By Daniel Salazar
Latino Art and Culture flourishes in Denver, providing an essential part of the city’s sabor. There’s a popular dish in the region called a Mexican Hamburger—you’ll find it in every Mexican restaurant and roadside café around. It’s a tasty example of how Latino culture in Colorado combines influences and ingredients to create hybrid forms and flavors, the result of generations of Mexican-American history in the Northern-most reaches of the American Southwest. Add to these traditional combinations the ongoing cultural revitalization brought about by new immigration (mostly from Mexico but also throughout Latin America, as well as relocating U.S. Latinos from all over), and you can see why Latino culture in Denver is always rediscovering and reinterpreting itself, making Denver’s Latino arts and culture distinct, diverse, and delightfully welcoming.
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ONE-DAY TOUR
VISUAL ARTS
THEATRE
MUSIC
FILM
DANCE
LITERATURE
FESTIVALS & EVENTS
RESOURCES
DID YOU KNOW?
ONE-DAY TOUR
Start your day with a walk or jog and experience the legendary Colorado sunshine around Confluence Park. Along the way, you’ll encounter Emmanuel Martinez’s mural Confluent Peoples. Once you’ve built up a mile-high appetite, enjoy a delicious desayuno (breakfast) at any of the many Mexican restaurants in the area. Order some Huevos Rancheros or just a breakfast burrito. Green chile will start you out right.
It’s still early, but not for the Denver Art Musuem. Take time to view their excellent New World department. There is no other museum in the world where one can compare stylistic movements from all geographic areas and cultures of Latin America. Afterwards, for lunch you might try a Mexican Hamburger in a nearby restaurant.
Literature is an excellent aid to digestion, so after lunch you can visit the Denver Public Library’s Byers Branch to view Carlota Espinoza’s mural Pasado, Presente y Futuro, or check out the latest in Latino literature at the Cultural Legacy Bookstore. Some prominent Denver Latino writers include Clorissa Pinkola Estes, Manuel Ramos, and Lalo Delgado.
Enjoy strolling, shopping, and gallery-hopping along Santa Fe Drive. Here you’ll find a variety of stores, coffee shops with plenty of fashion, folk art, and music. Don’t miss the CHAC and Quetzalli Galleries—they’re just a block from each other. Later (but still along Santa Fe Drive), you might attend an event at Museo de las Americas, the only Museo in the region devoted exclusively to Latino culture.
For dinner, Denver offers excellent Latino cuisine. Argentinian, Brazillian, Colombian, Chilean, and Cuban specialty restaurants are available, as well as taquerias from every region of Mexico. Traditional Denver Southwestern cuisine is often referred to as New Mexican style or Tex-Mex.
In the evening, attend a live performance at El Centro Su Teatro, a multi-disciplinary Denver original. After that, if you still have some energy, enjoy some music and dancing. There are salsa and regaton clubs along 16th Street or throughout LODO, while ranchera and Chicano oldies are popular throughout Denver’s traditional North- and West-side barrios.
It’s late—but Latino culture can bring out the nocturnal in you. Top the evening off with a nightcap at Aztec Sol with their extensive collection of Tequilas.
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VISUAL ARTS
CHAC
772 Santa Fe Dr.
Denver, CO 80204
(303) 571-0440
www.chacweb.org
For over a quarter of a century, the Chicano Humanities and Art Council (CHAC) has been connecting audiences with Denver’s Chicano community of artists, artisans, and activistas. CHAC regularly exhibits locally and nationally recognized artists in the gallery and tiendita de puro corazon.
Denver Art Museum
100 W. 14th Ave. Pkwy.
Denver, CO 80204
(720) 865-5000
www.denverartmuseum.org
The Denver Art Museum is the premier museum in the world for comparing stylistic movements from all the geographic areas and cultures of Latin America. The 4th floor galleries of the New World department encompass two major areas: Pre-Columbian traditions before the arrival of the Spanish, and art from the Spanish Colonial era onward.
Museo de las Americas
861 Santa Fe Dr.
Denver, CO 80204
(303) 571-4401
www.museo.org
Museo de las Americas takes a Pan American approach in its ongoing celebration of Latino art and culture. The only museum in the region devoted exclusively to Latino culture, El Museo collects, preserves, and interprets the art, history, and cultures of the Americas from ancient times to the present.
Quetzalli Art Gallery
928 W. 8th Ave.
Denver, CO
(303) 573-0414
www.quetzalli.net
Quetzalli is devoted to indigenous cultural arts of the Americas. Besides the gallery, there are classes in Nahuatl (the language of the Aztecs) and regular presentations of indigenous healing and spirituality.
