February
Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School: The Psychedelic 60s with Honey Touché
Sunday, February 2, 5-7 p.m.
Millers & Rossi, 3542 Walnut St.
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Hang out with us on the first Sunday of each month and sketch/draw from live models. Hosted by Denver's beloved burlesque queen, Vivienne Vavoom, this fun evening has everything: costumed models, fun themes, cash bar, great menu items, art-lovin' people. In this month’s installment, model Honey Touché takes a dip into the psychedelic 60s -- can you dig it, man? Please register to attend this event.
Pioneers of African American Cinema: Oscar Micheaux’s Within Our Gates
Wednesday, February 5, 7-9 p.m.
The Preservery, 3040 Blake St.
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Our third silent film collection highlights one of the great unsung forefathers of African American filmmaking -- Oscar Micheaux. In the early years of cinema, at a time when bigotry and racism in films like Birth of a Nation went unchallenged, Oscar Micheaux made films that called out this racism. Within Our Gates tells the story of a mixed-race woman who leaves her southern home to raise funds in the north for a rural school. It is an examination of racism in the north and south at the time, and reflects Micheux’s values.
The Preservery is hosting in their dining room, so you’ll have a wonderful selection of menu items and beverages from which to choose. Please register to attend this event.
A Speakeasy Progressive Party for Dandies and Quaintrelles
Thursday, February 6, 6:30-9 p.m.
Location To Be Announced
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Dandy: a man devoted to style, neatness, and fashion in dress and appearance. Quaintrelle: a woman who emphasises a life of passion expressed through personal style, leisurely pastimes, charm, and cultivation of life's pleasures. Hey, put on your glad rags (clothes for a special occasion) or whatever you feel comfy in and join this progressive party visiting Denver’s speakeasy clubs. They are secret hideaways in curious places that require the visitor to be in the know in order to enter. Our tour guide is performer Vieux Carré and she’ll take you on a fun journey with new friends in new places! Please register to attend this event.
RiNo Made Salons: The Seriousness of Frivolity: Laughter as Wellness
Tuesday, February 11, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Converge Denver, 3327 Brighton Blvd.
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Being an entrepreneur and creative can be full of challenges and stresses. It is easy to lose sight of why you started to do this thing in the first place. It’s time to remember the joys of being your own boss and creating your life and career as you want it. And do it all with a smile on your face. Brian Harper, of Kaiser Permanente’s Arts Integrated Resources, presents Laughaceuticals, an interactive workshop where participants engage in improvisational theatre techniques and exercises to have fun, laugh, and play. Throughout the workshop, ideas and statistics supported by evidence-based research are provided and discussed to raise awareness about the importance of laughter for our well-being. This event is open to all -- entrepreneurs, fun seekers, stressed out office Dilberts. Please register to attend this event.
Pioneers of African American Cinema: Oscar Micheaux’s The Symbol of the Unconquered
Wednesday, February 12, 7-9 p.m.
The Preservery, 3040 Blake St.
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Our third silent film collection continues with another film from Oscar Micheaux, who worked tirelessly to create a cinematic foundation for other African Americans to build on. He explored racism in the United States through powerful moving images. The Symbol of the Unconquered is the story of a black woman who inherits land from her grandfather and then must battle the Ku Klux Klan when they learn the land is a vast oil reserve.
The Preservery is hosting in their dining room, so you’ll have a wonderful selection of menu items and beverages from which to choose. Please register to attend this event.
7th Annual Anti-Valentine's Day Party: Harold and Maude Film Presentation
Thursday, February 13, 7-9 p.m.
Modern Nomad, 2936 Larimer St.
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Our 7th Annual Anti-Valentine's Day Party celebrates the funny, weird, classic cult film, Harold and Maude. Enjoy our movie refreshments, a viewing of this wonderful movie and a chance to wander the beautiful home decor and design products curated by Modern Nomad. Please register to attend this event.
