History

The Denver Art Museum was founded in 1893 as the Denver Artists' Club. Today it is one of the largest art museums between Chicago and the West Coast with global art collections that represent cultures around the world as well as work by artists from Denver and the Rocky Mountain region. Internationally known for its Indigenous Arts of North America collection, the museum also has one of the finest collections of Latin American Art and Art of the Ancient Americas.

Throughout its history, the Denver Art Museum has had several temporary homes, including the public library, a downtown mansion, and a portion of the Denver City and County Building. In 1971, the museum opened the North Building, now known as the Martin Building, one of only two buildings in North America designed by Italian architect Gio Ponti.

When the North Building opened, it was viewed as a “forerunner in the worldwide transformation of the temple-style museum into a proliferation of unprecedented and startling architectural forms." This bold tradition continued in 2000, with the selection of Daniel Libeskind for a visionary take on an expansion of the museum campus.

The resulting Frederic C. Hamilton Building opened to the public in 2006. The Hamilton Building includes the museum’s major exhibition spaces for special presentations and traveling art shows while the newly opened Martin Building is home to the museum’s encyclopedic collections and innovative Learning & Engagement Center, which brings the museum’s world-renowned museum education programming for all ages to the center of the campus.

In 2015, following efforts to focus on equal access to the arts and art education for young people, the Denver Art Museum announced its groundbreaking Free for Kids program, underwriting admission for all youth ages 18 and under. The program was created with leadership and support from museum trustee Scott Reiman, and additional support from corporate sponsors.

In 2016, following several years of increased attendance growth as well as a change in how the museum serves the wider community, the Denver Art Museum announced a significant renovation and expansion of the North end of the campus in order to better serve its 800,000 annual visitors. And in October 2021, the Denver Art Museum opened its reimagined expanded campus which includes the complete renovation of the 50-year-old Ponti-designed building, as well as the new Anna and John J. Sie Welcome Center, which houses guest services and two dining options.

Collections

The Denver Art Museum has more than 70,000 works of art across 12 permanent collections.

Aerial view of the Denver Art Museum campus in daytme

Image by James Florio Photography.

The Buildings

The Denver Art Museum campus consists of the Lanny & Sharon Martin Building, the Frederic C. Hamilton Building, and the Bannock Administration Building.