Dairy Arts Center

Blue Heron
2026-05-27 16:30 - 18:00 (America/Denver) | Boedecker Theater, Walnut Street, Boulder, CO, 80302, United States
TICKETS
May 27-31
In the late 1990s, eight-year-old Sasha and her family relocate to a new home on Vancouver Island, but their fresh start is interrupted by increasingly dangerous behavior from the eldest son, Jeremy. At wit’s end, their parents are presented with a shattering choice. Award-winning director Sophy Romvari’s feature debut is a lyrical and profound testament to the things we carry with us, masterfully chronicling the haze of a languid summer and the hyaline clarity of the moments that defined it. (Sophy Romvari, 2026, Canada, 1:30, NR)

Space Cowboy
2026-05-27 19:00 - 21:00 | Boedecker Theater, Walnut Street, Boulder, CO, 80302, United States
TICKETS
May 27-31
Joe Jennings, an innovator in the world of skydiving, has spent decades capturing breathtaking aerial moments with his camera for extreme sports competitions, Super Bowl commercials, and Hollywood blockbusters. Driven by a passion for “camera flying” in his youth, Joe cultivated a deep friendship with fellow skydiver Rob Harris, partnering to become one of the most influential skysurfing teams in history. Flying at the top of their game, Joe’s world was shattered when tragedy struck, leaving him to navigate the skies alone. Never giving up, he continued to push the boundaries of aerial cinematography and skydiving, finding solace in the clouds while grappling with profound grief and depression. Now, at 62, this pioneering skydiver is taking on a new challenge, elevating his art with a daring “flying car” stunt. Directors Marah Strauch (SUNSHINE SUPERMAN) and Bryce Leavitt delve into Joe’s extraordinary 40-year career in the sky. Through stunning archival footage, revealing interviews, and dramatic verité, they uncover a deeper emotional journey as Joe navigates loss, depression, and the challenge of balancing a life in the sky with the realities on the ground. (Bryce Leavitt & Marah Strauch, 2024, USA, 1:38, NR)

Optimistic Personality Disorder | May 28-29
2026-05-28 19:00 - 20:30 | Grace Gamm Theatre, Walnut Street, Boulder, CO, 80302, United States
TICKETS
If a TED Talk and a tequila shot had a baby, it would be this show!
What do you get when you mix a stand-up comic, a master storyteller, and a woman who’s been through some things?
Optimistic Personality Disorder is a hilariously healing one-woman comedy show that blends live comedy, theatrical storytelling, and real-life wisdom into a night you’ll never forget. It’s the kind of live performance that proves laughter really is the best therapy (no co-pay required).
From cringe-worthy parenting moments to wildly inappropriate dating stories, Merit Kahn turns 50 years of life into a comedy cocktail of real talk, raw emotion, and razor-sharp wit. This is feel-good, funny-as-hell stand-up meets theater- a smart, relatable comedy night perfect for anyone who’s survived… well, anything.
You’ll laugh. You might cry. You’ll definitely leave feeling better about your own life.
It’s part stand-up, part theater, part TED Talk… all heart.
Grab your girlfriends, your grown-up kids, your main squeeze, or come solo and meet your new favorite people. Whether you’re looking for a memorable girls night out, a unique live comedy experience, or just something uplifting and fun to do, this is the show.
SPECIAL EVENT:
After the show, Merit Kahn, Colorado-based playwright, producer, and performer triple threat, will host an open “Ask Anything” session. Curious about the show? Her creative process? Her life choices? Nothing’s off-limits in this bonus behind-the-scenes moment.

Vitality [The Company]: VERVE
2026-05-29 19:00 - 21:00 | Gordon Gamm Theater, Walnut Street, Boulder, CO, 80302, United States
TICKETS
VERVE is a dynamic professional dance show that celebrates the power of movement through a fusion of diverse dance styles. Rooted in versatility and driven by raw energy, VERVE showcases the athleticism, artistry, and innovation of elite dancers performing at their peak. The show blurs genre boundaries to create a bold new language of expression.
Each performance within VERVE is a visceral journey—highlighting explosive technique, emotional depth, and rhythmic precision. Through a carefully crafted narrative arc and cutting-edge choreography, the production invites audiences into a world where discipline meets improvisation and tradition merges with the avant-garde.
This is not just a dance show—it’s a statement of passion, power, and relentless creativity. With high-octane ensemble pieces, intimate solos, and collaborative duets, VERVE redefines what it means to move, perform, and connect.

