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Enigma Bazaar: A Conversation with Autumn Eggleton

Enigma Bazaar: A Conversation with Autumn Eggleton

Enigma

If you’ve driven down 38th Street from Denver to Wheatridge in the past year or so, you may have seen a cool-looking, empty building labeled with the words Enigma Bazaar. If so, you might have questions,and you’re not alone; we did too. So, we tracked down one of the founders of the new spot, Co-Owner Autumn Eggleton, and chatted about what she plans to do with the innovative location, set to be an immersive bar, art space, and event space. As we all dream together of warmer days and life after quarantine, let us dream with Eggleton about her future spot in Northwest Denver.

Tell me how you got such a cool space for your venue.
We had the idea to open this kind of space for a really long time. We all have different creative interests, and then finally, a couple years ago, we decided to make it a reality. We looked for a building around Denver for quite a while, and then we fell in love with our space on West 38th Avenue.

It used to be Ziggy’s Blues Bar, and even prior to being Ziggy’s, it had been a bar and music venue since, I think, the 20s or 30s. So, we really liked that history and how it’s been so kind of integral to this area of Denver. It just felt like we belonged here.

How did you all decide you wanted to run a venue for a living?
We actually all met back in New York, and a few of my partners are from Colorado originally. Our tech manager was actually my roommate in Brooklyn, and then I came to know all the others through him.

I have worked in visual art and nonprofit work for the last 10 or so years. Our tech manager is also a sound engineer, and our other partners, Chad and Carly, have done many theatre productions together. She also does stage management, theatre, vocal lessons, that sort of thing, and then our other partner, Christine, is a professional costume designer, so we kind of wanted to mash it all together and make something good.

Related article: Bandcamp Waives Revenue Share For All Artists This Friday 

So the goal is to do music, theatre, and art here?
Yes, we really want to create a home specifically for immersive art. Denver is really big on the immersive arts community, and we understand that space to actually put on your work is very hard to come by. Especially space that won’t break the bank but will still have everything you need to run your show. Then we wanted to add food and drink to supplement and kind of give it more of a community vibe.

Is the plan to only be open when there’s a show or performance, or all the time?
All the time; we’re basically going to have normal bar hours of operation. We have a full liquor and dance cabaret license. Also, once we get the hang of that, we’re experimenting with the idea of daytime programming, utilizing the other side of the building. Even having children’s programming; then maybe, like, the moms can come over here and hang out. There are so many ideas.

What are you doing to make sure this place is feminist, queer-friendly, inclusive of all folks, and all that good stuff?
In terms of ownership, we’re three women and one guy, and we always say Chad is an honorary lesbian. We’re a very inclusive group and really want to approach this space with mindfulness and acceptance the way we approach out own lives. And we really think that Denver is yearning for a space where artists and people with all different lifestyles can come to a safe space and have a mindful, provocative experience and be accepted and safe. We want people to be able to actualize their full potential.

Related article: 24/7 Livestream Network is Calling for Denver Artists

Do you have any specific types of art or theatre planned out already?
Yes, we are going to have a vagina lounge painted with all kinds of vaginal imagery. As far as our overall design inspiration, a lot of it is based around Tarot and the tree of life, and we try to bring in that kind of thoughtfulness to our design and our programming. And once we do open, one of our partners, Carly, has actually written a number of shows based around the Tarot.

Do you have plans to work with any nonprofits or existing organizations?
Definitely. We already have a good relationship with Control Group Productions and a few other groups around Denver, and a lot of different people have reached out to us about potentially doing events in tandem with their businesses, so we really want to be able to house that. Our goal is to have specified programming every day and to be able to kind of use our space to boost what other people are doing.

What kind of food and drinks are you going to offer?
For our opening cocktail menu, we’ve designed five house cocktails based around the elements: air, water, fire, earth, and ether, and we actually have a bartender, Hayley Watson; she’s currently a bartender at Occidental bar right now. She is amazing and open-minded and creative, and she’s helped us orchestrate the whole drink side of everything. We’re focusing a lot on Colorado spirits; we’ve done a lot of research, and we’ve taken a lot of tours and gone on a lot of weird road trips to visit odd distilleries.

And then for food, we’re working with a chef from Honduras; his food is very kind of like Honduran and Mediterranean fusion, very healthy, very low-impact. He sources locally when he can. It’s going to be small plates, and we’re not gonna have any fried food or that sort of thing, lots of small bites and vegetarian-friendly stuff. We’ll have catering for events, and then also food available all the time.

To keep up with Enigma Bazaar’s journey, visit enigmabazaar.com

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