I walked into a museum, but it took me to a whole other decade.

The Kirkland Museum of Fine and Decorative Art: Pure Genius

I have been to a lot of museums in my life. I lived 20 minutes from New York City for god's sake. The Met, the MOMA, the Museum of Sex (I actually highly recommend that one), the Louvre, the Musee D'Orsay in France. The list goes on but I could never compare any museum to this petite house on the corner of Pearl Street in Denver. My expectations were extremely low. Denver isn't a huge city and the zoo isn't that great and I went to another museum early that year that wasn't impressive so I had no doubt in my mind that this one would match up to those.

When you walk up to the door, you have to ring the doorbell to enter which I thought was very clever and personal and made you feel like a special guest. As soon as I walked in, they noticed I was by myself and that I'd never been there before so they let me in free of charge and a smile and thoughtful "Merry Christmas" to go with it.

There was a cute little old woman in the center of the museum who personally told you the story of the building and Vance Kirkland himself. She was absolutely adorable and you could see her love for the collection and the artist.

Now it's  time to go back in history:

1929: Vance Kirkland founded the School of Arts at the University of Denver
1932: He left the school because he found out that they weren't giving full academic credit for art courses toward a degree which was the original agreement he made first coming into the University. Vance leased the property on Pearl Street and opened up the Kirkland School of Art so that his students could continue to learn and be taught by him. In 1933, the University of Colorado gave full academic credit to those who partook in the school. He utilized that space as his studio until his death in 1981.
1996: The Kirkland Foundation was founded to preserve his legacy.

Throughout his 54 years of painting, he art went through five different periods:
     Designed Realism (1927-1944) - mostly watercolor

Surrealist (1939-1954) - mostly watercolor

Hard Edge Abstraction (1947-1957) - 50% watercolor, 50% oil

Abstract Expressionism/Floating Abstractions (1951-1964)
- oils

"The Dot Paintings"/Energy in Space Abstractions (1963-1981)

 

As time went on, Hugh Grant (the new owner of the property and Colorado resident) began collecting artwork from other Colorado artists. He believed that people from Colorado saw the state from a different perspective than others. These paintings represent the history of Colorado art from traditional to modern.   Not only are there paintings, but pottery, art deco furniture, flatware, and dishware were all displayed at the museum. But what made the Kirkland Museum so unique is the way in which the exhibitions were presented. It was as if you were walking into a real room, not a museum. The furniture was set up as if you were stepping into a living room; you felt like you were a part of the art. But the most incredibly part of the entire museum was his studio which hasn't been touched since the day he died. You walk in and see his last dot painting that was in the works of being finished, his paints are lying all over the table, a huge canvas lying on the table with these straps laying above it, which you learn, was for him to lay on. He was 5'3" and for him to be able to put these dots on the canvas, he had to lay across these straps, 3 feet above the painting and place the dots onto the canvas one at a time lying directly above it. To see how much work goes into these paintings really shows how dedicated and in love he was with art and exhibiting it to others.

This museum may be small, but it's full of magic. Even if you aren't an art buff (Which I will happily say I am not), this is just a place to go, open your mind, and reflect. The entire building is art. Inside and out.