Denver Art Museum
The Denver Art Museum (DAM) is an art museum located in the Civic Center of Denver, Colorado. With an encyclopedic collection of more than 70,000 diverse works from across the centuries and world, the DAM is one of the largest art museums between the West Coast and Chicago.[1] It is known for its collection of American Indian art, as well as The Petrie Institute of Western American Art, which oversees the museum's Western art collection.[2][1] The museum's Martin Building (formerly known as the North Building) was designed by famed Italian architect Gio Ponti in 1971.[3]
Location
100 W 14th Avenue Pkwy
Denver, Colorado
In 2018, the museum began a transformational $150 million renovation project to unify the campus and revitalize Ponti's original structure, including the creation of new exhibition spaces, two new dining options, and a new welcome center.[4]
History[edit]
1893–1923[edit]
The museum's origins can be traced back to the founding of the Denver Artists Club in 1893.[5] The Club renamed itself the Denver Art Association in 1917 and opened its first galleries in the City and County building two years later. The museum opened galleries in the Chappell House in 1922. The house, located on Logan Street, was donated to the museum by Mrs. George Cranmer and Delos Chappell. In 1923, the Denver Art Association became the Denver Art Museum (DAM).[5]
1948–1974[edit]
In 1948, the DAM purchased a building on Acoma and 14th Avenue on the south side of Civic Center Park.[5] Denver architect Burnham Hoyt renovated the building, which opened as the Schleier Memorial Gallery in 1949. While the Schleier Gallery was a significant addition, the DAM still sought to increase its space. Additional pressure came from the Kress Foundation, who offered to donate three collections valued at over $2 million on the condition that DAM construct a new building to house the works.[5] DAM sought help from the city and county of Denver to raise funds. However, in 1952 voters failed to approve a resolution bond. Despite this setback, the museum continued to raise funds and eventually opened a new building, the South Wing (now known as the Bach Wing[6]), in 1954. This made it possible for DAM to receive the three Kress Foundation collections.
The North Building, a seven-story 210,000-square-foot addition, opened in 1971.[7] The building was designed by Italian modernist architect Gio Ponti, with local architects James Sudler Associates of Denver. Ponti said, "Art is a treasure, and these thin but jealous walls defend it."[8] It is his only completed design built in the United States.[7] Ponti designed the DAM building to break from the traditional museum archetypes. The two-towered "castle-like" façade has 24 sides, and more than one million reflective glass tiles, designed by Dow Corning, cover the building's exterior.[7]
The museum is included in the area of the Civic Center Historic District, which was listed on
the National Register of Historic Places. The museum building was deemed "non-contributing".[9][10]
2006–present[edit]
The Duncan Pavilion and the Frederic C. Hamilton Building were both added to the museum in 2006. The Duncan Pavilion, a 5,700-square-foot second story addition to the Bach Wing, was created to accommodate the bridge traffic from the new Hamilton Building and the existing North Building (1971). Duncan Pavilion was designed to be kid- and family-friendly while also suitable for multi-use, including the museum's Untitled Final Friday series[11] as well as wedding receptions and other events.
Camille Pissarro
Claude Monet
Claude Monet
Charles Marion Russell
Learning and Engagement[edit]
The museum's Learning & Engagement department has emphasized three areas: 1) Research in making museum visits successful and enjoyable; 2) Creation of installed learning materials (e.g., audio tours, labeling, video and reading areas, response journals and hands-on and artmaking areas); and 3) Interactive learning for young people both in school and family groups. Family-friendly programs and activities include the Just for Fun Family Center, gallery games, the Discovery Library, Kids Corner and Family Backpacks.[66] Access programs at the DAM include Art & About tours, for visitors with early-stage Alzheimer's or dementia; Low Sensory Mornings; and Tactile Tables.[67][68]
A key priority of the Denver Art Museum's ongoing campus transformation project is to center the DAM's educational programs at the heart of the campus. The new Bartlit Learning and Engagement Center features more than 12,000 square-feet of flexible programming space, workshop rooms and the Singer Pollack Family Wonderscape, which will present student-created exhibitions and host school and community events.[69] With interactive spaces designed by Mexico City-based Esrawe + Cadena, the interactive Bartlit Center also features the Morgridge Creative Hub. Spanning more than 5,600 square-feet.[69]
Funding[edit]
The museum is run by a non-profit organization separate from the City of Denver. Major funding for the museum is provided by a 0.1% sales tax levied in the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD), which includes seven Colorado counties (Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas and Jefferson) in the Denver-Aurora metropolitan area. The district provides funding to about 300 arts, cultural and scientific organizations in the seven counties. About 65% of this tax is used to provide funding for the Denver Art Museum and four other major science and cultural facilities in Denver: the Denver Botanic Gardens, the Denver Zoo, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science and the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. In addition, the museum receives large private donations and loans from private collections. Over the past five years, the Denver Art Museum has averaged more than 600,000 visitors a year.[70][71]
Media Mentions[edit]
The museum was mentioned in Smithsonian Channel's Aerial America "Colorado" episode in 2012. Ten years later, it was mentioned in a How Do they Build That? episode (also on Smithsonian). In 2022, the Denver Post published an investigative series into the role of Emma Bunker, a museum trustee, in the looted antiquities trade.[72][73][74] On January 11, 2024, The Denver Post broke the story that a supermajority of the Denver Art Museum's employees announced their intention to unionize wall to wall, including all eligible employees across all departments during the all-staff meeting that morning.[75] Despite the employees having a supermajority of pro-union workers, the director of the museum, Christoph Heinrich, verbally rejected to voluntarily recognize the union during the all-staff, and later in an email to all of the museum's employees.[76]
