Author: Colleen Smith Special to The Denver Gazette
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High-minded mountaineer artist photographs Colorado’s retreating glaciers
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For Andrew Beckham, it’s back-to-school time as he begins his 26th year at St. Mary’s Academy in Englewood, Colorado, where he chairs the visual arts department. If Beckham were to write the often-assigned back-to-school essay on “What I Did Over My Summer Vacation,” he might emphasize that during the month of July he ascended the…
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Annual Rocky Mountain Book & Paper Fair binds highbrow crowd
Taylor Kirkpatrick is a storied bookworm. The Denver-based businessman is an esteemed bibliophile, a book collector and a literacy philanthropist who considers the annual Rocky Mountain Book & Paper Fair a top-shelf local literary event. “It’s a cultural gem for our community,” Kirkpatrick said. The 41st annual Rocky Mountain Book & Paper Fair will open…
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Cal Duran sculpts a colorful worldview
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To call Cal Duran a colorful character would be putting it mildly. Duran, a Denver-based folk artist, drives a pickup truck playfully painted from grille to tailgate in the colors of the rainbow. Duran is an artist and a mystic who considers color nothing short of magic. “Color is a vibration,” Duran said. “A color…
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Documentary film spotlights artistic success of five Colorado women
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“Time and Other Materials” — a new documentary film focused on five successful Colorado-based artists who happen to be females — quickly sold out its Friday premiere at the Sie FilmCenter in Denver. The film also will screen at The Dairy Center in Boulder at 5 p.m. on June 16 with a panel discussion including…
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Music is best medicine for Denver concert photographer Michael McGrath
Denver-based concert photographer Michael McGrath is something of a rock star in his own right. McGrath started shooting on a 99-cent, point-and-shoot camera. “I got it at our corner bodega when I was about seven,” said McGrath in an email interview with The Denver Gazette. “But my first real camera was a Minolta x700 that…
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Denver Public Library’s first art curator opens a new chapter
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Emily Grace King is the queen, of sorts, reigning over approximately 4,000 artworks held by Denver Public Library. King remains giddy in her newish dream job as DPL’s very first art and exhibits curator. She stepped into her role in the Special Collections and Archives department on Aug. 31, 2024 — only about eight weeks…
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Denver Public Library’s bright ideaLABs create community
Public libraries — once quiet bastions of books, readers and shushing librarians — offer much more these days. Six Denver Public Library (DPL) branches operate ideaLAB maker spaces, which are open and free-of-charge to the public. Located throughout the Mile High City, ideaLABs are equipped with a variety of tools, machines and materials available for…
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Out of Africa to Denver: An art collection exhibits history, mystery and identity
Paul Hamilton’s 1905 house near Denver’s City Park exhibits African art in every room except the bathroom. And Hamilton has not just two or three pieces, or 10 or 12, but scores of African artworks in every room. The Paul L. Hamilton Collection of African art includes more than 1,300 traditional artworks — mostly wooden…
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What began as Denver street art became a worldwide phenomenon
Koko Bayer, born in France, was unaware of the American traditions of Valentine’s Day until moving to Evergreen, Colorado at age 7. As an adult, she more than made up for lost Valentine time by creating her nearly 1,000 large, eye-catching, yellow-and-magenta-pinstriped hearts. She pasted the big hearts publicly starting in Denver, then in various…
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Raj Chaudhuri paintings bridge Colorado and Calcutta
In 2024, an oil painting by Raj Chaudhuri won the Best in Show award at the Coors Western Art Exhibit & Sale. The honor would have been unimaginable to the artist as an Eastern Indian boy growing up in Calcutta, yet even during his childhood in India, Chaudhuri was drawn to images of the American…