58 APRIL 4-10, 2024 westword.com WESTWORD | MUSIC & VENUES | FOOD & DRINK | ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT | SHOPPING & SERVICES | CONTENTS | Best Immersive Membership Club Invisible City 941 Santa Fe Drive 303-718-7776 invisiblecity.com After Paul Laurie found success with his Silver Spork Social underground supper club in 2014, he created Invisible City, a members-only club, in 2017. Invisible City now has a very visible permanent home in its Clubhouse at 941 Santa Fe Drive, which opened last September; it’s an immersive- art social lounge that hosts concerts, work- shops and more for its members, as well as ticketed shows when the public is able to come check out the space. A gathering place for the adventurous and imaginative, Invisible City transcends the conventional, making for a realm where the extraordi- nary becomes the standard. Best Art District for Street Art RiNo Art District rinoartdistrict.org Whether you’re in RiNo for First Friday, a concert at one of the area’s many venues or just brewery-hopping, the street art is impossible to miss. It’s almost everywhere you look, from murals dating back to the years of Crush Walls to new works that are seemingly going up all the time. That’s be- cause the nonprofi t art district throws a lot of support to the local artists who make our city so colorful, providing opportunities for them by way of mural festivals, a BIPOC artist fund, and programming that includes workshops, markets and more. Best New Mural Installation Denver Nuggets mural by Detour 1919 East Colfax Avenue iamdetour.com The Mile High City was fi lled with pride when the Nuggets brought home the NBA championship trophy in 2023, and so was Thomas Evans, the local artist who goes by Detour. His murals are instantly recog- nizable for their bright splashes of color rendering portraits of people who inspire him, and as an avid fan of Denver sports, the artist immediately took to his canvas — i.e., the 7-Eleven wall he’s been painting up since 2020. The mural was even covered by the New York Times. But of course, that isn’t all the prolifi c artists has in the works: Detour has a major installation project at Denver International Airport, and just adorned Empower Field. Best New Mural Festival Denver Walls denverwalls.com After local artist Ally Grimm, aka A.L. Grime, painted at the D.C. iteration of international mural festival World Wide Walls, she convinced organizers that the Mile High City would be the perfect fi t for the fest. While she originally planned for the Denver version to happen in 2022, that effort fell through because of a lack of funds. But Grimm found an enthusiastic partner in the RiNo Art District, and after much planning, Denver Walls had its in- augural festival last September, bringing local, national and international artists together in RiNo to paint seventeen new murals around the neighborhood. The larg- est spot? That went to Detour, who painted the entire fl oor on top of a parking lot. Best Street Art Chris Haven @chrishaven The Mile High City is known for its color- ful street art, and some styles are becoming instantly recognizable. Who hasn’t seen one of Chris Haven’s goofy, smiling trian- gular dudes spray-painted on a building or alleyway? Whether they’re throwing up peace signs or holding a mic as if about to bust out a cypher, they add a lot of joy to the streets of Denver. Haven also cre- ates photo-realistic portrait murals. That breadth of talent really underscores the boundless energy of the Denver arts scene. Best Art Collective Events for Misfi ts and Risk-Takers Voltaire Collective ragdollclothingco.com/voltaire- collective Voltaire Collective brings visual and perfor- mance art to the city in its own creepy and original way, with “theatrical draglesque productions.” The producers of the events and shows Arts and Entertainment continued from page 56 continued on page 60 GETT Y IMAGES/YANA LOBENKO ...... ..... ........ ...... ........ ..... .. ....................... ................... . .............. ................ .......... . . . . . .. . . ... . .. .