Murals
Visiting Chicano murals is an adventure that will connect you with the geography and history of la gente in Denver. Located throughout the city, particularly in the traditional West- and North-side barrios, these murals relate, with color and imagination, the aspirations, history, and struggle of Denver’s Latino community. A few of Denver’s best Chicano murals include: Emmanuel Martinez’s Confluent Peoples (at the entrance to Confluence Park at intersection of Cherry Creek and South Platte River) and La Alma (in the heart of Denver’s west side), which span thirty years between them; Carlota Espinosa’s Pasado, Presente y Futuro at the Denver Public Library’s Byers Branch (675 Santa Fe Dr.) and Escuela Tlateloco (2949 N. Federal Blvd.), covering approximately the same period; and, Leo Tanguma’s Peace and Harmony with Nature, located in Denver Airport’s main concourse.
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THEATRE
El Centro Su Teatro
4725 High St.
Denver, CO 80216
(303) 296-0219
www.suteatro.org
El Centro Su Teatro is a Denver original; a multidisciplinary cultural arts center committed to Chicano and Latino expression. Su Teatro maintains a busy year-round schedule with the Chicano Music, Neruda Poetry, and XicanIndie Film Festivals complementing a full season of award-winning theatre.
Teatro Latino de Colorado
840 Santa Fe Dr.
Suite 311
Denver, CO 80204
(303) 436-0498
Provides cultural and educational opportunities for adults and children, including puppet shows and Mariachi workshops.
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MUSIC
The Chicano Music Festival
El Centro Su Teatro
4725 High St.
Denver, CO 80216
(303) 296-0219
www.suteatro.org
The Chicano Music Festival is an outdoor “roots” festival dedicated to the music developed in the Southwest based on traditions from Mexico. The festival takes place every August and features La Noche Tradicional, The Summer Pachanga, a street dance and battle of the bands, and “Mariachi Sunday.” In addition, the Festival features a live and a silent auction.
KUVO 89.3 FM
2900 Welton St.
Suite 200
Denver, CO 80205
(303) 480-9272
www.kuvo.org
In Spanish, “quibo” is the equivalent of saying “What’s up?” And in Denver, KUVO 89.3 FM is where what’s happening resides. Beyond being one of the top jazz stations in the world, KUVO broadcasts the happenings and heartbeat of the city along with a healthy mix of salsa, Latino World, blues and Chicano oldies.
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FILM
Cine Latino
Peoria and E. 6th Ave.
Aurora, CO 80011
1-888-588-CINE (2466)
Current features for Spanish speakers.
XicanIndie FilmFest
Starz FilmCenter at the Tivoli
900 Auraria Pkwy
Denver, CO 80204
(303) 296-0219
www.starzfilmcenter.com
Held annually during the first full weekend of April, the Latino World Film Festival for the Rocky Mountain Region features Mexican, Latin American, and U.S. Latino contemporary films, documentaries, and independent digital media.
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DANCE
Fiesta Colorado
5 S. Wadsworth
Lakewood, CO 80226
(303) 274-7844
Fiesta Colorado is a springboard for homegrown talent, bringing Mexican dance and Flamenco to enthusiastic audiences throughout the Rocky Mountain Region.
Grupo Folklorico Sabor Latino
1815 W. 34th Ave.
Denver, CO 80211
(303) 477-5914
A premiere Colorado dance company specializing in Ballet Folklorico and seen throughout the city’s many festivals and venues.
Grupo Tlaloc
(303) 660-2187
Denver-style Danza Azteca.
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LITERATURE
Neruda Poetry Festival
El Centro Su Teatro
4725 High St.
(303) 296-0219
www.suteatro.org
Started as a poetry showcase, this twice-yearly event features a program in the elementary schools that culminates in the presentation of the students’ work, a poetry slam competition, local and national poet showcases, and a poets’ café.
Cultural Legacy Bookstore
3633 W. 32nd Ave.
Denver, CO 80211
(303) 964-9049
www.culturallegacy.com
A resource for Latino Literature, readings, and events. The guiding principle of the bookstore is eclectism, which means that even though it might not have all titles available it certainly has something for eveyrone.
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FESTIVALS & EVENTS (arranged by date)
Mexican Rodeo Extravaganza—January
National Western Stock Show
4655 Humboldt St.
Denver, CO 80216
(303) 297-1166
www.nationawestern.com
Presented as part of National Western Stock Show, the world’s largest cattle show.
