Kirkland Museum

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The original historic studio (1910-1911), which is preserved as part of the larger Kirkland Museum, is the oldest commercial art building in Denver and the second oldest in Colorado (after the Van Briggle Pottery in Colorado Springs). Designed in a distinctive arts and crafts style, it was built by Henry Read (1847-1935). Read, one of thirteen founders of the Artists' Club-later to become the Denver Art Museum-commissioned architects Maurice Biscoe and Henry Hewitt to construct the building at 1311 Pearl Street. This location served as Read's Students' School of Art, and, until 1922, a meeting place for the fledgling Denver Art Museum. In 1929, Vance Kirkland founded the School of Art at the University of Denver. In 1932, he leased Read's Pearl Street property, later purchasing it, and opened the Kirkland School of Art. He used the studio until his death in 1981. The Vance Kirkland Foundation was established in 1996 to preserve the legacy of this distinguished Colorado painter. In 1998, under the direction of Hugh Grant-executor of the Kirkland estate and present director of the museum-construction began on an adjoining facility. Completed in 2002, the addition allows for expanded exhibition space, visitor amenities, and wheelchair accessibility, while maintaining the integrity of the original studio. The exterior wall and original roof tiles of the 1910-1911 building can be viewed from the main exhibition room of this new addition, reinforcing the museum's commitment to maintaining and preserving the original architectural integrity of the building. The addition itself is very much in keeping with the mission style of the old studio, with its brick archways, Frank Lloyd Wright windows, and simple, elegant exhibition rooms. The result is a rather seamless movement from old to new that provides visitors with room to thoroughly view the collection while preserving the historicity of the structure. In addition to its architectural focus, the museum has one of the most comprehensive decorative art collections on view in the nation-including Modern, Art Deco, and Arts and Crafts furniture and ceramics-and displays approximately 100 Kirkland paintings. Such combinations give the visitor a picture of 20th century Modern art and design as it might have been seen through the eyes of Vance Kirkland himself. The following are significant events that contributed to the historic significance of Kirkland Museum.

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