Friday Night Weird: Forbidden Fruits
2026-05-29 20:30 - 22:30 | Boedecker Theater, Walnut Street, Boulder, CO, 80302, United States
TICKETS
May 29
Free Eden employee Apple secretly runs a witchy femme cult in the basement of the mall store after hours with fellow fruits Cherry and Fig. But when new hire Pumpkin challenges their performative sisterhood, the women are forced to face their own poisons or succumb to a bloody fate. (Meredith Alloway, 2026, USA, 1:43, R)

Live Love Dance
2026-05-30 17:00 - 18:00 | Grace Gamm Theatre, Walnut Street, Boulder, CO, 80302, United States
The Gift of Dance is an evening of choreographic work featuring the Live Love Dance Company Dancers ages 14 to 18. All proceeds go to provide, dance shoes, costumes, lessons, and other dance-related experiences for children in need in our community.
This is a free event, but tickets must be reserved by emailing info@livelovedance.net.

Boulder Eats At The Dairy
2026-06-04 17:30 - 20:30 | Dairy Arts Center, Walnut Street, Boulder, CO, 80302, United States
TICKETS
Boulder Eats at the Dairy: Panel Discussion & Communal Supper
Presented in connection with the Set the Table exhibit at the Dairy Arts Center, Boulder Eats at the Dairy is a special evening that brings the exhibition’s themes to life—exploring how food, culture, and community converge at the table.
In collaboration with the Museum of Boulder’s exhibition Boulder Eats and Community Table Kitchen—the social enterprise of Boulder Bridge House—the event highlights Boulder’s rich food heritage and the cultural and ecological systems shaping how we share and experience food today.
The evening begins with a panel discussion moderated by acclaimed food writer and radio host John Lehndorff, featuring local restaurateurs and culinary professionals. Together, they will reflect on Boulder’s evolving food landscape and the ways food is a site for rich artistry and creativity on and off the table.
Following the conversation, guests will gather for a communal dining experience featuring three chef-curated tasting stations by Boulder Bridge House. Each station—Comfort, Migration, and Celebration—offers a lens into how food across Boulder and the Front Range connects us to memory, movement, and belonging.
More than a meal, the evening uplifts the work of Boulder Bridge House, whose culinary training program provides vital job skills, daily meals, and pathways out of homelessness. The chefs and servers participating in the event are part of this initiative, grounding the experience in both exceptional food and meaningful social impact.
About Community Table Kitchen:
Community Table Kitchen (CTK) is a Boulder-based social enterprise catering and food production program of Bridge House. We provide high-quality, seasonal food for events while offering paid job training and employment for individuals working to rebuild their lives after experiencing homelessness. Through our catering, café, and food production programs, we combine thoughtful, from-scratch cooking with meaningful workforce development, using food as a tool to build community and create pathways to long-term stability.
About Boulder Eats! exhibit at Museum of Boulder:
Boulder Eats! is an exhibition at the Museum of Boulder focusing on food traditions along the Front Range, with a special emphasis on our community’s restaurants, farms, and kitchens. Over 300 objects from the Museum’s historic collection featuring kitchens, health food businesses, orchards, schools and restaurants will be on view. Programs including cooking classes, demonstrations, nutrition workshops and more will also be available to our visitors making this a can’t miss experience.
Using objects from the Museum’s permanent collection, the exhibit tells Boulder’s story through the foods we eat. Exploring our farms and gardens, the evolving technology in our kitchens, the impact Boulder’s natural food businesses have had on our own and our nation’s health, as well as the cultural stories reflected at our dinner tables both at home and in local restaurants come together to tell and even shape our community’s history. Boulder Eats! Food Traditions along the Front Range explores Boulder and how the food we consume energizes, celebrates, and reflects our traditions, who we have become, and what we value today.
About John Lehndorff:
John Lehndorff is the Food Editor of the Boulder Reporting Lab and Exhibit Historian for the Boulder Eats exhibit at the Museum of Boulder. He has written about food and culture in Boulder for nearly five decades including as the Food Editor of the Daily Camera, and Dining Critic for the Rocky Mountain News. A former restaurant cook, caterer and cooking teacher, Lehndorff hosts Radio Nibbles and Kitchen Table Talk on KGNU. He is the former Executive Director of the American Pie Council and Chief Judge at the National Pie Championships.

