An Introduction to the Colorado Women's Art Museum
2025-10-09 17:00 - 21:00 (America/Denver) | McMahon Gallery, Walnut Street, Boulder, Colorado, 80302, United States
TICKETS
The Colorado Women’s Art Museum is excited to expand and meet artists and art lovers in Boulder County.
We are delighted to personally embrace the Boulder Arts Community on October 9th at the Dairy Center for the Arts , 5-8pm with a meet and greet and presentation!
CWAM is seeing a bright future for Colorado women artists and women identified artists, with a museum all their own! Be a part of this important project and learn more!

Persian Calligraphy Workshop
2025-10-20 17:00 - 19:00 | McMahon Gallery, Walnut Street, Boulder, Colorado, 80302, United States
TICKETS
Join us for a special hands-on workshop exploring the beauty of Persian calligraphy, in connection with the “We Are From Iran” exhibition showcasing Persian typographic posters.
Participants will:
– Learn about the history and cultural significance of Persian calligraphy
– Discover essential tools and techniques, including bamboo pens and inks
– Create their own calligraphy artwork to take home
All materials are included—just bring your creativity!
About the Instructor: Sheida Sam
Sheida Sam holds a Master’s in International Studies with a focus on Cultural Diplomacy and a Master’s in Art Research. As an interdisciplinary artist and cultural diplomat, she weaves traditional Persian calligraphy with modern artistic approaches, transforming a centuries-old practice into a vibrant, living art form.
For over 15 years, Sheida has led creative workshops around the world, using art as a tool for dialogue and connection. Her teaching invites participants to not only learn the graceful strokes of calligraphy but also to experience the stories, heritage, and cultural bridges the art form creates.

Artist Talk: Autumn Exhibitions
2025-10-28 17:00 - 20:00 | Dairy Arts Center, Walnut Street, Boulder, CO, 80302, United States
TICKETS
Join us for an inspiring evening on October 1st at the Dairy Arts Center as the artists and curators behind our three new autumn exhibitions share the stories, inspirations, and creative processes behind their artworks.
Hear directly from:
Parisa Tashakori, Guest Curator and Featured Artist of, We Are From Iran, a striking typographic poster exhibition by 18 Iranian artists exploring cultural expression and resistance.
Samira Hemmat, the artist behind In Concrete Contrast, in the McMahon Gallery, a powerful solo show with layered abstract works reflecting on survival, family, and language.
Steven Tassin, showcasing his solo exhibition, Marking the Space, in the Caruso Gallery, a mixed-media investigation into memory, architecture, and personal mapping.
Step inside the creative minds shaping these powerful exhibitions and be part of a dynamic conversation that bridges culture, memory, and identity!

Science + Art Collider
2025-11-05 15:00 - 17:00 | McMahon Gallery, Walnut Street, Boulder, Colorado, 80302, United States
TICKETS
We’re bringing scientists and artists together for an informal gathering to explore where creativity, research, and imagination meet. Come share ideas, make connections, and see what new collaborations may emerge around data-based art—or simply enjoy conversation about how science and art both offer ways of knowing and understanding the world!
Over the past year, we’ve had several inspiring conversations between scientists and artists, and we’re excited to continue this series, alternating between The Dairy Arts Center and CU Boulder’s SEEC building.
If you’re:
A scientist curious about collaborating with artists to communicate your research
An artist looking for scientific inspiration
Or someone who bridges both worlds
…we’d love to have you join us.
Please feel free to forward this invitation to others who might be interested—everyone is welcome! RSVP helpful, but not required.

Continuum Opening Party
2025-11-21 17:00 - 20:00 | Dairy Arts Center, Walnut Street, Boulder, CO, 80302, United States
TICKETS
Celebrate the opening of the Continuum exhibition with an evening of art, music, and connection. Enjoy a live DJ set by Internaleyes, drinks, and conversation as you explore a powerful exhibition reflecting on the cycles of life, death, aging, and the enduring threads that connect us all.
A continuum is a continuous range or series where things blend seamlessly into one another — like the shifting colors of a rainbow, where no single shade ends and another begins. We often divide life into stages — youth, adulthood, old age, life, and death — as though separate from nature’s cycles. But everything moves in loops: death nourishes new life, time is both linear and infinite, and aging is only the visible surface of a more fluid human experience.
Continuum explores how art can spark connection, conversation, and community around these shared truths — the knowns and unknowns of living, dying, and everything in between. The exhibition brings together artists of different generations and disciplines to explore themes of identity, memory, selfhood, the body, grief, loss, family histories, and spirituality. At its core, Continuum is about love — love that crosses time, generations, and boundaries both real and imagined.
About the Music: Internal Eyes

