A ballroom culture celebration with dance, artmaking, and workshops inspired by the DIVA exhibition, featuring local Denver Kiki Houses.
Mother Valentino Flora takes over the Denver Art Museum on Friday, October 30, for the SpooKiKi Ball, the museum's Halloween celebration. Flora is a multidisciplinary artist, ballroom mother, and member of the Kiki House of Flora, and she's putting together a night that brings ballroom culture into the museum while keeping the local Denver scene at the center. The ball itself happens in the Sturm Event Pavilion in the Martin Building, but the whole evening spans the museum campus—the Hamilton Building, the Martin Building, and The Kirkland.
If you're not familiar, ballroom was created and nurtured primarily by Black and Brown LGBTQ+ communities, especially Black and Latina trans women, as a space for competition, chosen family, and the freedom to become whoever you want to be. That's what you'll see here: local Denver Kiki Houses dancing, posing, and walking the runway, competing in categories that run from fashion and beauty to performance and aesthetics, with judges, commentators, music, and an audience. The whole thing is inspired by the DIVA exhibition, so the connection to the art on the walls is built right into the night.
It's not just the runway, either. There's a hands-on side to the evening: you can help put together a DIVA zine, make a clacking fan, and get some DIY temporary tattoos with a spooky twist. Costumes are welcome, though the museum asks for no full face paint or face coverings except medical masks covering the mouth.
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Flora is presenting the night with contributing creatives Marcus Murray, Toluwanimi Obiwole, and Señor Trash. Entry is included with general admission—which means it's free for members and everyone 18 and younger—and admission to the DIVA exhibition requires a separate ticket. If you buy a DIVA ticket on the evening of October 30, that also gets you into the SpooKiKi Ball. The whole thing runs from 5 PM to 10 PM.