Danse Etoile Ballet: Les Contes de la Mere L'Oye | June 5 - 6, 2026
2026-06-05 19:30 - 20:45 | Gordon Gamm Theater, Walnut Street, Boulder, CO, 80302, United States
TICKETS
Danse Etoile Ballet’s season finale is Les Contes de ma mère l’Oye, Tales of Mother Goose, as originally told by Charles Perrault. These classic French fairy tales, including “Sleeping Beauty,” “Little Red Riding Hood,” “Cinderella,” “Puss in Boots,” and “Tom Thumb,” evoke the dreamlike world of childhood through the captivating choreography of Marie-Jose Payannet and a blend of classic and contemporary music. We invite you to encounter these fairytales woven in the enchantment of imaginary landscapes.

Set the Table: Artist Talk
2026-06-17 17:00 - 20:00 | Dairy Arts Center, Walnut Street, Boulder, CO, 80302, United States
TICKETS
Join us for an evening of conversation inside Set the Table: The Art of Nourishment, a multi-gallery exhibition exploring the table as a site of connection, culture, and exchange.
This artist talk brings together participating artists for an intimate discussion on the ideas, materials, and processes behind their work. From food as memory and ritual to questions of ecology, labor, and community, the conversation unpacks how each artist approaches nourishment in its many forms—cultural, emotional, ecological, and creative.
Set within the exhibition itself, the talk invites audiences to engage directly with the artworks and the artists who made them, offering deeper insight into the stories, research, and lived experiences that shape the work on view.
Following the discussion, guests are encouraged to stay, explore the galleries, and continue the conversation.
About the Exhibition
Set the Table: The Art of Nourishment spans all of the Dairy Arts Center’s gallery spaces, examining the table as both a physical and symbolic space—where food, art, and community intersect. Through installation, photography, sculpture, and interdisciplinary practices, the exhibition considers how shared meals carry histories, shape identities, and reflect our relationships to land, labor, and one another.

Boulder Comedy Festival | June 18-21
2026-06-18 19:00 - 20:30 | Gordon Gamm Theater, Walnut Street, Boulder, CO, 80302, United States
TICKETS
Nationally touring comics come together with local comedians to create a sea of hilarity in Boulder and the surrounding areas.

13 Fires | June 24 - 26
2026-06-24 18:00 - 19:00 | Grace Gamm Theatre, Walnut Street, Boulder, CO, 80302, United States
TICKETS
A powerful new community theater production, 13 Fires, will bring the story of one of America’s great Black cultural districts to the stage in Boulder this season in celebration of Juneteenth. The play tells the story of Indiana Avenue in Indianapolis—once a thriving Black neighborhood filled with jazz clubs, Black-owned businesses and the pioneering entrepreneur Madam C. J. Walker, and legendary performers such as Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington.
Then the neighborhood was almost completely wiped out.
13 Fires explores how Indiana Avenue was dismantled during the expansion of Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis, when property acquisitions, eminent domain threats, redlining, and rising taxes forced families out of the homes and community they had built. Through intimate storytelling and memories of the Avenue’s golden era, the play confronts the human cost of development and displacement.
While the story unfolds in Indianapolis, the production speaks directly to ongoing conversations about housing, belonging, and community change in Boulder and across Colorado.
Presented during the Juneteenth season, 13 Fires is a moving reflection on culture, displacement, and the enduring spirit of a people determined to keep their stories alive.

The p(art) Project Professional Intensive Performance
2026-06-26 17:00 - 18:00 | Dairy Arts Center, Walnut Street, Boulder, CO, 80302, United States
TICKETS
The p(art) Project Professional Intensive is a 17-day immersive experience and creative process designed for dancers ages 17+ who are seeking to refine and deepen their intention and purpose as artists within the dance community.
Throughout this experience, dancers are immersed in a collaborative creative process that culminates in the creation of a full-length work, offering dancers the opportunity to participate in performance as an extension of process, presence, and collective authorship.
We invite you to come witness the final work of The Professional Intensive artists.
Choreographed by: Kelly Demelio

Coming In Hot! A menopause standup comedy event in support of reproductive care access
2026-07-09 18:00 - 20:30 | Gordon Gamm Theater, Walnut Street, Boulder, CO, 80302, United States
TICKETS
This summer, we’re turning hot flashes into hot tickets with Moms Unhinged, a nationally touring comedy show that tackles menopause with zero shame and plenty of laughs.