Coming to fruition in the beginning of 2025, Internal Eyes is a producer, song-writer, and DJ based out of Boulder, CO. He draws inspiration from the surrounding beauty of mountainous terrain, deep blue skies, and nature’s inhabitants. Flowing water, birds, crickets, and natural instruments embody the sound of Internal Eyes, supported by deep low ends and atmospheric melodies. Originally from the East Coast, Internal Eyes has a foundational background in hip-hop and house music genres, blending the two with an organic feel to create a sound that captures attention and brings life to textural landscapes.

Exhibiting Artists & Spaces
McMahon Gallery: Kaori Takamura, Shapes of Ephemera
Hand Rudy & Caruso Galleries: Kristen Letts Kovak
Polly Addison Gallery: Lina Pin
Dairy Lobby: Laura Mackie
MacMillan Gallery: The Continuum Intergenerational Arts Project
Embassy Suites Hotel Boulder: Lisa Berley
Free and open to the public!

Continuum Artist Talk
2025-12-09 17:00 - 20:00 | McMahon Gallery, Walnut Street, Boulder, Colorado, 80302, United States
TICKETS
Join us for an evening of conversation and reflection with exhibiting artists Kaori Takamura, Kristen Letts Kovak, Lina Pin, Laura Mackie, and Lisa Berley as they share insights into their creative practices and the themes woven throughout Continuum — identity, memory, the body, aging, loss, and connection. There will be a 45 minute panel discussion followed by audience Q&A and the opportunity to explore the exhibition.
The evening will also highlight The Continuum Intergenerational Arts Project, a collaborative initiative pairing student and senior artists to explore creativity across generations.
Free and open to the public. RSVP required due to limited capacity.

Continuum: Death Cafe
2026-01-13 17:30 - 19:30 | McMahon Gallery, Walnut Street, Boulder, Colorado, 80302, United States
TICKETS
The Dairy Arts Center is proud to present a special event as part of the Continuum exhibition programming, in partnership with Boulder Death Cafe.
At Death Cafe, we gather to eat cake, drink tea, and talk openly about death. This compassionate, group-directed discussion is guided by Callie and Kristina, mindfulness-based therapists with backgrounds in elder care who are passionate about embracing the beauty of our mortality. The aim is to increase awareness of death in order to help us make the most of our finite lives.
This is not a grief support or counseling session, but an open, agenda-free conversation space where participants are invited to share, listen, and reflect together. The event will take place in the McMahon Gallery, surrounded by the artwork of Continuum — offering an inspiring and soothing environment for this reflective dialogue. Tea and biscuits will be provided.
Event is free; RSVP required as capacity is limited.

Polyglot Exhibition Opening Reception
2026-01-27 17:00 - 20:00 | McMahon Gallery, Walnut Street, Boulder, Colorado, 80302, United States
Join us for the Polyglot Exhibition opening reception. This event is free and open to the public. Refreshments available for purchase.
Polyglot brings together artists from around the world working across textile, ceramic, and painting. Each artist works within a distinct material practice, shaped by where they live, how they work, and what they choose to focus on.
When you travel, visiting a museum often becomes a way of understanding a place. Art captures atmosphere, history, and everyday life in a way words often cannot. Polyglot is rooted in that experience, aiming to bring those moments of discovery closer to home.
Presented as a focused group exhibition, Polyglot brings together different materials, cultures, and approaches to making. Each practice is presented on its own terms, creating a dialogue between artists who may never share the same language, but whose work communicates through material and form.
Curated by Verbunt Galerie.

Whispers of the Soul: Documentary Screening with Dr. Thomas E. Lockhart
2026-02-03 17:00 - 20:00 | Boedecker Theater, Walnut Street, Boulder, CO, 80302, United States
TICKETS
Whispers of the Soul: Documentary Screening with Artist Talk (Dr. Thomas E. Lockhart)
Location: Boedecker Cinema at the Dairy Arts Center
Whispers of the Soul: The Legacy of Dr. Thomas E. Lockhart is a featured episode from the documentary series Art Titans: Masters of the New Era, a visionary project directed by acclaimed art world figures Alan Grimandi and Viviana Puello. The series chronicles the journeys of ten master artists whose practices are shaping the contemporary art landscape, offering intimate portraits that explore creative process, cultural impact, and the evolving role of artists in society.
Kicking off Black History Month at the Dairy Arts Center, this special event also serves as a precursor to the upcoming exhibition Black Futures in Art (opening February 20), in which Dr. Thomas E. Lockhart III will be one of the exhibiting artists.
The screening centers on Dr. Thomas E. Lockhart III, a celebrated realist painter whose work captures the essence of his subjects with precision, grace, and emotional depth. Moving beyond representation, Lockhart’s practice engages in powerful social commentary, exploring themes of history, identity, and collective consciousness. His work invites viewers to question, confront, and reconsider both personal and societal narratives.
Following the screening, guests are invited to stay for an artist talk and Q&A with Dr. Thomas E. Lockhart III, offering deeper insight into his creative practice, influences, and artistic vision.

