Denver is blessed with museums to fit just about any family and any interest.
My personal favorites are the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. and the Children's Museum, thought I do also like the Denver Art Museum.
Denver Museum of Nature and Science
When I moved to Denver, this Museum was called the Denver Natural History Museum. It was always a great place to take the kids because of its “gee whiz” exhibits of huge, prehistoric dinosaurs, American Indian life, Insects and and birds and animals of Colorado, as well as its Gates Planetarium.
Since then, the museum has morphed into the Denver Museum of Nature and Science with more space, new exhibits an improved planetarium, and an IMAX Theater.
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Some of the exhibits are permanent, others are called current or traveling exhibitions. The permanent expeditions include:
Coors Gem and Mineral Hall
Egyptian Mummies
Hall of Life
North American Indian Cultures
Prehistoric Journey
Space Odyssey
Wildlife Exhibits
The next touring exhibition begins March 10 and runs through July 23. It is a fascinating – but not for the faint of heart – exhibition called “Body Worlds: The Anatomical Exhibition of Real Human Bodies.” This exhibition, which features more than 200 real human specimens, was created by Dr. Gunther Von Hagens using a process called Plastination to preserve anatomical specimens. This technology allows bodies to be saved in a durable and lifelike fashion for instruction and education, giving you an opportunity to appreciate what it really means to be human.
The Gates Planetarium
The Museum's Gates Planetarium is currently showing “Passport to the Universe,” “SonicVision – How Do You See Your Music,” “A Cosmic Journey,” and “The Search for Life – Are We Alone?” Beginning Feb. 10 is a presentation titled “Black Holes --- The Other Side of the Universe.” These presentations are just awesome and provide a view of space and the universe that is really hard to comprehend until you've seen it.
IMAX
If you've never had the IMAX Regardless of the subject, the four-and-a-half-story-tall IMAX screen fills your eye with crisp, vivid images, and the theater’s 58 speakers surround you with clear digital sound, giving you the feeling of being immersed in the action you see on screen without ever having to leave the comfort of your seat. The film used in the IMAX projector is four times larger than standard 35 mm movie film, so it delivers a superior picture. It also requires some special handling. A typical IMAX film is delivered on a four-foot-wide horizontal platter and weighs about 250 pounds. It takes nearly two-and-a-half miles of film for a 45-minute IMAX movie.
Just as with any theater, IMAX films change periodically. For example, the film “Wired to Win – Surviving the Tour De France” began on March 3 and will run for several months. The best way to learn what film will be playing when you're in Denver is to wait until a few days before your trip and then click on this link.
Denver Museum of Nature and Science
http://www.dmns.org/main/en/
2001 Colorado Boulevard
http://www.dmns.org/main/en/
Denver Art Museum
The Denver Art Museum is the largest art museum between Kansas City and the West Coast with more than 60,000 works of art. It boasts and Indian art collection that is internationally-renowned and its preColumbian and Spanish Colonial Art collection is considered to be outstanding. Its other collections include, Painting Ans Sculpture, Asian, Architecture, Design & Graphics, Modern and Contemporary, and Textile Art.
The building itself is considered a work of art with its 28 sides. There are seven floors of gallery space, stacked vertically, to enable visitors to reach desired exhibits quickly via elevator. The building's exterior is covered with more than one million faceted, shimmering gray tiles specially designed by Dow Corning.
In the fall of this year, the Museum will nearly double in size and will include one of the country's most unique and eye-catching structures – The Frederick C. Hamilton Building – which was designed by by renowned architect DanielLibeskind.
Current exhibitions at the DAM are:
Building Outside the Box: Creating the New Denver Art Museum
Blanket Statements, featuring the work of Navajo weaver
Heaven and Home: Chinese Art of the Han Dynasty from the Sze Hong Collection
New Classics – billed as the “best little show of today's big American Indian artists.”
These special exhibitions change from month to month, so, be sure to click on the link below to see what exhibitions will be on display during your Denver visit.
Denver Art Museum
100 W. 14th Ave. Parkway (14th & Broadway)
http://www.denverartmuseum.org/http://www.denverartmuseum.org/
The Children's Museum of Denver
If you're looking for something fun for your kids to do (newborn to age 8), be sure to put the The Children's Museum of Denver on your schedule.
This museum is designed to give kids interactive experiences in a series of “playscapes.” Unlike other museums, where the rule is “don't touch,” the battle cry of the The Children's Museum of Denver is “please touch.” The whole idea is to give kids an exciting, hands-on experience that also teaches important lessons. But don't think of these playscapes as just exercises in education. They're easy and fun and kids love them. For example, last year, my stepdaughter had a birthday party there for her daughter and eight nursery school classmates. I watched as every one of the nine kids just had a ball.
Here are some of the playscapes currently at the Museum:
Under My Feet and Over My Head. Here, children age four to eight will feel what it's like to be as tiny as an ant -- or be a bird and look for worms -- or even become a squirrel and look for hidden acorns!
CMD Fire Station No. 1http://www.cmdenver.org/attractions/index.cfm?fuseaction=attraction&attraction_id=8 This playscape gives kids the opportunity to explore a real fire truck, put on a fire hat and jacket and engage in all sorts of exciting fire-safety activities!