Origami Stars and Sake Tasting
Tuesday, February 18, 6-8 p.m.
Colorado Sake Co., 3559 Larimer St.
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Learn how to make these gorgeous five-pointed stars with origami expert, Nancy Kiyota. At the same time, Colorado Sake Co. will be serving up their best sakes to add symmetry to the evening. All origami supplies provided; bring your yen and ID to enjoy the sakes. Please register to attend this event.
Pioneers of African American Cinema: Oscar Micheaux’s Body and Soul
Wednesday, February 19, 7-9 p.m.
The Preservery, 3040 Blake St.
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Join us for this final presentation in our silent film tribute to African American filmmaker Oscar Micheaux. “Body and Soul is a 1925 race film produced, written, directed, and distributed by Micheaux and starring Paul Robeson in his motion picture debut. In 2019, the film was selected by the Library of Congress for inclusion in the National Film Registry for being ‘culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant’” -- from Wikipedia.
The Preservery is hosting in their dining room, so you’ll have a wonderful selection of menu items and beverages from which to choose. Please register to attend this event
Film Presentation: I Am Not Your Negro at Redline Gallery
Thursday, February 27, 7-9 p.m.
Redline Contemporary Art Center, 2350 Arapahoe St.
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Special film presentation of the film I Am Not Your Negro, based on the writing of James Baldwin. Our guest speaker and film host for this showing is Jameka Lewis, Senior Librarian at the Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library. Jameka enjoys educating people about Black history and culture. Please register to attend this event.
March
Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art: Dixie Krystals and the Golden Girls
Sunday, March 1, 5-7 p.m.
Millers & Rossi, 3542 Walnut St.
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Thank you for being a friend. Hang out with us on the first Sunday of each month and sketch/draw from live models. Presented by Denver Public Library and Millers and Rossi and hosted by burlesque queen, Vivienne Vavoom, this fun evening has everything: costumed models, fun themes, cash bar, great menu items, art-lovin' people. This month we visit women of literature in celebration of our Winter of Reading; model Dixie Krystals creates an evening of Golden Girls poses for your sketching fun.
All skill levels welcome, from professional artists to office meeting doodlers. Bring your favorite drawing supplies and some cash for cocktails and tips for the models. Drinks and food available in the Millers & Rossi speakeasy -- through the secret door. Please register to attend this event.
First Women Filmmakers: The Ocean Waif directed by Alice Guy-Blaché
Thursdays, March 5, 7-9 p.m.
The Preservery, 3040 Blake St.
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Denver Public Library honors Women’s History Month with a collection of silent films created and directed by women at the dawn of film as an art form. Alice Guy-Blaché was a trailblazer in cinema -- from 1896 to 1906 -- she was likely the only female filmmaker in the world. She experimented with early sound technology, color tinting and directed one of the first films with an all African American cast. In The Ocean Waif (1916), Guy-Blaché explores the travails of a woman in search of peace, love and a place to call her own.
Our great hosts at The Preservery will be on hand to take your order for food and drink during the movie. Please register to attend this event.
First Women Filmmakers: What Do Men Want directed by Lois Weber
Thursday, March 12, 7-9 p.m.
The Preservery, 3040 Blake St.
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Our second female auteur filmmaker is Lois Weber, who lays claim to many film firsts like showing the first full frontal nudity on screen in 1915’s Hypocrites, being the first woman to own and control her own film studio, directing the first Tarzan movie and being the first director to cross swords with the censors (in 1914). What do Men Want (1921) examines the chasm between what men and women expect in their relationships. The heroine must struggle in her marriage because her husband fears that marital life is a prison and the film reflects Weber’s attitudes in the way that much of her oeuvre did.
Our great hosts at The Preservery will be on hand to take your order for food and drink during the movie. Please register to attend this event.
Eats Shoots and Leaves: Chef Kark Explores Sprouts, Shoots and Microgreens -- Part I
Sunday, March 15, 10:30 a.m.-12 p.m.
