The Kirkland Museum

Christopher Herron, Associate Director of Exhibitions & Collections for Kirkland Museum
Christopher Herron is a key member of many teams working to facilitate the merger of the Kirkland and Denver Art Museum, especially the redisplay of the collection to be more accessible and welcoming to all ages. Since starting at Kirkland Museum in 2004, Herron worked on over 50 exhibitions. He has been involved in curating from 2008 to the present, most notably organizing the Frank Lloyd Wright INSIDE THE WALLS exhibition of Wright’s furniture in 2022. Herron most recently served as Kirkland Museum’s interim director and deputy curator. Past roles include registrar and collections manager. From 2016 to 2018, he coordinated the packing, moving, unpacking and reinstallation of the full collection when Kirkland Museum relocated to Bannock Street. Before joining Kirkland Museum, Herron worked in graphic design. Herron holds a B.A. in art history from the University of Colorado Denver.

Becca Goodrum, Curatorial Associate, Kirkland Museum
Becca Goodrum is a key member of the teams working to facilitate the merger of the Kirkland and Denver Art Museum, especially the redisplay of the collection to be more accessible and welcoming to all ages. Goodrum held various collections and curatorial roles at Kirkland Museum from 2015 to 2024, most recently as curatorial associate. In 2024, Becca was the lead and solo curator for two exhibitions generated from the Kirkland’s collections: Vanity & Vice: American Art Deco (ongoing at the Kirkland) and Wright Place, Wrong Time: Triumphs and Flops on the Mid-Century Modern Table at the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities. From 2016 to 2018, Goodrum was instrumental to the packing, moving, unpacking and reinstallation of the full collection when Kirkland Museum relocated to Bannock Street. Before joining the Kirkland staff, Goodrum worked at History Colorado. She holds a B.A. in History and International Studies from Colorado State University and an M.A. in Museum Studies from Johns Hopkins. Since 2021, Goodrum has served on the international Christopher Dresser Society Management Committee and has presented papers at their DresserFest Symposia in 2021 and 2023.

Maya Wright, Project Manager, Kirkland Museum
Maya Wright is on the teams coordinating the integration of Kirkland communications and interpretation with the Denver Art Museum, including a new docent training module and tall text for each gallery. Wright started at Kirkland Museum in 2005, holding various membership, communications and education roles. From November 2019–September 2024, Maya served as the director of interpretation and was responsible for designing and producing the Kirkland's audio guide on Bloomberg Connects, the free arts and culture app. The audio guide included specialized tours for each temporary exhibition and the first character-driven audio tour on the entire app for Vanity & Vice, written with Becca Goodrum. Wright holds a B.A. in art and art history from Earlham College and an M.A. in art history and museum studies from the University of Denver.

In May 1981, artist Vance Kirkland died, naming family friend Hugh A. Grant as executor of his estate, including his historic studio & art school building at 13th Avenue and Pearl Street in Denver. Kirkland’s wife predeceased him and they had no children. Grant had been curating exhibitions for Kirkland and conducted extensive interviews to produce catalogs for Kirkland’s 1978 retrospective exhibitions at the Denver Art Museum and Genesis Galleries, New York. From 1981 to 1996, Grant mounted exhibitions of Kirkland’s work and that of other artists such as Edgar Britton and Otto Bach. By 1996, Grant became concerned that Colorado art was not being shown in depth in any museum setting.

In the late 1990s, Hugh Grant and Merle C. Chambers took Kirkland’s paintings to nine European countries and Russia with thirteen exhibitions. Grant and Chambers were simultaneously continuing to collect. Chambers, a philanthropist who was married to Grant from 1989–2017, was instrumental in the growth of the museum and developing the extensive international decorative art collection. Construction began on an addition to Vance Kirkland’s Pearl Street studio & art school building, which became the first home of Kirkland Museum.

Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art opened to the public on April 2, 2003, displaying paintings by Vance Kirkland, work by other Colorado artists, and international decorative art.

In January 2014, the Kirkland Museum announced plans to relocate to a new building at 12th Avenue and Bannock Street in Denver’s Golden Triangle Creative District designed by Jim Olson. Vance Kirkland’s studio & art school building is the heart of the experience and was relocated to Bannock Street in November 2016. Funding for the new home of the Kirkland, which opened March 10, 2018, was an investment by Merle Chambers and Merle Chambers Fund in the further development of the vibrant Golden Triangle Creative District and Denver’s nationally important art scene.

In May 2024, Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art and the Denver Art Museum jointly announced that the two museums were merging to ensure the Kirkland’s future in perpetuity. The agreement ensures the Kirkland Collection—including Kirkland’s paintings, Colorado art, and international decorative arts—will continue to be displayed in The Kirkland's unique display style using vignettes in the Jim Olson Building on Bannock Street. As of October 1, 2024, one ticket or membership grants access to both Kirkland and the Denver Art Museum. In mid-2025, the two will be fully aligned with matching hours, family activities, and bilingual text.