Eight-year-old Karalynn Johnson clutched her copy of Jacqueline Woodson’s book “The Year We Learned To Fly” as she and her family found their seats stage right in the auditorium of Jefferson High School in Edgewater on April 5. The Lumberg Elementary School student was eager to see the author of her newest favorite book in
Wheat Ridge city councilors voted to move forward on a $160,000 on a futuristic robotic art installation for the Ward Road pedestrian bridge during their April 8 meeting. Oregon-based artist Tyler Fuqua’s Mechan and Celestial Vines robotic art piece was selected out of 169 other submissions after a 2023 national call for entries seeking a
If you have a hobby, a creative or business idea and need a place to make it happen in Wheat Ridge, the Clear Creek Makerspace is now open. Localworks, a nonprofit organization focused on the city’s economic development, launched what might be its most visible project yet with a March 30 grand opening of the
A pink desk and pink diary helped a then-Wheat Ridge child learn to write. Her exploration of Denver more than two decades ago resulted in Jill Carstens’ first book. “Getting Over Vivian: A Memoir” tells a story of “family, love and loss set against a backdrop of familiar Front Range settings,” wrote Kathryn White in
Kevin DeForrest is the most interesting man you’ve never heard of. He reluctantly admits that he’d like to change that. “My brother asked me once ‘why do you write songs, anyway?’ I said ‘I just want to write better and better songs all the time, right?’ And he said ‘bulls*** — I think you want
Family interest in magic led Gerald Robinson to achieve professional goals Like most Colorado natives, a young Gerald Robinson and his family enjoyed meals, cliff divers and magic shows at Casa Bonita. Now, the adult Robinson is part of the tradition at the recently reopened Lakewood restaurant. Robinson, 24, of Edgewater, now works as a
The Wheat Ridge arts community is growing rapidly, and this growth can largely be credited to its interconnectivity and diversity. “This is really just a group of artists that support one another,” said Sandra Davis, a local Wheat Ridge artist, member of the Wheat Ridge Art League, and board member of the Wheat Ridge Cultural
“Acting is about trying on a different hat. Life is like that, too,” says Selena Naumoff, a founding member of the Wheat Ridge Theatre Company. “The idea is to challenge yourself to do something you’ve never done.” With degrees in theatre and religion, Naumoff brings an unique set of skills to the theatre, where in
Gleaming plaques frame Erik V’s head as he leans over his client, eyes sharply focused on the needle. Best Tattoo of Show, 2005. Best Back Tattoo, 2016. Best Overall Male, 2022. But these accolades are not on Erik’s mind when he’s at work. For Erik, the art of tattooing lies not just in creating a
“My paintings are about Colorado,” says Theresa Joyce, Denver-area artist. “Nearly every one of them is a painting of where I’ve been, where I hang out, or where I ski. The first thing Joyce does before starting a painting is to ask herself why she wants to paint that particular scene. “I try to remember
Methodical. Intentional. Thoughtful. It’s both how Chris Mora speaks and how he welds. He’d much sooner lapse into minutes-long silence than say something he doesn’t mean. And he’ll sure as hell never commit a weld that is messy, rushed or anything short of beautiful. Mora is a metalworker and artist. He makes robots, primarily, along
“The very first song I ever performed was Gene Autry’s version of ‘Buttons and Bows,’ in third or fourth grade,” says Edgewater’s Western award-winning singer and songwriter Patty Clayton. “I wrote my first song in 1976 – can’t remember the name of the song, but it was about riding a horse on a beach, trying
“Don’t back away from the wall We together break the wall… Your legs hesitated but again Start, don’t stop Don’t be afraid Don’t lose your faith, run no more.” –Lyrics from the song “Break the Wall,” by Korean band Dreamcatcher Digital artist Chase Seyfer was inspired by this song to write a multilayered story that
Since what seems like the beginning of time – or in the photography world, from 1816 to our current year – the way we capture moments is constantly changing. The first camera was invented back then, and it was known as the Niépce Heliograph. This big machine was very hard to operate, and it took
“I’ve been drawing ever since I can remember, since about four or five,” says 92-years-young Wheat Ridge artist Cam Williams. “I recall I sat on my grandpa’s lap and asked him how to draw a woman’s shoe – why I asked that, I don’t know.” She recalled how, in first and second grade, kids would
“My passion for painting stems from the immense benefits it brings to my mental well-being,” says Wheat Ridge painter Liz Burns. “It lets me remain fully present in the moment and immerse myself in a state of pure joy.” A Wheat Ridge resident since 2011, Burns lives with her husband Nathan, son Miller, 11, and
“As soon as you turn east onto 38th Avenue from the business and craziness of Wadsworth, you enter this small town feel of a city doing things that brings a community together,” said Russell Wilbar, owner of Artcentric, a new art gallery and picture fame shop. “To have a community-centered art business here seemed like
“Painting from landscape is another way to express the experience of humanity the only way I can: as a six-foot male walking on land. That is my perspective,” says Wheat Ridge painter Jason McCullough. He captures the people and spaces that inhabit his experience. Working in oil paints and various drawing mediums, the self-represented fine
For the past two years Art on the Farm has been a monthly event on a local urban farm, promoted and supported by the Neighborhood Gazette, the City of Wheat Ridge, Wheat Ridge Creates and the Art League. It is an outdoor place for artists to come and paint, sculpt and share their art with
The orderly and professional atmosphere of a courtroom is the opposite of the make-believe and sometimes off-the-wall approach on stage. But those two worlds intersected for a retired attorney who found a second career as an actor, thanks partly to the Wheat Ridge Theater Company. Jim Hayes began practicing law in California in 1975. His
“As a little girl, I was always drawing. I had a love for crayons,” says Mona Taherynia, an artist who was born and raised in Iran and moved to the United States when she was in her 30s. Taherynia’s Iranian culture informs her paintings, “in terms of form and color,” yet her paintings also bear
A winding road took colored pencil artist Diana Williams through the banking world to doing something “military-based,” then to being a teacher of art history, before eventually discovering her own talent for art. Williams says that through the years she has dabbled in painting with acrylics, but that her current and steady interest in art
“I’m a materialist,” says Wheat Ridge furniture maker Dustin Brucher. “When I’m creating, I give an eye to what might be commercially viable and what might be specified by a commissioned client. But if I’m making something just for me, I’m going to make it the way I think looks fantastic, that captures the right
“I wake up every morning an hour before sunrise, to be outside 15 minutes before sunrise with the Sony,” says photographer Jon Levy. The “Sony” he’s referring to is the Alpha 1, Sony’s flagship camera. “I mainly go to the local parks – Belmar, the Wheat Ridge Greenbelt, Main Reservoir in Lakewood. I find each
