Artists Merek Walczak (right) and Wes Heiss.

Denver has a new piece of public art, 14th Street Overlay, which comprises 23 optic-based sculptures by artists Merek Walczak and Wes Heiss. "We are very excited to dedicate this piece as part of the greater 14th Street improvements," said Michael Chavez, manager of Denver's Public Art Program, at yesterday's dedication.

See also:
- Crochet Coral Reef's Denver Satellite Reef will grow at the DAM's Spun
- Spun spins a museum-wide web of textile-related exhibits at the DAM
- Artist Eduardo Sarabia talks marijuana, and contemporary art at Huevos Revueltos

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All photos by Mauricio Rocha.

As the late spring days begin to heat up in Denver, so does street style. This week, we spotted Nada Alhajji, a fashion student at the Art Institute of Colorado, rocking a string of top American designers put together in an interesting way. Continue reading to learn where she shops, which French designer inspires her the most, and what her style mantra is.

See also:
- Womenswear Wednesdays: Kissing Party singer Deirdre Sage on her '90s hip-hop style
- Womenswear Wednesdays: Breanna Cope on her mod, striped look
- Womenswear Wednesdays: Nurse Veronica Morris on her Louis Vuitton spring look

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James Gold

While big-name comedy acts like Aziz Ansari will draw a large crowd in Boulder, getting a local comedy scene going in Colorado's hippie hamlet has faced some challenges -- whether money, politics or apathy. Now James Gold is hoping to put Boulder's anti-comedy stigma to rest with his Dairy Comedy Showcase, which will offer its second show this Saturday with host Sam Tallent and standups Hippie Man, James Gold, Heather Snow and Steve Vanderploeg.

Gold wasn't sure if the first showcase last March could fill the Dairy Center's eighty-ticket quota, but was pleasantly surprised to see almost double that number show up for local comedy, more than justifying another round and perhaps even a regular series. In advance of this second Dairy event, we caught up with Gold to chat about what the future holds for Boulder comedy.

See also:
- Arguments and Grievances second-anniversary edition at Vine Street Pub
- Comedy Works New Faces competition begins this Wednesday
- Ron White got personal in Denver about sex, pot and Osama Bin Laden on Friday

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Robots are everywhere. From helping us find cat videos on the Internet to assembling other robots (yeah, that can't end well), they've become almost as ubiquitous in real life as they have been in pop culture for years. This Saturday, the multimedia art exhibit Let's Pretend We're Robots opens at Good Thieves Press, celebrating both our robot pals and all the varieties of technology we associate with them. Inspired by this event celebrating the aesthetics of androids, we decided it was high time to have a look at the hottest robots pop culture has to offer. Don't feel too weird about being turned on by a machine, since we all lust after technology; some of us just do it more literally than others.

See also:
- Event: Let's Pretend We're Robots
- The six most memorable dancing robots from pop culture
- The six best onscreen pairings of robots and the apocalypse

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Bryan Lopez

When Yoga Rocks the Park started rocking a few years ago, the idea was to bring yoga and music together in a setting that just made sense: outside, in the sunshine. And not only would the event make you feel good, it would help you do good, raising money for good causes. Initially proceeds went to the yoga community; this year's beneficiaries include the Give Back Yoga Foundation plus Urban Peak, Project Angel Heart and more local do-gooders. And there's more money to give, because Yoga Rocks the Park has been such an amazing success that it's expanded to twelve more cities -- including Boulder.

See also:
- I'm addicted to yoga. What are you on?
- Ana Forrest on Fierce Medicine and her journey through yoga
- Friday Night Yoga Club launches at Kindness Yoga

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So. What's the deal with religion? Do we have it? Do we need it? Are we slaves to it? What's moral, and what's immoral? When Warm Cookies of the Revolution's bastard child, Sunday School for Atheists, is called to order, everything is fair game. That's right: Evan Weissman's civic health club, which draws people together in public places to talk about random stuff, has an offshoot devoted to questions of faith...or lack of it.