Annual Cinco de Mayo—May 5
“Celebrate Culture” Festival
Downtown Civic Center Park
Eugene Field House
715 S. Franklin St.
Denver, CO 80209
www.theparkpeople.com
The Cinco de Mayo holiday commemorates the victory of the outnumbered Mexican army over the French in the May 5, 1862 battle of Puebla. And although the French remained in Mexico several years afterward, this underdog story is a great opportunity to celebrate ancestry and pride, which Denver does with the largest Cinco de Mayo Festival in the country. Parades, a mariachi mass, and six stages of nonstop entertainment complement arts and crafts, food, drink, rides, and surprises.
Fiesta Guadalupanas—August
Our Lady of Guadalupe Church
1209 W. 36th Ave.
Denver, CO 80211
(303) 477-5837
The Fiesta Guadalupanas is an annual neighborhood fiesta replete with Mexican food, music, dance, and devotion.
Chile Harvest Festival—September
Denver Botanic Gardens
1005 York St.
Denver, CO 80206 (720) 865-3500
www.botanicgardens.org
The Chile Harvest Festival honors Spanish-speaking cultures that have incorporated chile peppers into their lifestyles. It offers an eclectic Hispanic combination of folk art, performance and food—traditional Southwestern culture sometimes reinterpreted from an international Latino perspective.
“El Grito” de la Independencia Festival—September 17
(Mexican Independence Day Fiesta)
800-1000 Blocks, Santa Fe Dr.
(303) 534-8342
www.newsed.org
September 17th is the Mexican equivalent of July 4th and celebrated as fervently in Denver as in Mexico. The date commemorates the famous “El Grito” de la Independencia in 1810 by Father Miguel Hidalgo, a call for independence that reverberated throughout the continent. Today, the Latino community celebrates the glorious anniversary of the heroic cry for freedom with music, dance, and community.
Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead)—November 2 Citywide Dead or alive, all are welcome to celebrate Dia de los Muertos Denver-style, and that means a ferocious diversity of places, spaces, and approaches, from traditional to klepto-Mexican punk. Although originally brought to Denver as a collaboration between Pirate Art Oasis and the Chicano Humanities and Arts Council (CHAC), Dia de los Muertos is now observed annually throughout the city with commemorative altars, processions, art, music, food and performance. For information, contact:
Pirate Art Gallery
3959 Navajo St.
Denver, CO 80211
(303) 458-6058
www.pirateart.org
This gallery has been open for over 25 years and prides itself on being an edgy and cooperative gallery in Denver.
CHAC
772 Santa Fe Dr.
Denver, CO 80204
(303) 571-0440
www.chacweb.org
October 29 through November 4, El Dia de Los Muertos Group will perform its show.
Luminarias de Santa Fe: a holiday arts walk—December
Santa Fe Dr.
(303) 534-8342 ext. 106
www.newsed.org
Luminarias (decorative candle lights in paper bags) illuminate Santa Fe Drive, creating a traditional Southwestern atmosphere and one of the city’s best tours of art and authentic Mexican food.
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RESOURCES
Centro Cultural Mexicano
Consulado General de Mexico
5350 Leetsdale Drive, Suite 100
Denver, CO 80246
(303) 331 1110
www.portal.sre.gob.mx/denver/
A wonderful resource for Mexican art and culture, the Centro Cultural Mexicano partners with numerous organizations, museums, and schools throughout the city to host such events as the El Dia del Nino celebration in April at the Denver Art Museum.
CHAC (Chicano Humanities and Art Council)
772 Santa Fe Dr.
Denver, CO 80204
(303) 571-0440
www.chacweb.org
El Centro Su Teatro
4725 High St.
Denver, CO 80216
(303) 296-0219
www.suteatro.org
La Casa Argentina de Colorado
www.argentinacolorado.org
info@argentinacolorado.org
Peruvian Consulate
1001 S. Monaco Pkwy.
Suite 210
Denver, CO 80224
(303)355-8555
Spanish Consulate
5740 Oak Creek Lane
Greenwood Village, CO 80121
(303)797-0656
www.khlaac.org
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DID YOU KNOW?
• Denver hosts the largest Cinco de Mayo Festival in the U.S., including six stages of nonstop entertainment and attendance of 450,000 to 500,000 annually.
• El Centro Su Teatro is the third oldest Teatro of its type in the country. Only El Teatro Campesino and Teatro Esperanza in California enjoy a longer history of continuous production.
• The roots of Latino Culture in Denver and throughout Colorado are deep. Consider that until the conclusion of the Mexican-American War in 1848, the U.S. Mexican border was designated along the Arkansas River in Pueblo, Colorado—about 100 miles south of Denver.
• Denver Public Schools enrollment is currently over 60% Hispanic.
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