The new year always brings high hopes for fine arts fans, and there are a few solid reasons to keep the faith in 2025. Six of the most promising events and exhibitions are listed here. Of course, there is a lot more going on. The Front Range cultural scene is constantly evolving, diversifying and, for the most part, getting more interesting, with new galleries, performance companies and anything-goes venues popping up regularly.
We will keep you informed of interesting options as the year progresses. But here is a quick, and optimistic, look at what some of the major institutions in Denver have on the books for the next few months. Kent Monkman’s solo show, “History is Painted by the Victors,” opens at the Denver Art Museum on April 20. The Denver Art Museum is going all out with this solo show of Canadian artist Kent Monkman, and it is definitely a bold move. Monkman, who has both Cree and Irish heritage, paints sweeping, revisionist scenes of the Old West, never letting the viewer forget about all of the badness that was done to Indigenous people during the period of European expansion. His work is script-flipping, gender-bending and sex-forward — and it is certainly not for everybody. But Monkman has a point, and he sells it big, with monumental, technicolor landscapes that manage to be highly political and wildly entertaining. He is an international art gallery star but this will be his first major museum retrospective.This is a great programming choice for the Colorado Ballet, a solid, adult-friendly title to balance out all the fairy tale stories ballet companies do these days to draw big crowds and balance the books