Denver Art Museum
The Denver Art Museum 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. 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. The museum's Martin Building was designed by famed Italian architect Gio Ponti in 1971.
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.
History
1893–1923
The museum's origins can be traced back to the founding of the Denver Artists Club in 1893. 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.1948–1974
In 1948, the DAM purchased a building on Acoma and 14th Avenue on the south side of Civic Center Park. 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. 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, 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. 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." It is his only completed design built in the United States. 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.
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".
2006–present
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. Duncan Pavilion was designed to be kid- and family-friendly while also suitable for multi-use, including the museum's Untitled Final Friday series as well as wedding receptions and other events.In December 2016, the Denver Art Museum announced a transformational $150 million project to unify the museum's campus and revitalize Ponti's building, including the creation of new gallery spaces, two new dining options and the new Sie Welcome Center. With architecture and design led by Machado-Silvetti and Denver-based Fentress Architects, the renovation project is slated for completion in 2021 in time for the 50th anniversary of Ponti's original building. The Duncan Pavilion was demolished in 2019.
Hamilton Building
The Frederic C. Hamilton Building houses the museum's Modern and Contemporary Art, African Art and Oceanic Art collections, along with part of the Western American art collection and special exhibition spaces. Designed as a joint venture by Studio Daniel Libeskind and Denver firm Davis Partnership Architects, the glass and titanium- clad building opened on October 7, 2006. Recognized by the American Institute of Architects as a successful Building Information Modeling project, the Hamilton Building is Libeskind's first completed building in the United States.Recognized for its bold design, the four-story, 146,000 square foot, the Hamilton building serves as the main entrance to the rest of the museum complex. This project doubled the size of the museum, allowing for an expansion of the art on view.
The angular design of the Hamilton building juts in many directions, supported by a 2,740-ton structure that contains more than 3,100 pieces of steel. One of the angled elements extends 167 feet over and 100 feet above the street below. None of the 20 planes is parallel or perpendicular to another.
Similar to the many-peaked roof of the Denver International Airport, the Hamilton Building emulates the sharp angles of the nearby Rocky Mountains, as well as the geometric crystals found at the mountains' base near Denver. Architect Daniel Libeskind said, "I was inspired by the light and geology of the Rockies, but most of all by the wide-open faces of the people of Denver."
;Context
Regarding the design concept, Libeskind commented, "The project is not designed as a standalone building but as part of a composition of public spaces, monuments and gateways in this developing part of the city, contributing to the synergy amongst neighbors large and intimate."
Libeskind designed a landscaped pedestrian plaza for the DAM complex. Sculptures on display include 'Scottish Angus Cow and Calf' by Dan Ostermiller, 'Big Sweep' by Coosje van Bruggen and Claes Oldenburg, and 'Denver Monoliths' by Beverly Pepper.
;Awards
Due to the distinct configuration of the steel to produce the building, the Hamilton Building expansion of the DAM received a Presidential Award of Excellence from the American Institute of Steel Construction—AISC’s 2007 Innovative Design in Engineering and Architecture with Structural Steel Awards competition.
;Architectural reviews
The design of the Hamilton extension of DAM has received mixed reviews. Christopher Hawthorne, architecture critic for the Los Angeles Times, said the architectural achievement of the building does not mean it works well as a museum. He called the Hamilton Building "a stunning piece of architectural sculpture," but "a pretty terrible place for showing and looking at art." "Museum architecture does not always blend cohesively with a great architectural achievement."
Lewis Sharp said one of the most thrilling things about the Hamilton Building is that visitors can see the artworks in a new environment, as there are at least 20 different ways to display and hang artists’ work in the sloping and angular galleries. "I think you often see things that you had never seen before," Sharp said. "It just raises all types of potentially new ways to engage a visitor."
Some visitors and Denver residents appreciate the design, such as the Andreesons, who said, "We’re in normal looking buildings every single day. It’s just kind of an experience to walk into a room that doesn’t look like rooms that we would normally be in." Sharp said that was exactly what the museum was looking for in their expansion. He said the museum's board was seeking the opportunity to draw people to the city.
Martin Building
On January 10, 2018, the Denver Art Museum broke ground on a comprehensive renovation of its North Building—the only completed structure in North America designed by Italian architect Gio Ponti. One of the first-ever high rise art museums, the North Building was renamed in 2019 in honor of Lanny and Sharon Martin, who made the lead gift of $25 million to revitalize the building as part of the museum's ongoing campus transformation project. Additionally, the Elevate Denver Bond Program contributed $35.5 million in funding to DAM's project.The renovation includes updates to all seven floors of galleries, the creation of new learning and engagement spaces, as well as a new restaurant, café, and the Sie Welcome Center. The design includes skylights, which reveal new aspects of his design, and exterior site improvements such as lighting as well as revitalizing the glass tiles on the façade of the building. Machado Silvetti and Denver-based Fentress Architects are the design teams behind the $150 million project slated for reopening timed to the building's 50th anniversary in 2021.
When Ponti's original structure was built in 1971, it was designed to accommodate 100,000 visitors per year. In 2017, the museum estimated an average attendance of 850,000 visitors annually. To accommodate growing audiences, the museum's renovation project will add more than 72,000 square feet of new and refurbished gallery and visitor spaces, in addition to the implementation of crucial safety and infrastructure upgrades.
Sie Welcome Center
As part of the Denver Art Museum's major transformation project, the new Sie Welcome Center was constructed to create a new visitor-friendly entrance to the Martin Building and as a connector to the Hamilton Building. Named in honor of Anna and John J. Sie who pledged $12 million in support of the project, the round, glass-clad structure designed by Machado Silvetti and Fentress Architects will serve as the Martin Building's new visitor entrance and ticketing center.When the Sie Welcome Center opens, it will be home to The Ponti, a restaurant focused on local ingredients led by chef Jennifer Jasinski, as well as a more casual café for lighter fare. On the second floor of the Sie Welcome Center is the Sturm Grand Pavilion, one of downtown Denver's largest and most distinctive special event spaces. Over 10,000 square feet, the pavilion's curved, glass panels offer a view of the city.
On the second floor of the Sie Welcome Center is the Sturm Grand Pavilion, one of downtown Denver's largest and most distinctive special event spaces. Over 10,000 square feet, the pavilion's curved, glass panels offer a view of the city.
Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Galleries
As part of the Martin Building renovation, the new Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Galleries will present 7,000 square feet of new gallery space for the museum's permanent collection. Reclaiming square footage previously used for art storage, this completely renovated space on level one of the Martin Building will be dedicated to temporary exhibitions pulled from the museum's extensive global art collections.
New Design Galleries
As part of the renovation of the museum's Martin Building, Machado Silvetti and Fentress Architects horizontally bisected the Martin Building's original Bonfils-Stanton Gallery on level one to create 10,000 square feet of new gallery space on the second level within the original footprint of the building: the Joanne Posner-Mayer Mezzanine Gallery, the Amanda J. Precourt Design Galleries, and the Ellen Bruss Design Studio. To realize the interior design of these new exhibition spaces, the museum partnered with New York-based design firm OMA, who collaborated with the museum previously for the 2018 blockbuster exhibition Dior: From Paris to the World.