See also:
- Best Civic Discussion Group - 2013: Warm Cookies of the Revolution
- 100 Colorado Creatives: Evan Weissman
- Evan Weissman on why Warm Cookies of the Revolution is good for your civic health

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Last year, a cadre of Denver's finest noir fiction writers skulked their way over to Juanita's for Denver's inaugural Noir @ the Bar fiction event. The success of that first edition was measured in viscera: "The uninitiated left Juanita's bleeding from the ears, and unsuspecting diners were found vomiting in the gutters of Broadway for hours afterwards," they reported.

In the year and change that followed, the noir genre has continued its literary renaissance, and anticipation grew for a a second set of live authorial readings of red-meat crime stories. Sadly, the past year also witnessed the death of organizer Cortright McMeel, a promising writer whose career was cut tragically short.

See also:
- Noir at the Bar comes to Denver Thursday
- One chapter book reviews: Cort McMeel Short, chapter 18
- Westword Book Club: Ryan Demers on filmmaking, furries and Gone Girl

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Bruce Price, "Medium & Large Aggregation," 2012. Acrylic paint and fabric on paper; 30 x 22 in.  Lent by the artist. © the artist; courtesy Plus Gallery, Denver & CuratorialAccessories.com.

#69: Bruce Price

A painter who started out as a musician, Bruce Price learned from his mentor, the pattern painter Clark Richert, at the Rocky Mountain School of Art + Design, and eventually stretched and bent those lessons into something that suited him better. The resulting work, abstractions expressed in a looking-forward way, have morphed into new dimensionalities that challenge the flatness of traditional painting. It looks simple, sometimes rough, but there is a careful structure behind it all.

See also:
- 100 Colorado Creatives: Theresa Anderson
- 100 Colorado Creatives: Donald Fodness
- 100 Colorado Creatives: Lauri Lynnxe Murphy

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All photos by Danielle Lirette.

Dogs and their owners brought sexy back at the Mutts and Models Mardi Growl on Saturday, May 18, 2013, at the EXDO Events Center. The event was not just about flash and glamour; it also raised funds for PetAid Colorado, a nonprofit dedicated to at-risk pets. Continue reading for a few highlights, and visit our full Mutts and Models Mardi Growl slide show for more photos.

See also:
- Animal shelters charging big bucks to adopt "Very Important Pets"
- Photos: The Dogs of the Lucky Mutt Strut
- Best Shop Dog - 2013 - Buster Brown

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Much like Pee Wee in Pee Wee's Big Adventure, I wondered: Would I ever ride my bike again?

Nothing has been the same since the accident. Okay, that's not true -- I've just always wanted to start a piece that way. But really, after a car accident in February 2012 that followed a disappointing faux-tryst with Demetri Martin put me out of commission, my world -- which revolved around a fifteen-hour a week manic workout obsession -- fell apart. No more yoga, no more boxing, no more riding my bicycle.

I don't know how it is for other addicts, but while I've enjoyed exercise most of my life, the desire went into overdrive when I quit drinking. I did hot yoga to fucking live, man. I own an almost complete line of Nike shirts that say weird shit like "Every Damn Day" and "Girls Score More" that I wear to the gym every day (items of clothing that definitely make my boyfriend question ouer relationship on a daily basis.) I love working out.

After a shoulder injury kicked me out of my fitness orbit, I suffered a profound disconnection with my bicycle. But fifteen months later, we're back together -- and I'm trying to figure out how to be the commuting cyclist I once was, without being overwhelmed by the idea that it has been so damn long since I rode thirty miles in a day.

See also:
- The Cherry Creek bike trail is a magnet for assholes in spandex
- Broox Pulford plugs Loops four-year anniversary and the power of safe cycling
- Cruiser bikes suck: they attract Philistines and ruin cycling for the rest of us

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