2 westword.com WESTWORD JULY 30-AUGUST 5, 2026 | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | W ® 4 HAPPY BIRTHDAY, COLORFUL COLORADO The state’s 150th is up in fl ames. What will 200 look like? BY HANNAH METZGER 10 ARTFUL ANNIVERSARY An exhibition of folk art recalls Colorado’s past, celebrates its present and looks toward the future at the State Capitol. BY KRISTEN FIORE 13 HISTORY IN 12 COURSES Eat your way through Colorado with this tasting menu. BY ANTONY BRUNO 15 THE BLUCE IS LOOSE Blucifer’s First Rodeo showcased the strength of Denver’s music community in a sold-out debut. BY EMILY FERGUSON 10 Culture 13 Cafe 15 Music CONCERTS/CLUBS ................................... 16 20 Marijuana CANNABIS CALENDAR ............................ 20 HIGH NOTES ............................................. XX VOLUME 49 NUMBER 48 JULY 30-AUGUST 5, 2026 E D I T O R I A L Senior Editor, News Thomas Mitchell Food and Drink Editor Antony Bruno Music Editor Emily Ferguson Culture Editor Kristen Fiore Social Media Editor Katrina Leibee Staff Writers Sage Kelley, Hannah Metzger Senior Contributors Brendan Joel Kelley, Alan Prendergast, Michael Roberts Contributors Gil Asakawa, Teague Bohlen, Justin Criado, Audrey Ferrer, Nick Hutchinson, Karl Christian Krumpholz, Skyler McKin- ley, Abigail Nueve, Ryan Pachmayer, Kristin Pazulski, Adam Perry, Evan Semón, Toni Tresca Music Listings Matthew Jones Cover Designer Kristin Bjornsen Editor Emeritus Patricia Calhoun P R O D U C T I O N Production Manager Michael Wilson Assistant Production Manager Erin Kirk Graphic Designers Caleigh Gearheart, Tori O’Connor C R E A T I V E S E R V I C E S Senior Graphic Designer Allie Seidel A D V E R T I S I N G Senior Multimedia Account Executives Amy Camera, Aaron Lembke Multimedia Account Executives Brad Belanger, Remy Diamond, Rachel Gilmore, Keith Gordon, Trey Konsella, Kirby Quick, Allison Wissink Operations Manager Carver Hodgkiss Digital Sales Coordinator Anne-Grace Hartman Director of Digital Sales Alan Heath C I R C U L A T I O N Circulation Manager Ty Koepke B U S I N E S S Director of Business and Operations Russell Breiter Financial Accountant Robert Scribner AR Coordinator Stacy Phillips IT Systems Manager Kris Robinson Receptionist Cindy Perez Associate Publisher Tracy Kontrelos Publisher Scott Tobias V O I C E M E D I A G R O U P Executive Editor Chelsey Dequaine-Jerabek National Editor Sam Eifl ing Editorial Operations Director Bridget Thomason Director of Membership and Community Development Jennifer Robinson Digital Operations & Audience Strategist Allison Stephenson Audience Strategist Lauren Antonoff Hart Corporate Controller Beth Cook Legal Counsel Steve Suskin Chief Financial Offi cer Jeff Mars Chief Executive Offi cer Scott Tobias V M G N A T I O N A L National Advertising: 1-888-278-9866, www.voicemediagroup.com Senior Vice President of Sales Operations Joe Larkin D I S T R I B U T I O N Westword is available free of charge. 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ILLUSTRATION BY BRAD HANSEN C O L O R A D O ’ S W E L C O M I N G S I G N I S A S T A T E I C O N , B U T W E ’ V E H A D T O F I G H T F O R I T Welcome to Colorado, the state whose “Welcome to Colorful Colorado” sign has a colorful history — even if the sign itself is an unironic brown and white. The gold-inspired Rush to the Rockies was almost a century old when Colorado boosters decided to take advantage of the booming post-WWII automobile tourism industry by putting welcome signs at the borders of the Centennial State. Despite this state’s glittering past, the fi rst sign set up on Raton Pass in 1950 was a basic wooden marker painted brown, with the chiseled slogan in white. That simple symbol soon became almost as iconic as Colorado’s peaks, with travelers stopping to snap pictures by the signs as they entered the state. But still, there were attempts to mess with success. One came in the early ‘90s, when the state held a contest to devise a more modern design. The winner? A garish purple and orange silhouette of those peaks on a metal sign with the slogan: “Welcome to Colorado, mountains and much more.” Colorado residents did not welcome the new look, and the original “Colorful Colo- rado” signs soon returned. A decade later, Brian Vogt —who served in three cabinet positions for Governor Bill Owens before becoming the beloved head of the Denver Botanic Gardens, a post he held from 2007 until he passed away last year — attempted another image update. As head of the state Offi ce of Economic Development and International Trade, which oversees the Colorado Tourism Offi ce, he went for a more corporate, streamlined look, in keeping with the Advance Colorado Center he’d launched. “He was doing a rebranding of the state,” Owens recalls. “He started with the portal and logos. One was getting rid of that old ‘Colorful Colorado’ sign from back in the ‘50s. We took down the signs and replaced them. There was immediate blowback, an uproar.” The uproar was so loud that Owens could not ignore it. And when the governor gave his annual State of the State address to the Colorado Legislature in January 2006, “We had the old sign brought out under a carpet,” he says. “I unveiled it and said, ‘We’re going back.’ Everyone laughed.” Everyone but Vogt, perhaps, but law- makers rewarded Owens’ move by upping the state tourism budget. And Vogt got his own reward when Owens presented him with a Norty Award, a plaque given to the member of the Owens cabinet who had “messed up the most that month,” Owens explains. “Boy, did we throw Brian under a bus.” But not as badly as Tom Norton, who as head of the Colorado Department of Trans- portation won four of his namesake awards (once when an unadvertised highway con- struction project stalled then-Vice President Dick Cheney’s motorcade for two hours). Today, CDOT continues to create the “Welcome to Colorful Colorado” signs in its sign shop, with forty of them set up across state entry points. They’re made from locally sourced wood, and last up to a decade unless they’re vandalized, stolen or hit by distracted drivers pulling over for a photo. To avoid that, the state has set up smaller, selfi e-friendly replicas at its welcome centers. But the most popular version might be the sign in the atrium of the History Colorado Center, pulled from Western Colorado after locals took to coloring between the lines. For the record: Colorado, named for the Spanish word “red,” has everything from an offi cial tartan to an offi cial fi sh, but “Wel- come to Colorful Colorado” is not the state’s recognized slogan. The offi cial motto is “Nil Sine Numine,” Latin for “Nothing without Providence or Deity.” Or without backlash if you try to change tradition. — Patricia Calhoun HISTORY COLORADO