Arts ala Carte. Kids love this experience as they get to dance, sing, act, be an artist or put on a puppet show. There's just no end to the fun in Arts a la carte!
My market. This is an interactive playscape where children obtain rich hands-on experience in mini-grocery store setting while learning the importance of nutrition.
The Assembly Plant. In this playscape, children four to eight years old can build objects with real tools from recycled household materials.
The Children's Museum of Denver
2121 Children's Museum Drive
http://www.cmdenver.org/
Other Denver Museums
While the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, the Denver Art Museum and the Children's Museum of Denver are my personal favorites, Denver does have other museums that might interest you. Some of these are:
Denver Firefighter's Museum
The Denver Firefighter's Museum is located in historic firehouse #1. It has exhibits of fire fighting equipment used from 1863 to the 1940s, such as the steampumper. The fire station is located at 1326 Tremont Place. It is open from 10 am. to 2 pm. on Monday through Friday only. They also open for birthday parties. Tickets are $6.00 per child and $2 per adult. A firefighter's hat is included in the children's price.
Denver Firefighter's Museum
1326 Tremont Place
http://www.denverfirefightersmuseum.org/
Colorado Historical Society
The Colorado Historical Society houses the Colorado History Museum This museum has items and dioramas showing the early Indians who lived in the Denver area and exhibits of items from the early mining days right up to fairly modern times, such things as replicas of settler's cabins, agricultural and mining tools and machinery and Victorian furniture. It also features items and pictures of the modern era from 1900 to the present. These include videos of John F. Kennedy's inaugural address and Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech.
Colorado Historical Society
1300 Broadway
http://www.coloradohistory.org/
Black American West Museum and Heritage Center
The Black American West Museum & Heritage Center tells the forgotten story of the African American pioneers who helped to shape the West. This small museum is housed in the former home of Dr. Justina Ford, Colorado's first African American female doctor. Its collection consists of more than 35,000 personal artifacts, memorabilia, newspapers, legal documents, clothing, letters, photographs and oral histories.
Black American West Museum and Heritage Center
3055 California
http://www.blackamericanwest.org/
Colorado Railroad Museum
While I didn't include this in my list of the three most popular museums, it really is one of my favorites. Colorado has a just amazing railroad history due, of course, to the Rocky Mountains. You can't appreciate what it took to push tracks through these mountains until you see the exhibitions at this museum. I used to spend vacation time in the little town of Placerville. In back of the house where I stayed, were remnants of what had once been the tracks of the “Galloping Goose.” The Goose was basically a bus on narrow gauge wheels that ran between Telluride andRidgway, Colorado. The Railroad Museum includes pictures and information on the Goose – certainly one of America's most interesting railroads.
The museum is recognized as one of the best privately supported rail museums in the United States. This "can't miss" site for rail fans features more than 70 historic narrow and standard gauge locomotives and cars exhibited on 15 acres at the foot of North Table Mountain, near Golden, Colorado.
Colorado Railroad Museum
17155 W. 44th Ave., Golden, CO
http://www.crrm.org/index.htm
The Forney Historic Transportation Museum
If you're an antique and exotic car buff, you won't want to miss this museum. It features a one-of-a-kind collection of over 500 exhibits relating to historical transportation. It began with antique cars, but now includes vehicles of all kinds. Some of these are familiar, while others spark the imagination. Exhibitions include Prince Aly Khan's Rolls Royce, Silver Ghost, a pink custom-designed Brewster with a heart-shaped radiator Amelia Earhart's “Goldbug”Kissel, and a 6 Cylinder, 6 Wheel
Model H6A Hispano Suiza, designed most likely for King George of Greece who, unfortunately, was deposed before he could take delivery.
Forney Historic Transportation Museum
4303 Brighton Boulevard
www.forneymuseum.com/http://www.forneymuseum.com/
Mizel Museum of Judaica
This museum's mission is to present the continuum of the Jewish people within a multicultural context through the arts. It features “Bridges of Understanding” where American cultures come alive through artifacts, craft projects, and hands-on art objects in twelve, 6-foot high exhibition cases. The Mizel Museum also focuses on education and is the home of the Colorado Jewish Artists' Guild.
Mizel Museum of Judaica
350 S. Dahlia
http://www.mizelmuseum.org/
National Cable Television Center and Museum
This Center chronicles the story of where cable has been, and provides the tools and knowledge to support where it’s going. Its main attraction for the average tourist is the Daniels Great Hall. Wrapped around the Hall are glass windows that soar three stories high, giving visitors breathtaking views of the Rocky Mountains.. But the interior of the Hall rivals even the spectacular Colorado landscape. Its 32-foot video tower displays a 98-screen mosaic of image and sound. A sweeping terrazzo floor in the pattern of a topographic world map symbolizes the international scope of the cable industry and the global-wide contributions of all countries to the industry.
The Cable Center is also home to many interactive displays and exhibits that educate and inform visitors about how the cable telecommunications industry. Included among these exhibits are “Cable Television: The First 50 Years,” Cable TV Pioneers, and the Hendricks Cable Telecommunications Heritage History exhibit. If you love, or even like television, you'll not wan to miss this Center and Museum.
National Cable Television Center and Museum
2000 Buchtel Blvd
http://www.cablecenter.org/about/index.cfm |
