Author: Colleen Smith
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St. Benedict Monastery: Almost heaven
The 70-year-old St. Benedict’s Monastery near Aspen recently sold for $120 million, according to multiple media reports. Public records show the buildings and 3,700 acres of Capitol Creek Valley land sold to “a nondescript LLC” — as first reported by the Aspen Daily News and Aspen Journalism and later confirmed by the Wall Street Journal…
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Cultivate creativity at Denver Botanic Gardens’ first art retreat
Denver Botanic Gardens branched out into its botanical illustration program nearly a half century ago. But this month it will host, for the first time, the Arts at the Gardens Immersive Retreat. DBG will offer a weekend of short art classes and garden tours Oct. 24-26. Participants can choose a la carte to create individualized…
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Camille Pissarro retrospective coming to Denver Art Museum
Camille Pissarro’s retrospective is coming to the Denver Art Museum (DAM), and the Mile High City is the only U.S. venue to exhibit the first major show of the “Father of Impressionism” in 40 years. On Oct. 26, the DAM will open “The Honest Eye: Camille Pissarro’s Impressionism,” the latest in its autumnal series of…
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Mother Nature’s coloring book open at science museum
The full-spectrum palette of Mother Nature’s paint box is on display in “Wild Color,” a temporary exhibit now at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science (DMNS). The show, created by Chicago’s Field Museum, was augmented by DMNS to draw attention to the Mile High City’s status as one of the planet’s rare areas for…
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Mother Nature’s coloring book open at science museum in Colorado
The full-spectrum palette of Mother Nature’s paint box is on display in “Wild Color,” a temporary exhibit at Denver Museum of Nature and Science. The show, created by Chicago’s Field Museum, was augmented by the Denver museum to draw attention to the Mile High City’s status as one of the planet’s rare areas for natural…
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Cherry Creek Arts Festival back in full force for July Fourth weekend: “Art can be so healing”
“Art,” claimed Pablo Picasso, “washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” With mass shootings, the ongoing pandemic, war in Ukraine, wildfires and political upheaval, we’ve all recently had our share of dust. The Cherry Creek Arts Festival is back in full force this weekend as a summery feather duster for the masses.…
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Decorated sculptor showcased at Botanic Gardens
Sometimes, the most brilliant people have overcome the darkest past. For the celebrated American artist Ursula von Rydingsvard — whose solo exhibition opens to the public Saturday April 30 at Denver Botanic Gardens — being born in Germany in 1942, during World War II, presented a horrific start to life. The extraordinary artist is the…
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Denver park memorializes WWII Ukraine tragedy
As war returns to Ukraine, a peaceful City of Denver park memorializes World War II carnage there more than 80 years ago. Babi Yar Park, an urban oasis tucked near the busy intersection of Parker Road and Havana Street, testifies to war atrocities and to art — the darkest and brightest human extremes Dedicated in…
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A tragic fall for a towering Denver sculptor
Yoshitomo Saito, a bronze sculptor based in Denver, took 10 years to create the works for “Of Sky and Ground,” an exhibition of his nature poetry series shown in the indoor galleries at Denver Botanic Gardens recently. The sculptor acknowledged the exhibit as a culmination of his 35 years of sculpting bronze. A highlight of…
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Beauty is artist’s North Star: Denver’s Daniel Sprick to exhibit in New York
Daniel Sprick, one of Colorado’s most accomplished artists, recently returned from New York City, where he was preparing for a new exhibition — his first since 2016. Opening at the Gerald Peters Gallery on February 11, Sprick’s show “Interiors” will exhibit his ethereal, realist paintings of his 16th-floor apartment near City Park, most created during…