The CU Denver Experience Gallery is known for exhibiting visual art — paintings, sculpture, design — but it is tempting to talk about the place in the language used to discuss the performing arts, like theater, opera, orchestra concerts and ballet.
That is because the gallery is in a unique location, tucked into a small storefront space at the Denver Performing Arts Complex, where large organizations like the Colorado Symphony and Opera Colorado, as well as touring Broadway shows, present their wares to thousands of ticket-buyers in 2,000-seat venues on most weekend nights.
Kevin Copenhaver made this costume in 2023 for the event called Carnivale De Sensuale. (Daniel Tseng, Special to The Denver Post)
The live performances start roughly at 7 p.m. just as the CU Denver Experience Gallery, which opens these days at 4 p.m., closes its doors. Art fans wander into the gallery, take a casual look around at the offerings, and then head off to their respective shows next door.
In that way, the gallery is a kind of a warm-up act, getting visitors into an art-minded mood before the main event. Or you could think of it as a second violin player, there to back up and enhance the virtuosity of the first violin.
Or maybe, better than that, think of it as playing one of those supporting actor roles that make a play or movie work without stealing the spotlight from the star — though still doing a job worthy of an Oscar or Tony when recognition for its services is handed out.
All of those comparisons work, because the gallery blurs the usual rules about how we consume culture by combining different artistic genres. That is especially true with the current exhibition, titled “Dressing Out Loud,” which adds another layer onto the experience with a bit of fashion.
“Dressing Out Loud” is a costumes exhibition, featuring creations by Meghan Anderson Doyle and Kevin Copenhaver, who work for the city’s largest theater company, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts (which is located in the arts complex, as well).
Copenhaver has been costume crafts director for the Denver Center since 1990, designing clothing for such shows as “Sweeney Todd,” “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” and “Hedwig and the Angry Inch.” Doyle has worked on similar main stage productions, serving as an associate designer for 18 years.
Denver Center regulars might actually remember some of the costumes on display at the exhibition. There is Copenhaver’s 2022 design for the Christmas Present role in “A Christmas Carol.” The piece features a velvet cloak that drapes to the floor. It is trimmed in fur and comes with a crown made with gold leaf and pine branches.
There is also Doyle’s overshirt design for the character of Hamlet in a 2022 production by the DCPA. The garment is presented on a hanger and accompanied by Doyle’s sketches, sewing patterns and samples of fabric used to create it.
Meghan Anderson Doyle’s 2024 costume titled "All I Want For Christmas Is You.” She used everyday objects, such as tablecloths, coffee filters, soda can tabs and tape. (Daniel Tseng, Special to The Denver Post)
That explanation of process drives the exhibition, which also features interactive elements, like electronic tablets that visitors can click through to better understand how the designers make their choices in the service of the characters they are dressing. The tablets were programmed by digital design students from CU Denver’s College of Arts & Media.
Taking the show to another level, Doyle and Copenhaver also have on display various other pieces they made for local events outside of their DCPA work.
Copenhaver is showing a costume titled “Plavalaguna,” designed for a local burlesque show. The piece is an elaborate gown-like creation with pleated fabric. It is topped with a helmet of sorts that has gold chains dangling from all sides.
Doyle has a trio of dresses on display, some created for the annual “Trashion” runway shows at the local entertainment center Meow Wolf. The event challenges designers to make new looks using discarded materials.
Doyle does that with gusto on pieces like “If You Want the Rainbow, You’re Gonna Have To Put Up With The Rain,” from 2025. The knee-length party outfit is made from “thrifted dress, elastic, hula hoops, pool noodles, trash bags, cardboard, craft vinyl and coffee filters,” according to the wall label.
Kevin Copenhaver’s costume for Viola in a 2019 production of "Twelfth Night” at the DCPA. (Daniel Tseng, Special to THe Denver Post)
There is also Doyle’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun,” a frilly, back-and-white gown fashioned from “toilet paper tubes, newspaper, craft vinyl, shopping bags, dryer sheets and soda can tabs.”
“Dressing Out Loud” is on the smaller side as exhibitions go, though it packs a nice little punch, thanks to some wise choices by its trio of curators (Andrew Palamara, Darija Medic and Maya Rae Taylor), who understand their audience and the time it has to take in an art offering when they are headed to see a live show.
The CU Denver Experience Gallery, which is always free and usually staffed with helpful student guides, has many different types of exhibitions, but it works best when it is not too demanding, recognizing that it can be just an appetizer for its visitors.
Or maybe it is better to use a show biz term to sum it up. Programmed wisely, the gallery can provide an entertaining opening bit, maybe like a good comedian whose show is short, lively and delivers a few good punchlines. “Dressing Out Loud” does exactly that.
IF YOU GO
“Dressing Out Loud” continues through Feb. 15 at the Denver Performing Arts Complex. It’s free. Check the website for hours, since it is connected to other programming at the complex, at cudenverexpgallery.org.
The post ‘Dressing Out Loud’ is the perfect opening act for DCPA shows appeared first on Denver Post