With its international reputation as a leader in innovative education and exhibition programs, the Denver Art Museum’s commitment to public access and community collaboration is well known. In 2012 the museum began planning to make a major investment to better serve our expanding community by renovating one of the city’s architectural icons—the nearly 50-year-old North Building.
In order to close the Denver Art Museum's North Building for renovation, thousands of artworks had to be packed and moved into storage. The following statistics were compiled by the exhibition and collection services move team (aka Team Awesome).
Objects in the North Building when project started: 36,500
Objects remaining in the North Building: 1 (Mud Woman Rolls On)
Longterm loans returned to lenders: 720
People involved in the move: 109 DAM staff and on-calls; 25 outside contractors
Drawn to Glamour: Fashion Illustrations by Jim Howard was on view March 25, 2018–Aug 5, 2018.
In conjunction with the exhibition Drawn to Glamour: Fashion Illustrations by Jim Howard (on view through August 5), this blog explores the history of dandyism through the lives and styles of two of the decidedly dapper icons featured in the paper doll book Four Famous Dandies.
Meet the Artist
Work is well under way at the Denver Art Museum to make room for a brand new welcome center. The completed project in 2021 will include a renovated North Building and a united art museum campus in the heart of the Golden Triangle Creative District.
Meanwhile, the DAM’s Hamilton Building is open 7 days per week during construction, and we will continue to share more as the project continues. Keep an eye on for continued updates about the exciting project.
This article tells the story of how the Denver Art Museum conserved this map. To learn more about the map itself read this article. No longer on view.
History, Artistry & Science
Traditional conservation embodies what I like to refer to as the “holy trinity” of disciplines: history, artistic competency, and science. The marriage of these three areas make conservation stand apart from restoration—or simply making something look good or better.
These videos tell the story of how curators, conservators, and educators worked to conserve The Virgin of Valvanera (on view in Revealing a Mexican Masterpiece: The Virgin of Valvanera), a painting created in the 1700s.
Denver citizens voted in favor of the Our Denver Bond measure 2B on November 7. Measure 2B supports the preservation of and upgrades to the region’s cultural institutions. It is part of the city’s 2A–2G bond package to fix city infrastructure in every neighborhood and help Denver continue to be a great place to live. City voters elected to support all seven bond measures, investing in infrastructure as well as public safety, and recreational and cultural facilities across the Mile High City.
Make sure to drop off your ballot at a polling center or drop-off box on or before Election Day, November 7, 2017. For more information, visit DenverVotes.org. (The ballot mail-in deadline has passed.)
This November, City of Denver voters will have the opportunity to support public investment in infrastructure through the Our Denver Bonds measures 2A–2G. These measures are a plan to fix city infrastructure in every neighborhood.
Keeps Denver a Great Place to Live
Artists have used varnishes to coat their paintings since the 1400s—some claim as early as the eleventh century. Varnishes serve to saturate the paint colors, provide some degree of protection for the paint surface, and to impart an even surface sheen. Some artists have used varnishes as an aesthetic medium, mixing resins into wet paint to create rich translucency or selectively applying them to juxtapose areas of matte and gloss.
Conservation & Varnish
Updated August 17, 2018.
1. The Denver Art Museum will remain open while the North Building is being renovated. Learn about the lineup of current and upcoming exhibitions.
2. The museum is open seven days a week. Learn more about hours.
3. Select artworks from each of our collections will be on view in exhibitions like Stampede: Animals in Art and Ganesha: The Playful Protector, as well as future shows to be announced.
For a painting that is over 300 years old, The Virgin of Valvanera is in remarkably good condition. One would fully expect that a painting of this age has undergone several attempts at restoration (by both skilled and amateur hands). Contrary to what is usually the case, this painting has not incurred major structural damage in the form of tears or losses, has never been lined (i.e. attached to a secondary canvas or solid support material), and has not been severely over-cleaned or extensively repainted.
Sandra Garcia will be in the Costume Studio demonstrating Mexican heritage through dance and costume September 2-3, 2017.
Holly Nordeck: What will you be demonstrating at the Denver Art Museum? What can visitors expect to see?