam
Saturday, June 27, 1 p.m., and Sunday, June 28, noon
2239 Lawrence St.
Watch the Ballpark neighborhood be transformed with murals and live music at the Grand Slam Paint Jam, a live mural festival bringing together more than 20 local and nationally recognized muralists and creatives for a weekend of large-scale public art, music and workshops. Hosted by Vision 88, the free public festival will feature artists painting live murals throughout the weekend, including immersive production walls, interactive art experiences, food vendors, music, workshops and more.

CPAC’s 2026 Members’ Show 
Opening reception: Saturday, June 27, 5 to 8 p.m.; through Aug. 1
Colorado Photographic Arts Center, 1200 Lincoln Street, Suite 111
CPAC’s 63rd annual juried members’ show is a highly selective survey of the best contemporary photography from Colorado and across the country, showcasing CPAC’s talented community of over 700 members and providing artists with an important exhibition opportunity. Thirty-two members are featured in the exhibit and were selected from a pool of 162 photographers who submitted more than 850 images.

Canstruction Edible Art Gallery
Monday, June 29 through the end of July
Cherry Creek Shopping Center, 3000 E. 1st Ave.
Canstruction has turned Cherry Creek Shopping Center into a giant edible art gallery. Eight teams of architects built massive summer-themed sculptures entirely out of canned food. Expect everything from playful, larger-than-life creations like a flamingo pool floatie to intricate architectural designs like a sandcastle. The cans will ultimately be donated to Denver food recovery nonprofit We Don’t Waste.

Bethany Collins: To the Person Sitting in the Darkness
Wednesday, July 1, 7 p.m.
Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, 1485 Delgany St.
This free performance was curated by exhibiting MCA Denver artist Bethany Collins. The performance is named after Mark Twain’s scorching 1901 critique of American imperialism. “To the Person Sitting in Darkness” consists of multiple versions of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” sung simultaneously. RSVP here.

“What the Cells Know”
Opening reception: Thursday, July 2, 7:30 p.m.; through July 26
D’art Gallery, 900 Santa Fe Drive
“What the Cells Know,” featuring the work of Gabrielle Shannon — mixed water media on canvas, inks, acrylics, gouache, and watercolors that attempt to capture the dynamic energy that surrounds and fills us, constantly shifting and transforming, too small to understand and too vast to comprehend…recognizing that the patterns of change are the only constant we have.

Ongoing art shows worth a visit

SABO / UNSAVORYAGENTS: “The Right Kind of Rebels”
Through July 1
VFW Post #1 Denver, 841 Santa Fe Drive
Art created by veterans and SABO, the artist responsible for the “KAMALAS ILLEGALS” and “MIGRANT HOOKERS $20” art placed around the Denver Capitol about a year ago will be on display in “The Right Kind of Rebels” at VFW Post #1. The collection on display comments on current politics, history and events that have helped shape the collective American psyche. SABO says this is his first show in the Denver area, and he’s curious to see the reception of the work. “I don’t do landscapes, and I believe that if art is not political, it’s wallpaper,” SABO says. “I hope this opportunity catches the eyes of some other galleries who are open to displaying my more edgy works.”

“Let’s Go Big”
Through July 3
fooLPRoof art gallery, 3240 Larimer St.
In this playful exhibition featuring large works. fooLPRoof art gallery celebrates an expansion of a new adjoining space called “The Gallery,” which includes a bar and tearoom. The Gallery side features a group exhibition with 25 artists and a full bar with a wine, drink and tea special all evening.

Sea Change
Through July 3
William Havu Gallery, 1040 Cherokee St.
“Sea Change” is Amy Metier’s eleventh solo show with William Havu Gallery, featuring new paintings on panel and works on paper. Most of these works are abstracted references to landscapes, still lives or architecture. Metier’s work is in the permanent collection of the Denver Art Museum and The Kirkland, as well as private and public collections throughout the United States and Europe.

“Tender Wild”
Through July 5
Valkarie Gallery, 445 S. Saulsbury St.
“Tender Wild” is a collaborative exhibition featuring artists Alison Flannery and Colleen Tully, opening this season alongside a companion group exhibition, “Poetic Reverie,” a call-for-entry showcase featuring several artists interpreting poetry through visual art. The exhibition brings together two distinct artistic voices rooted in reverence for the natural world and the quiet poetry found within it. Through paintings that move between observation and imagination, “Tender Wild” explores themes of tenderness, transformation, and the delicate relationship between human emotion and the living landscape.

931 Gallery Associate Members’ Show
Through July 12
931 Gallery, 931 Santa Fe Drive
This group show includes a variety of expressionist paintings and mixed media that meditate on the magical power of circles, the inspiration of a storm, urban and wild landscapes and unconscious perceptions.

“Queerazón: Rooted in Amor y Comunidad”
Through July 12
CHAC Gallery, 7060 W. 16th Ave., Lakewood
“Queerazón: Rooted in Amor y Comunidad” is a vibrant group exhibition of storytelling, healing and collective care — uplifting queer and trans voices. Curated by a queer Chicana artist and founder of Curioso Cats Arts & Crafts, “Queerazón” centers inner child healing, cultural reconnection, and art-making as remembrance. Guests are invited not just to view, but to feel, share, and be part of the experience.