Black Futures in Art Exhibition Opening Reception
2026-02-20 17:00 - 20:00 | Dairy Arts Center, Walnut Street, Boulder, CO, 80302, United States
On View Feb 19 – March 29 | Opening Reception: Feb 20, 5 – 8 PMFourth Annual Exhibition at the Dairy Arts Center | Curated by Adderly Grant-Lord
Now in its fourth year at the Dairy Arts Center, Black Futures in Art is a sweeping, annual exhibition presented in celebration of Black History Month and in ongoing recognition of Black artistry and excellence year-round. Curated by Adderly Grant-Lord, the exhibition brings together Black artists from Colorado and across the United States, highlighting a broad range of practices, voices, and visions shaping contemporary art today.
This year’s exhibition is grounded in the theme “The excellence beneath our feet lives in our bones,” a poetic meditation on legacy, inheritance, and resilience. The exhibition looks to what has been buried, erased, or overlooked in both past and present, while honoring the enduring knowledge, creativity, and excellence that persist across generations. Through visual art, the exhibition considers how memory, land, body, and ancestry carry stories forward, and how art becomes a conduit for community, reflection, and dialogue around the past, present, and future.
Black Futures in Art creates space for both celebration and critical engagement, inviting audiences to witness how artists navigate history, imagine possibility, and cultivate collective understanding. The exhibition is accompanied by a robust slate of public programming, including film screenings, artist talks, a lecture series, hands-on workshops — and a special live musical performance at the Opening Reception.

Opening Reception Musicians
The evening will feature a dynamic ensemble of Colorado-based musicians whose practices bridge classical training, jazz lineage, and contemporary experimentation:
Joe Tabano (Trumpet) – A Denver-born and raised trumpet player, Joe’s roots in jazz are shaped by mentorship connected to the lineage of Ron Miles. Having toured throughout the United States and Europe, his sound blends traditional jazz sensibility with expansive improvisation and expressive depth.
Liv Stephfano (Cello) – A Horizon High School student and accomplished young cellist, Liv was selected for the district-wide Honors Concert and earned 2nd Chair among 15 top performers — a testament to her dedication and musical excellence.
Josias Gilmore (Electric Guitar) – An accomplished guitarist with several years of performance experience, Josias has played iconic stages including Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Fillmore Auditorium, and Paramount Theatre, bringing versatility and stage presence to every performance.
Phillip Cutler (Violin) – A Fort Collins–based violinist with over 13 years of training, Phillip bridges classical discipline with contemporary exploration. Having participated in Colorado All-State Orchestras and studied under Mark Woods of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, his work blends orchestral precision with modern energy, drawing from classical, fiddle, jazz, and electronic influences.
Together, these musicians create a layered sonic environment that echoes the exhibition’s themes of inheritance, evolution, and living legacy.

