Denver experimental musician (Midwife / Sister Grotto). Rhinoceropolis cohort; co-organized Fantasia 2016 with Colin. Album Forever (2020) dedicated to Colin.
Also known as: Midwife, Sister Grotto
Denver-based experimental musician. Current alias: Midwife (organizations/midwife.md). Pre-Midwife project: Sister Grotto, the name under which she released You Don’t Have To Be A House To Be Haunted (curated visual collaborations with Curt Heiner).
Connection to Colin
Madeline Johnston and Colin Ward were Rhinoceropolis cohort members. Their two most significant on-record connections are:
- Fantasia 2016 co-organization (September 9–11, 2016). Per Tom Murphy’s Westword preview, the event was framed by joint statement from “Ward and Rhinoceropolis cohort Madeline Johnston” — the first time the vault has documented a Fantasia co-organizer credit outside of Stephan Herrera. Johnston performed Sunday night as Sister Grotto with visual collaboration by Curt Heiner.
- Album Forever (2020) dedicated to Colin — Midwife’s album published two years after Colin’s death.
The 2016 co-organization is the first time a non-Herrera Rhinoceropolis cohort member is documented stepping into the co-curator role with Colin; this suggests the late-Rhinoceropolis-era network (2015–2016) was less Herrera-centric than the 2012–2014 period.
Projects
- Midwife — current/canonical project alias
- Sister Grotto — earlier project name; You Don’t Have To Be A House To Be Haunted is the album of record under this name
- Rhinoceropolis cohort — a residential / scene-organizing role at the venue
Sources
- Westword — Fantasia Returns to Rhinoceropolis This Weekend (Tom Murphy, 2016-09-09) — quotes “Ward and Rhinoceropolis cohort Madeline Johnston” co-statement; lists Sister Grotto on the Sunday lineup
- See also midwife for the Midwife-project history and NTS pairing context