“Good Sports”
Through July 18
Access Gallery, 909 Santa Fe Drive
Featuring artwork by more than 20 Access Gallery artists, “Good Sports” explores movement, competition, teamwork, play, and personal connection through a wide range of artistic voices and unexpected interpretations of sports.

“Origin Story”
Through July 19
Understudy Art Incubator, 890 C 14th St.
“Origin Story” is an afro-futuristic reimagining of the Statue of Liberty by artist Chloe Duplessis, examining the historical, cultural and social forces that shaped one of the world’s most enduring symbols of freedom. The exhibition includes a fiber art gown, five collage works and 250 handcrafted paper and fiber flowers in recognition of the nation’s 250th birthday.

“Curas: Males de Corazón”
Through July 26
Art Students League of Denver, 200 Grant St.
Art Students League of Denver Color Scheme resident Juan Carlos Escobedo displays his work in “Curas: Males de Corazón,” which looks into his family’s shared pains, rituals and remedies through 2D and 3D art.

“Beyond the Western Horizon“
Through July 31
Madden Gallery at Museum of Outdoor Arts, 6331 S. Fiddlers Green Circle, Greenwood Village
Celebrate the “reimagined myth, memory, and the enduring spirit of the American West” with “Beyond the Western Horizon,” an exhibit featuring twenty artists and over fifty artworks depicting aspects of the American West, from people and animals to landscapes, through a variety of mediums. “We’re lucky to live in a state with stunning natural resources, strong light and Western lifestyles stimulating our many talented visual artists,” MOA founder and director Cynthia Madden Leitner says.

“Pain & Prosperity”
Through Aug. 2
Pulse Visual Art, 3256 Walnut St.
This solo exhibition featuring the work of Fresh Sam is made up of works on canvas, framed prints, T-shirts, and custom clothing. A fashion designer and wardrobe stylist by trade and founder of the clothing brand Infatué, Fresh Sam will be venturing outside her typical mediums to explore the idea that pain shapes us all. This collection invites the viewer to see pain differently — whether emotional or physical — not as an ending, but as a catalyst for prosperity.

“Accidentally on Purpose – Pasó lo que tenía que pasar”
Through Aug. 9
Museo de las Americas, 861 Santa Fe Drive
“Accidentally on Purpose – Pasó lo que tenía que pasar” is a landmark exhibition celebrating the 50-year artistic journey of Denver Chicano renaissance artists and activists Maruca and Daniel Salazar, featuring animation, film, video, photography, installation, sculpture, and paintings created over the last half century as Maruca and Daniel Salazar chronicled the Chicano movement and the role of art in social change — celebrating their journey of Chicano identity, from Denver’s Northside and across the invisible railroad tracks.

Plein Air Buddies Show and Sale
Through Aug. 15
James J. Richey Gallery at Lakewood Civic Center, 480 S. Allison Parkway, Lakewood
See 51 paintings created outdoors in Colorado by 17 artists at the Plein Air Buddies show. The Plein Air Buddies group was formed six years ago by several professional artists and educators. Today, the groups enjoys each other’s company and discussing the artwork produced as they paint and share ideas. All paintings on display are also for sale.

On the Walls at CSU: Posters from the 1970s
Through Aug. 16
CSU Libraries – Morgan Library, 1201 Center Avenue Mall, Fort Collins
Colorado State University showcases campus life, design and activism through archival posters from the ’70s at Morgan Library. The exhibition features posters, exhibition panels and publications produced at CSU in the 1970s and preserved in the University Archives.

“Tilting West”
Through Aug. 23
The Arvada Center Galleries, 6901 Wadsworth Blvd., Arvada
“Tilting West” is a large-scale group exhibition that re-examines the genre of the American West through a contemporary lens. Blending invited and juried artists from across the region, the exhibition includes 12 invited artists and 102 selected works chosen from 1,555 submissions by 335 artists. This exhibition presents a wide range of perspectives that engage with and challenge the traditions within Western art.

Come Together: 150 years of the Emmanuel
Through Sept. 19
Emmanuel Art Gallery, 1205 10th St. Plaza
One of Denver’s oldest buildings turns 150 this year, and CU Denver is marking the milestone with a new exhibition opening June 18 at the Emmanuel Art Gallery. “Come Together” celebrates the vibrant history of the Emmanuel from its inception as an Episcopal church (1876–93), to its history as a synagogue (1903–58), to its time as an artist studio for Wolfgang and Susan Pogzeba, and since 1976 as the Emmanuel Art Gallery on the Auraria Campus. The exhibition includes the work of twenty artists who are connected to the Emmanuel’s exhibition history, with artworks ranging from the mid-1980s to new works created specifically for “Come Together.” Read our story here.

Nikki Pike: “YES“
Through November 2027
BMoCA, 1750 13th St., Boulder
“YES” is a large, red steel piece of the word “YES,” Nikki Pike’s potential antidote to xenophobia, both a call to action and a reminder that the affirmative and the welcoming are something as innate to us as our fears. Pike is a Denver-based artist and activist.

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