All photos by Philip Poston

Governor Hickenlooper accepted the shipment of gold flake this morning on the west steps of the State House.

This morning, boxes of gold leaf were delivered to the west steps of the Colorado State Capitol Building and officially presented to Governor John Hickenlooper. The gold, which was donated by Anglogold Ashanti/Cripple Creek & Victor Mining Company, will be used on the dome, which is currently undergoing renovations (find the whole story in the May 23, 2013 Westword cover story, "Coolfax."

Mined in Cripple Creek, the gold was sent to Florence, Italy, where the leaf was manufactured by Giusto Manetti Battiloro S.p.A. At about 65 ounces, the gold is valued at $116,175.00. Anglogold also presented the Governor with one ten-ounce ingot.

See also:
- Colfax is moving quickly -- and we're going along for the ride
- Photos: Capitol dome closes tomorrow until 2014, so catch the view today
- Best Scale Model, Canned Goods Division -- 2010 -- Colorado State Capitol Building

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Mark Sink, photographer and arts mover.

Artists really grok the culture of Facebook better than anyone else: Like a blank canvas waiting for paint and inspiration, the social media outlet is just another empty slate -- and it's up to each artist to fill it with pictures. A lot of those pictures end up being images of the artists themselves, and we're not talking about Kodak moments with fake smiles. No, sir.

We had so much fun putting together our first post of FB portraits that we decided to do another one. Following are some of our favorite FB portraits of Colorado artists. Enjoy!

See also:
- Facebook portraits of artists: A local gallery
- Donald Lipski's The Yearling is a Facebook sensation!
- Oh, the Faces you'll see: The Arvada Center updates portraiture in a summer exhibit

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Jean Albus, "Magpie," from Into the Within, Hinterland Art Space.

#73: Norman Broomhall and Jean Albus

Norman Broomhall raises chickens, sells vintage objects and mirrors antiqued by hand, plays the guitar and takes photographs; Jean Albus is a photographer, as well. Both are inspired by the call of nature and, together, they've created Into the Within, an installation that's been creating a buzz since it opened at Hinterland Art Space on April 12.

See also:
- 100 Colorado Creatives: Terri Bell, artist/gallerist at tbellphotographic
- 100 Colorado Creatives: Mark McCoin
- 100 Colorado Creatives: Patrick Mueller, Control Group Productions

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"How the West is One," 2012, ©Will Wilson. Tintype wet collodion process, printed on duratran and back-lit LED, 2012.

When we think of photography and American Indians today, the first images that come to mind -- ironically and invariably -- are the famous, early twentieth-century photogravure portraits by ethnologist Edward S. Curtis.

A century later, Navajo photographer and installation artist Will Wilson decided it was time to update the antiquated Curtis images with new ones reflecting indigenous peoples in modern terms. To do that, he turned to a classic look, using wetplate techniques combined with digital processes to create The Critical Indigenous Photographic Exchange, a body of work that updates native culture to modern times.

See also:
- Studio Shots: Kristen Hatgi and Mark Sink
- Ten shows to see during Month of Photography
- RedLine's group photography show is earning double takes

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Terri Bell, "Self Portrait."

#81: Terri Bell

Terri Bell has been busy in 2013, changing hats constantly as an artist, photographer, curator and gallerist. But that's all part of being Terri Bell, whose middle name could easily be "Industry." This month alone, she's participated in Month of Photography 2013 in just about every way possible, curating one show at CORE New Art Space; presenting her own work in another, Sensual Fiction, at Bardo Coffee House through April 1; and hosting yet another, the guest-juried it's all here in black and white: 20x13, which opens with a reception on Friday, March 29 in her own tbellphotographic studio | gallery.

See also:
- 100 Colorado Creatives: Mark Sink, photographer and arts booster
- 100 Colorado Creatives: Mario Zoots, collagist and multimedia artist
- 100 Colorado Creatives: Feminism & Co. co-curator Elissa Auther

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David Sharpe, "Eastern Phenomena," color pinhole image.

Month of Photography 2013 is far from over. A reception from 5 to 8 p.m. tonight at the McNichols Building in Civic Center, will celebrate an unusual city-curated exhibit, In Camera Abstractions, which explores images manipulated within the camera, without digital effects.

See also:
- Traveling Route 40: Celebrating the Character of Colfax Avenue
- RedLine's group photography show is earning double takes
- Ten shows to see during Month of Photography

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All photos by Mauricio Rocha

Fashion is cyclical and moves in and out in waves. For example, the looks of the 1990s are making a fashion comeback in 2013. For visual evidence, look no further than Monique Trejo, an Austin native and Colorado transplant who takes inspiration from the feminist punk-rock movement, riot grrrl, and the '90s in general. Continue reading to find out what her style mantra is, where she shops, and what's inside her bag.

See also:
- Womenswear Wednesdays: Blogger and designer Felicia Renee on her street style
- Womenswear Wednesdays: Visual merchandiser Michelle McBride on her lofty look
- Womenswear Wednesdays: Dancer Sarrah Jane Brooks on her transforming style

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Crazed collector Andrew Novick even collects food memories with his camera, and sometimes he shares them with the world, as he does with Sweet Tooth: 1000 Photographs of Desserts (that I ate), an exhibit that opens with a reception from 5 to 11 p.m. tomorrow at cupcake emporium The Shoppe.

We asked Novick to match some of the images with descriptions, but made him stop at five -- and not necessarily for his benefit alone. "This is fun!," he says. "I wish I had enough time to do this for all 1000 photos!"

Enjoy. And don't drool on your keyboard.

See also:
- Lucky '13: Andrew Novick of Gimme Gimme Pillow Toast, Warlock Pinchers, and GetYourGoing
- Photos: Food Face at GroundSwell
- Photos: Behind the scenes at Paxia

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Sigri Strand.

"2113.09"

In Sigri Strand's latest series, Conjuring the Sensation of the Sun, the photographer taps into a human's relationship with food -- but through the lens of science fiction. Part of the citywide Month of Photography, the resulting show opens Saturday, March 9 at GroundSwell, which just won a Westword MasterMind award for its innovative programming. We recently caught up with Strand, a member of Pirate: Contemporary Art, to talk about the origins of the new series.

See also:
- Sigri Strand's In The Shade of Night explores the film still as a medium
- Meet the 2013 MasterMinds: GroundSwell Gallery
- Reed Weimer talks new work, gallery drama and the birth of Navajo Street Art District

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Lucas Foglia, "Rewilding."

This year's version of Month of Photography is not going to be typecast, no way. The very breadth of the 2013 citywide photography showcase is astonishing and diverse, viewing photographic media from every perspective: In black-and-white and color, super-real and fantastically altered, analog and digital, projected, and cut up and put back together in collages, as demonstrated in works by camera nuts from around the world and right next door.

Even MoP maven Mark Sink, who says MoP has tripled in size since its last incarnation in 2011, had a hard time narrowing the local shows popping up all month along the Front Range to just ten. But we tried, anyway, though we're cheating a bit by including some additional MoP story links below (and there's even more at MoP 2013 online). After that, we serve up our high-profile top ten, in no particular order. Read on.

See also:
-PHOS: Light Today at the New Colorado Photographic Arts Center Gallery
- Traveling Route 40: Celebrating the Character of Colfax Avenue
- Abecedarian Gallery showcases photographic artists' books for Month of Photography 2013

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