Denver's Westword Artopia 2013

HOME TICKETS VENUES DIRECTIONS ENTERTAINMENT SCHEDULE RESTAURANTS SPONSORS MASTERMINDS FAQ 2012 PHOTOS WHITEOUT RSVP on Facebook KEEP YOUR WRISTBAND COMMEMORATIVE POSTER

Denver Artopia 2013
Saturday, February 23
7 p.m.

Masterminds

Meet the 2013 MasterMinds: Evan and Adam Nix: MasterMinds
Mar 01, 2013

Photos by Ryan Brackin

On Saturday, Westword celebrated its ninth class of MasterMinds -- artistic adventurers who are changing the landscape of Denver. Here's our last winner:

The Nix brothers got their start as filmmakers in high school in 1999, when Evan, the older brother, got a VHS camcorder for Christmas. They were living in Las Vegas then, but in 2006 they moved to Denver, where their father had attended the University of Denver and the family had vacationed. "It's the kind of place we were always looking at, always wanted to move back to," says Evan. "We've been making films here for the last six years."

Meet the 2013 MasterMinds: Kitty Mae Millinery: MasterMinds
Feb 28, 2013

On Saturday, Westword celebrated its ninth class of MasterMinds -- artistic adventurers who are changing the landscape of Denver. Here's our fourth winner:

I'm not a hat person, but the first time I saw Susan Dillon's handmade toppers, I had to throw my hat into the ring. Under the moniker of Kitty Mae Millinery, she makes hats that aren't just something to cover your head: Each piece is a sculptural work of art, and in the process of creating them, Dillon has revived a fine-craft tradition that's nearly disappeared -- swept in the dumper by modern times. Amazingly, she is self-taught as a milliner, and her passion for keeping the art alive is deep. She recently even entered a one-of-a-kind hat in an international contest to design a special chapeau for Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee. The results are so stunning that few browsers can walk into her Kitty Mae storefront at 3559 Larimer Street without wanting to start trying things on; her fanciful creations are pretty much irresistible that way.

Meet the 2013 MasterMinds: GroundSwell Gallery: MasterMinds
Feb 27, 2013

All photos by Biance Bourgeois.

On Saturday, Westword celebrated its ninth class of MasterMinds -- artistic adventurers who are changing the landscape of Denver. Here's our third winner:

Rebecca Peebles and Danette Montoya were two baristas with art degrees, living the artist's life, both seeking places to show their work and disappointed by the prospect of coffeehouse shows. But that was before they jumped together into a gallery of their own, just like that. MMJ dispenser GroundSwell was preparing to open a storefront at 3121 East Colfax Avenue, and Peebles and Montoya took a chance by asking if they could use a small space in the front of the shop as a gallery. "They literally just put it in our laps," Montoya remembers. "We didn't even know what was going to unfold, and it turned out to be something much bigger than what we were thinking of originally."