Black Futures in Art: Guided Tour & Talk With Curator
2026-03-03 17:00 - 20:00 | Boedecker Theater, Walnut Street, Boulder, CO, 80302, United States
TICKETS
Join us for an evening of reflection, dialogue, and shared imagination as part of Black Futures in Art 2026, marking the fifth year of the exhibition. The event begins with a guided tour of the exhibition led by curator Adderly Grant-Lord, starting in the McMahon Gallery and moving throughout the exhibition spaces. The tour will be followed by a seated conversation in the Boedecker Theatre with Dr. Danielle Hodge and Adderly Grant-Lord, exploring the exhibition’s themes, its wider cultural impact, and the evolving legacy of Black Futures in Art over the past five years. The evening will conclude with audience Q&A.
Tickets are free but reservation is required due to limited capacity. Event duration is approximately two hours, tour will start precisely at 5PM!
About the Speakers:
Dr. Danielle Hodge is an Assistant Professor of Communication, a 2024-2025 Andrew W. Mellon Civic Engagement and Voting Rights Teacher Scholar, and the 2024-2025 Center for African and African American Studies (CAAAS) Faculty Fellow at the University of Colorado Boulder. Her research employs a critical race theoretical approach to identity, culture, and language, and bridges Communication and African American Studies to examine how systems of oppression are discursively reproduced, maintained, and resisted. Her work can be found in the Journal of Multicultural Discourses, Critical Discourse Studies, Communication Teacher, Communication and Democracy, and the Journal of Applied Communication Research.
Adderly Grant-Lord is a visual artist and curator whose work centers joy, lineage, and the lived experiences of Black communities. A recipient of the Boulder Chamber’s 2024 Women Who Light the Community honor and the 2023 Best of the West Readers’ Choice Art Award, she is the founder and curator of Black Futures in Art, now in its fifth year. Grant-Lord has exhibited widely across Colorado, serves on the NoBo Art District board, and is currently an Afrofuturist curator and featured artist with the Museum of Boulder.
Participating Artists: Adderly Grant-Lord, Adri Norris, Clifton Henri, Gedion Nyanhongo, James Dixon, Lydia Carlis, Louise Cutler, SaToro Tafura, Sir James McArthur Cole, Thomas Lockhart, and Zin Maisiri.

"Hands Up" Film Screening and Director Q&A
2026-03-10 17:00 - 20:00 | Boedecker Theater, Walnut Street, Boulder, CO, 80302, United States
TICKETS
Join us at the Dairy Arts Center for a powerful evening of cinema and conversation with a screening of Hands Up, followed by a live Q&A with director Chuck Whitman.
Set against the backdrop of Chicago amid the rise of Black Lives Matter protests, Hands Up is a gripping and urgent coming-of-age drama that confronts systemic violence, grief, and the fight for survival in one of America’s most notorious murder capitals.
Film Synopsis
After his cousin is shot and killed by a white police officer, a Black inner-city teenager struggles to find a way out of Chicago as protests erupt across the city. Caught between trauma, anger, and limited options, he must navigate a world shaped by loss, injustice, and resilience.
Post-Screening Conversation
Following the screening, director Chuck Whitman will join us for a live Q&A, discussing the making of the film, its social and political context, and his approach to telling stories rooted in lived experience. The evening will also include a short trailer preview of Whitman’s upcoming film project.
Tickets: Free, registration required (capacity is limited)
This event is presented in partnership with Louise Cutler Studio.
Film Credits
Director: Chuck Whitman (Charles “Chuke” Whitman)
Writers: Robert Kreiling, Chuck Whitman
Starring: Jermaine Johnson, Jamal Woolard, LaRoyce Hawkins

Black Futures in Art: Artist Talk
2026-03-18 17:00 - 20:00 | McMahon Gallery, Walnut Street, Boulder, Colorado, 80302, United States
TICKETS
Join curator Adderly Grant-Lord and exhibiting artists for a powerful evening of conversation celebrating the fifth year of Black Futures in Art. This gathering invites audiences into the living continuum of the exhibition—exploring how memory, lineage, joy, and imagination shape Black creative futures.
Through a 45-minute moderated conversation, artists will reflect on their practices, shared histories, and the creative inheritance that informs their work, followed by a 15-minute audience Q&A. This talk is a celebration of presence, process, and community, and an invitation to listen, reflect, and engage with the brilliance in motion that defines Black Futures in Art.
Tickets are free but required, as capacity is limited. All are welcome.

BVSD Annual High School Art Exhibition Opening Reception
2026-04-02 17:00 - 19:00 | Dairy Arts Center, Walnut Street, Boulder, CO, 80302, United States
On View April 2 – May 3 | Opening Reception: April 2 , 5 – 7 PM
For the BVSD Annual High School Art Exhibition, this year’s theme is “The Third Eye,” in line with this year’s PEEK fundraiser theme. The prompt was shared with BVSD educators in September, giving teachers and students an entire academic year to explore the idea in the classroom. The theme has served as a launching point for sustained educational inquiry. The exhibition opens with a public reception and, in partnership with Boulder Arts Week, will feature a student-led artist talk for the first time.
The Third Eye invites student artists to explore the connections between art, spirituality, and the unseen. Centered on the idea that art can be more than representation, the theme positions creative practice as a portal into liminal spaces, forgotten rituals, and deeper ways of knowing.
Across art history, artists have turned to spiritual and mystical traditions as sources of transformation—from Hildegard of Bingen’s illuminated visions and Georgiana Houghton’s trance drawings to the abstract languages of Hilma af Klint and Wassily Kandinsky. In this lineage, students ask: How does art help us access the unknown? How can ritual, myth, or meditation be part of creative practice? What does it mean to “see” beyond the visible?

