Denver's Tumultuous Tattoo History, In Alicia Cardenas's Own Words

The mass shooting across Denver and Lakewood last month led to the deaths of five people, many of whom were leaders in the local tattooing community, including Alicia Cardenas. But as Westword's Culture Editor Emily Ferguson discovered when she was reporting on an art opening at a local parlor, the Denver tattoo community has a dark history of violence that long predates the events of December 27, 2021. Host Bree Davies sat down with Ferguson to talk about how Cardenas and a new wave of artists revolutionized the city’s tattoo scene and discuss Ferguson’s own experience of reporting on this community before and after the tragedy. 

Content warning: Ferguson recorded an interview with Cardenas 12 days before the shooting. This episode includes clips from that interview. 

For more on the Denver tattoo story, we highly recommend Ferguson’s story, including some pretty epic photos of 1970’s tattoo artists: https://www.westword.com/arts/denver-tattoo-murders-history-alicia-cardenas-peter-poulos-13222137 

Remember last week’s episode when City Cast CEO David Plotz came on to ask his embarrassing Denver questions? Our producer Paul Karolyi dove deep into the question of baking at altitude in our newsletter today, and your next focaccia will thank you for reading. Subscribe and read that issue here: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/

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