General admission $100

General Seating
One Specialty Drink or Mocktail
Includes $50 donation to BVHC

Premiere Seating $250

Premiere seating Row 4-5
Ticket for two Specialty Drink or Mocktail
VIP giftbag
Includes $200 donation to BVHC

VIP $500

Meet & greet Happy Hour with comedians
1st, 2nd, and 3rd Row seating
Ticket for two Specialty Drink or Mocktail
VIP giftbag & Giveaway
Includes $400 donation to BVHC

Set the Table: Immersive Dinner & Art Retreat
2026-07-22 17:00 - 21:00 | McMahon Gallery, Walnut Street, Boulder, Colorado, 80302, United States
TICKETS
The Set the Table exhibition brings together food, art, home, and community, exploring how the table serves as a universal locus for culture, environment, and the many ways we come together over food.
The Dairy Arts Center brings this exhibition to life with a very special event: Set the Table: Immersive Dinner and Art Retreat. On July 22, guests are invited to an intimate farm-to-table dinner surrounded by the artworks of Set the Table, where dining becomes a creative, multi-sensory experience.
The evening will feature a beautifully crafted five-course meal by Forage Sisters, a local, women-owned farm-to-table catering company. Their menu offers a culinary journey through Colorado’s diverse peoples, places, and histories, with each dish rooted in seasonal ingredients, sustainable practices, and the rich narratives embedded in the region’s foodways.
Throughout the evening, Boulder-based artist and founder of Schoolhouse Studios, Kristen Abbott will guide guests through a mini artist retreat. Through a series of hands-on, creative activities woven into the rhythm of the meal, participants are invited to reflect, play, and embrace Abbott’s philosophy of “joyful experimentation.”
The tablescape itself is part of the experience—a feast for the senses that blurs the boundaries between installation, performance, and communal dining. An evening where the act of gathering becomes an artwork in itself.
Includes a five-course dinner, one drink, and all artist-led activities and materials. Bar will be available.
Menu to be announced soon. Capacity is limited to 40 guests—reserve your spot for this special one-night experience.
About Set the Table Exhibition:
The Set the Table exhibition, at the Dairy Arts Center from the 15th of May to the 2nd of August, explores the table as a site of connection—where food, art, and community intersect. Bringing together artists working across disciplines, the exhibition considers how the table is a locus point of culture, and how shared meals carry histories, shape identities, and reflect our relationships to the environment, heritage, and one another.
About Forage Sisters:
Forage Sisters is a full service event and farm-to-table catering company, born between two best friends whose passion lies in bringing people together through intentional food and thoughtful events.
About Kristen Abbott:
Kristen Abbott is a mixed media painter and textile artist based in Boulder, Colorado. Her practice moves between abstract painting and cyanotype textiles, shaped through an experimental, process-driven approach.
In her cyanotype work, sunlight acts as both collaborator and catalyst, imprinting organic forms onto hand-coated fabrics such as linen, cotton, and silk. Abbott often reworks these surfaces with additional materials, building layered compositions that shift with the viewer’s perspective and gradually reveal new details over time.
Guided by a philosophy of “joyful experimentation,” her work embraces unpredictability and reflects an intuitive dialogue with place, light, and material—inviting viewers into quiet moments of reflection and discovery.

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.

BENISE 25 Years of Passion!
2026-08-28 19:30 - 21:00 | Gordon Gamm Theater, Walnut Street, Boulder, CO, 80302, United States
TICKETS
Emmy Award Winning Spanish Guitar and Dance Spectacular.
It’s one hot night as Benise, “The Prince of Spanish Guitar,” celebrates 25 years of fiery Spanish guitar and dance.
Armed with his Spanish guitar and a stage full of musicians and elaborately choreographed dancers, Benise takes the audience on a musical journey through Spanish Flamenco, Cuban Salsa, Brazilian Samba, Parisian Waltz, exotic drumming, and more!
Benise (pronounced Buh-nes-say) shattered the mold of Spanish guitar by combining world music and dance – the only show of its kind!
The 25th Anniversary tour establishes Benise’s Emmy Award winning show as one of the longest running Latin-themed theatrical productions touring the world.
For Benise, music has always been a journey. From his humble beginnings as a street performer, to being featured on the #1 rated show in the USA – Dancing With The Stars. Guitarist and creative force behind the event, Benise, comments “I wanted to push the boundaries of Nuevo Flamenco/Spanish guitar while combining the elements of dance and theater. This show is a celebration of all the shows we’ve done over the last 25 years.”

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