Set The Table Exhibition Opening Reception
2026-05-15 17:00 - 20:00 | Dairy Arts Center, Walnut Street, Boulder, CO, 80302, United States
On View May 15 – Aug 2 | Opening Reception: May 15, 5 – 8 PM
Set the Table is a group exhibition spanning all of the Dairy Arts Center’s gallery spaces, exploring the dinner table as a central site of cultural, ecological, and artistic discourse. The table emerges as a nexus of home and heritage, agriculture and environment, family and domesticity, culinary arts, sustainability, capitalism, and food scarcity—revealing how deeply food systems shape our daily lives, identities, and futures.
Grounded in both local and global perspectives, the exhibition considers food as more than nourishment: it is memory, labor, ritual, power, and connection. With a particular focus on Colorado’s agricultural landscape, Set the Table highlights the intrinsic links between land stewardship, environmental responsibility, and the ways communities gather, cook, and share.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a robust series of public programs, including three immersive dinner- and food-based events, each connected to a key theme or artist within the exhibition. These include a Native food event in partnership with Creative Nations, a farm-to-table gathering, and an additional thematic meal, alongside educational workshops, talks, and community programming. The Dairy will also partner with the nonprofit Mad Agriculture to spotlight artists who are regenerative farmers, culminating in a dedicated gallery wall and event that brings together art, agriculture, and sustainable practice.
Participating Artists: Clara Nulty, Desert Art Lab, Carly Owen Weiss, Mad Agriculture, Trent Bailey, Brandy Coons, Janine Brown, Soroya Latiff, and Stephanie Maria.

Off the Page Exhibition Opening Reception
2026-08-14 17:00 - 20:00 | Dairy Arts Center, Walnut Street, Boulder, CO, 80302, United States
On View Aug 14 – Nov 1 | Opening Reception: Aug 14, 5 – 8
This group exhibition explores how contemporary artists engage with the written word, literature, media, and storytelling, examining language as both subject and material. Through practices spanning photography, sculpture, installation, and mixed media, the exhibition asks: What does the word mean today, and how are artists using language as a creative tool, a source of inspiration, or a physical presence within their work?
The exhibition considers the power of words to shape identity, transmit knowledge, and build community, while also reflecting on the evolving role of language in a media-saturated world. It highlights the importance of literature, freedom of expression, and storytelling as vital forces that connect people across generations, cultures, and backgrounds.
Accompanying the exhibition is a rich slate of educational and public programming, developed in partnership with local libraries, the school district, and the University of Colorado. Programming will include author talks, workshops, and collaborative initiatives with nonprofit organizations focused on literacy and reading, creating multiple entry points for audiences of all ages to engage with language, ideas, and creative expression.
Participating artists: Mariel Reed, Nathan Storey Freeman, Bug, Josh Hughes, Dagny Chika, Dawn Siebel, Leona Lazar, Sarah Tenney, Samuel Austin, Lisa Berley, Jacqueline Moulton, Austin Baskett, and Russell Schnell.

The Human Animal Exhibition Opening Reception
2026-11-13 17:00 - 20:00 | Dairy Arts Center, Walnut Street, Boulder, CO, 80302, United States
Nov 13 – Jan 31 | Opening Reception: Nov 13, 5 – 8
This exhibition explores how conceptual artists use imagery of animals, creatures, and “the other” to reflect on human nature and the breadth of human experience. Through large-scale installations and sweeping conceptual works, the exhibition examines the symbolic power of the nonhuman as a mirror through which social, political, and psychological realities are revealed.
Focusing on the figure of the animal—and the idea of the “human as other”—the exhibition interrogates themes of aggression, dominance, fear, and control, questioning the often false or ironic divide drawn between humanity and the natural world. What we project onto animals and imagined creatures frequently exposes our own instincts, anxieties, and contradictions, revealing how closely intertwined human behavior is with the forces we claim to stand apart from.
Serving as a launching point for dialogue around American legacy, the exhibition opens space for conversation on politics, history, and contemporary cultural and social issues. By situating animal imagery within broader conceptual frameworks, the works challenge viewers to reconsider narratives of power, violence, and belonging, and to reflect on what it means to be human in relation to the world we inhabit.
Participating artists: Jessica Teckermeyer, Michael Brohman, Tricia Waddel, Xan McKenna, Bailey Anderson, Creative Nations
