Studio Friction

Studio Friction calls itself Denver’s home for rope and aerial art. The Rope in the Rockies site, which uses it as its venue, says the studio has been open since 2017 and describes more than twenty suspension points, a “Bound Wall” and four distinct spaces. The studio’s about page says it was founded by three Denver community members with backgrounds in rope, business, performance, teaching and event organizing.

Its stated mission is a rope-centered, sex-positive and non-normative space for learning, practice, play and performance, which aims to help shape the future of kinbaku, bring rope together with aerial art and build community, with a stated commitment to justice, equity, diversity and inclusion. As a members’ social club it routes dues and entry fees back into the studio. Volunteer committees handle check-in, setup, social media and building work, and the site has a form for reporting incidents.

Classes run as a multi-part Rope Bondage Series in four-session blocks; in November 2026 the home page listed a Beginner 1 block and an Intermediate 2 block. Curriculum grants cover tuition for Beginner 1, Beginner 2 and Intermediate 1 together with a year of basic membership, for students who need financial help. Members can also rent private rooms.

The recurring calendar fills most of the month. A members-only open rope lab runs every Wednesday evening. The first Saturday combines open practice with a one-hour 101 lesson for people with no experience, and the third Saturday pairs a community potluck with tying. Sunday afternoons host a roundtable for rope bottoms and a skill-share “Rope Practicum” for tops, bottoms, switches and self-tiers. A monthly Consent Education Series is priced on a sliding scale. Affinity nights include Fab Lab for LGBTQIA+ people and a monthly kickback by the Black Fem Kink Collective. The Knotty Show mixes stand-up comedy with a live suspension. There is also a self-suspension Saturday. In November 2026 most open events cost $20 for non-members and less or nothing for members, depending on membership tier.

Studio Friction is the venue of the Rope in the Rockies retreat each autumn, and Denver teachers such as pandoradreams, Creative Mayhem, BetwixtBlushes and TheDude appear on that event’s presenter list. Its people also teach elsewhere in the city: a November 2026 beginner class at the Sexploratorium was taught by a rigger who, according to the listing, runs the studio’s second and fourth Wednesday rope labs.