Cultivated Synergy, 2901 Walnut St.
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Do you know the difference between sprouts and shoots? Our favorite chef, Shellie Kark, does and takes you down the garden path for spring. Learn how to grow, harvest and store sprouted beans, sunflower shoots and the most tender of microgreens -- all at their peak nutritional value. This first part of a two-part series covers all the basics of sprouting and how to incorporate sprouts into your culinary explorations! As always, Chef Kark will take you through all the steps for using delicious and healthful sprouts and shoots at home. Recipes and samples included. Please register to attend this event.
First Women Filmmakers: Mabel Normand Shorts (1914-1916)
Thursday, March 19, 7-9 p.m.
The Preservery, 3040 Blake St.
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Have a laugh on director/producer/actress Mabel Normand. Though her personal life was often a very public scandal, she created a lasting legacy of films. Working with Charlie Chaplin and Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, Normand was a popular and creative Hollywood fixture -- as well as one of highest paid performers of her time. We are presenting a collection of her short films that she directed and starred in -- she was a wonderful student of the early masters of cinema like D.W. Griffith and Mack Sennet. She is credited with helping to launch Chaplin’s career and to be the first woman to take a pie in the face onscreen. Join us for the fun!
Our great hosts at The Preservery will be on hand to take your order for food and drink during the movie. Please register to attend this event.
Eats Shoots and Leaves: Chef Kark Explores Sprouts, Shoots and Microgreens -- Part II
Sunday, March 22, 10:30 a.m.-12 p.m.
Cultivated Synergy, 2901 Walnut St.
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Chef Shellie Kark continues our culinary education as we explore the techniques for growing and using shoots and microgreens at home. They’re cute on a windowsill, but even better in delicious spring recipes. In this second workshop, we’ll discuss getting started with shoots and Chef Kark will share wonderful ways to bring the freshness and nutritional value of these beautiful greens to your table. Recipes and samples included.Please register to attend this event.
First Women Filmmakers: Alla Nazimova’s Salomé (1922)
Thursday, March 26, 7-9 p.m.
The Preservery, 3040 Blake St.
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Our capstone film in this series highlighting the women auteurs of silent film ends with the first art film ever created. Though Charles Bryant is listed as director, Alla Nazimova is not only the producer and writer, but is also likely an uncredited director. “Unlike the popular historical epics of the time, Nazimova’s Salomé took no pains to present any sense of historical accuracy. Instead, the film seems almost divorced from time, with Natacha Rambova’s ornate set taking its inspiration from Aubrey Beardsley’s original (and also controversial) illustrations (done for the first edition of Oscar Wilde’s play on the same subject), both decadent and grotesque. The men, women, and men dressed as women of the cast are all costumed in skimpy, Art Deco styles, most notably the 44-year-old Nazimova’s sleek black minidress and elaborate wig covered in pearl-like baubles, meant to evoke the teenage coquette she ostensibly plays” -- Ryan Smillie for Moviejawn. Don’t miss this rarely screened beauty.
Our great hosts at The Preservery will be on hand to take your order for food and drink during the movie. Please register to attend this event.
April
Strangers on a Train: The Listening Tour
Friday, April 10, 6-9 p.m.
Union Station, 1701 Wynkoop
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What can you learn about yourself if you endeavor to actively listen to the folks around you? Gather with other Dandies at Union Station and then meet as strangers on a train. You'll be given instructions from our guides Libby Barbee and Brandon Laird and then you board the Groove Line for DIA. Sit with a stranger and learn all you can about them, change seats and sit with another stranger at each stop. One stranger has verbal Easter eggs to share (unexpected verbal bonuses) -- if you ask the right question. When we get to DIA, we'll sit down and have a beverage, talk about what we learned and see if anyone found the Easter eggs. Best 'player' will be feted with appetizers and drink of choice. Please register to attend this event.