Art galleries and museums are a big draw in July and August. They offer a way to beat the heat and see a sampling of the best new work being made today. Curators and artists seize the moment by unveiling some of their most exciting exhibitions of the year.
The Front Range has a number of promising shows this summer, though these five are stand-outs.
Sarah Sze, “Sleepers,” Denver Art Museum, through July 2026
There is something old and something new in the Denver Art Museum’s latest exhibition, a presentation of Sarah Sze’s “Sleepers.” The museum just acquired the piece and wasted little time putting the multi-media showstopper — lights, projections, sound — before the public. “Sleepers” is a six-channel video installation that projects moving images on 300 hand-torn pieces of paper suspended along the walls in a darkened gallery. Sze captured many of the images on her cellphone and, replayed together, they question the human experience, memory and our appreciation of the environment that surrounds us.
The show also brings back DAM’s (badly missed) Fuse Box series, which started in 2008 and disappeared as the museum realigned spaces and resources over the last few years. Fuse Box focuses on pioneering new media works, often driven by developing technologies that are making their way into the art world. That makes the work very much of-the-moment and certainly different than a lot of the static art that galleries and museums present here. The installation stays up for a year, making repeat visits part of the allure.
More info: 720-865-500 or denverartmuseum.org
The Artistry of Roland Bernier, Lone Tree Arts Center, through Sept. 19
This moderately sized retrospective of work by Roland Bernier is one of the surprise shows of summer 2025. Bernier, who died in 2015, was for decades one of Colorado’s most significant artistic voices, as well as an enthusiastic advocate for the cultural scene in Denver. He is best known for works that combined abstract painting and text, bringing together two trends that dominated American art in the 20th century.
This show, part of the center’s “Commissioner’s Choice” exhibition series — which makes the most of the theater’s outer lobby spaces — taps work from three series Bernier created in the late 1980s and early 1990s, titled “Abstract,” “Graffiti” and “Arty Fax.” That makes it a swell look-back for both fans and newcomers to the artist because it displays his most popular styles, combining hyper-bright colors, geometric color blocks and mysterious threads of text. The works can be a challenge — and a joy — to decipher.
More info: 720-509-1000 or lonetreeartscenter.org
Vinni Alfonso, “The Great Wait,” Understudy, through July 20
This off-beat show — really more of an environment than a series of individual works — is yet another reason why the incubator lab Understudy is one of the most crucial art attractions in the city. Understudy provides both the space and the resources for regional artists to experiment with highly conceptual ideas.
Alfonso makes good use of this opportunity with “The Great Wait,” an installation that explores the intricacies of waiting, something we all have to do at times with both resignation and anticipation.
The entire piece has only a few elements to it — a painting, a three-dimensional sculpture and a soundtrack — so the experience of seeing it is really about just feeling the time pass … and waiting. But is that for something to start, or something to end? Or have you actually arrived and you are already a part of the action?
Understudy is a glass-windowed storefront, so the show actually begins on the outside, with carefully-arranged exterior views of the contents inside the gallery. Approach from afar and ease your way into the interior. There’s no hurrying with this one.
More info: denvertheatredistrict.com/understudy
A Century of Art in Latin America, Denver Art Museum, ongoing
The Denver Art Museum has worked mightily to improve its collection of art from Latin America, and this recently unveiled arrangement of its “permanent” exhibition space is meant to enjoy the fruits of that labor. It’s a well-deserved moment: The museum has truly emerged as one of the country’s best showcases for interesting new objects from that sprawling region. This show looks back, with works from landmark muralists such as Mexican Diego Rivera and Chilean Roberto Matta. But it also speaks to the present day with pieces by popular contemporary artists who are leading the Latin American art scene now, such as Venezuelan photographer Alexander Apóstal and Haitian painter Tessa Mars. There is also work from Colombian textile artist Olga de Amaral, who is experiencing a career resurgence at the age of 93.
It’s impossible to present a comprehensive survey of a region so vast or a time period so long, but this exhibition aims to demonstrate how a museum like DAM can put together a solid collection and bring it to local audiences in a way that is both informative and a global thrill to visit.
More info: 720-865-500 or denverartmuseum.org
Made in Colorado, Emmanuel Gallery, through Sept. 12
I will get back to this show with a longer review, but it is a sure bet for summer gallery hopping, and a solid exhibition to have on the radar. That’s largely because it offers a chance to see work from a wide variety of regional artists, all at once.
Emmanuel makes this effort every two years, soliciting submissions from across the state and narrowing them down to a curated exhibition, with help from a guest juror. This year, that is Larry Ossei-Mensah, who recently put together a winning retrospective of painter Amoako Boafo at the Denver Art Museum.
There are dozens of artists in this mile-high extravaganza, and here are just a few: Anna Kaye, Rian Kerrane, Carlos Fresquez, Libby Barbee, Trine Bumiller, Tony Ortega and Laura Merage.
The rest are equally familiar, and it kind of feels like home to see them all gathered into Emmanuel’s main space on the Auraria campus.
More info: 303-315-7431 or emmanuelgallery.org