It’s Denver Arts Week! Denver Arts Week celebrates our city’s vibrant arts and culture scene, especially the visual arts, theater, music, film, museums, dance, opera comedy, history and heritage! So in honor of Denver Arts week, we’re telling you about our favorite museums in Denver. In no particular order, here is the list of our favorite Denver museums:
Denver Museum of Nature and Science
A continual favorite in Denver, the Museum of Nature and Science is huge and fun for all ages. There are lots of permanent exhibits; here are a few that we love:
- Discovery Zone: If you’ve got kids, consider going directly to this exhibit – it’s a hands-on educational center geared toward children. Kids can have great fun digging up dinosaurs, making crafts, and inspecting insects!
- Space Exhibit. Explore the cosmos. Visit Mars. Make your own discoveries! As you emerge from an entry corridor with views of space, a dramatic Martian canyon lies to your right. To your left, dust and gas swirl in giant nebulae. You might want to head to this exhibit first, as it can get very crowded.
- Gems & Minerals: Get your hardhat on and walk through a recreated mine! You’ll see local finds, like Tom’s Baby, an eight-pound nugget of crystallized gold unearthed in Breckenridge in 1887, as well as hundreds of other gems like Brazilian topaz, California watermelon tourmaline, Australian opals, intense blue azurite, green malachite, four-inch zeolite needle sprays from India.
- Prehistoric Journey: Everyone loves dinosaurs! In addition to amazing dinosaur bones, you can pick up fossils from Museum Touch Carts and examine them, and also observe scientists as they study and prepare fossils using modern technology to decipher the past.
Plan on a whole day, if you can! In addition to the permanent exhibits, they always have interesting special rotating exhibits.
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Denver Art Museum
The Denver Art Museum is practically overflowing with great exhibits. Exhibits change regularly, but you can always count on seeing a wide variety of amazing art. Right now you can view masterworks of the Renaissance, treasures of British art, dramatic Pre Colombian art, and contemporary Japanese ceramics, to name a few.
Bonus: almost every floor of the Denver Art Museum has an activity for families or children to do and admission is free for kids!
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Denver Botanic Gardens
While not technically a traditional museum, the Denver Botanic Gardens is one of the top five botanic gardens in the nation. It’s an oasis in the city, offering year-round events, Mordecai Children’s Garden, a tropical Conservatory and so much more! During the holidays, don’t miss the beautiful holiday lights extravaganza: Trail of Lights and Blossoms of Light.
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History Colorado Center
The newest addition to the Denver museum scene, History Colorado Center is a high-tech, Smithsonian Affiliate museum that brings Colorado history to life through stories and exhibits.
If you think learning about history is dry, think again! This museum is packed with interactive activities, and is entertaining as well. It’s a favorite with kids of all ages, which is surprising to some people. Definitely check it out!
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Museum of Contemporary Art
The Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) has five galleries that showcase a series of exhibits devoted to innovation and creativity. They don’t have a permanent collection, so all exhibits are rotating and that keeps the galleries fresh. The museum itself has a cool vibe, which you can tell just from the amazing architectural structure of the museum.
Don’t miss the rooftop garden, café and bar and its amazing views!
