A Guide to Denver’s Most Unique Museums

Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art, photo courtesy of VISIT DENVER

Denver is known for many things—skiing, hiking, the Broncos, craft beer, lots of sunshine. But museums? Not so much. 

So, you may be surprised to discover that the Mile High City has a thriving arts scene that goes way beyond its most well-known, well-trodden institutions like the Denver Art Museum and Denver Museum of Nature and Science.  

Next time you’re in the mood to check out some art, why not spend some time off the beaten path? Here’s a list of some of Denver’s most unique museums to get you started.

National Ballpark Museum

1940 Blake St.

Named one of the top 20 finest private baseball collections in the world by the Smithsonian, this shrine to our national past time contains artifacts from the 14 original ballparks—only two of which still exist—and newer items from other parks across the U.S. Founded by baseball diehard and University of Denver alum Bruce “B” Hellerstein (BSBA ’71), the museum features a complete panel from Fenway Park’s Green Monster, a roomful of artifacts from Ebbets Field, over three dozen seats from bygone ballparks and the jersey Denver Zephyrs’ slugger Joey Meyer wore during his record-breaking 582-foot homer in 1987. 

Hellerstein, a Denver native who has been collecting baseball paraphernalia since he was a kid, opened the museum in 2010, just steps away from Coors Field in LoDo—which he had a hand in bringing to life, through his involvement in the Denver Baseball Commission and the Coors Field Design Committee.

Fun fact: As part of the seed money used to finance the museum, Hellerstein auctioned off a complete run of Mickey Mantle cards, which he told the Denver Post was “probably one of the most foolish things I’ve ever done in my life.”

Molly Brown House 

1340 Pennsylvania St.

You may know the “Unsinkable” Molly Brown as one of the survivors brought to life in the film “The Titanic.” However, the philanthropist was also one of Colorado’s most famous women, living a colorful life both before and after the 1912 tragedy.

Principled and unapologetic, Brown was known for her activism, leading relief efforts for protesting miners who were attacked by the Colorado National Guard during the 1914 Ludlow Massacre and helping to rebuild ravaged villages in France after World War I. She also worked for causes like women’s suffrage, children’s literacy and historical preservation—a movement that eventually saved her own 1889 home in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, which was slated for demolition in 1970 but instead turned into a museum in 1971. Visitors get a glimpse into not only Brown’s remarkable life but also Colorado’s mining boom (and bust), a raucous and fascinating time in the state’s history.

Fun fact: One of the first homes in Denver built with electricity, central heating and even a telephone, the Molly Brown House also features local stonework quarried from Castle Rock and Manitou Springs, showcasing Colorado’s unique geology.

Forney Transportation Museum

4303 Brighton Blvd.

"Anything on wheels" is the motto of the Forney Museum, and its one-of-a-kind collection of more than 500 historical transportation exhibits—from antique cars, buggies and bicycles to motorcycles and rare and exotic vehicles—does not disappoint. Highlights include Big Boy, the world's largest steam locomotive; legendary aviator Amelia Earhart's yellow Kissel Speedster (called “Gold Bug”); and a rare 1916 Detroit Electric Opera Coupe, one of the world's first electric cars. 

Fun fact: A highlight for some visitors is the inclusion of somewhat "creepy" mannequins wearing period clothing hanging out in vehicles and elsewhere around the museum.

RiNo Arts District

Between I-70 (north) and Park Avenue West (south); from I-25 (west) to Arapahoe St. (east)

Denverites love the outdoors—and they love their art outdoors, too. Thanks to the city’s Public Arts program, one percent of any capital improvement project over $1 million is set aside for the inclusion of art, resulting in breathtaking murals, whimsical sculptures and other kinds of public art dotted all over the city. 

The most vibrant stretch of street art can be found in the River North Arts District (RiNo for short), just north of downtown. About one mile in radius, the district includes more than 200 wall murals by local and national artists, such as “Larimer Boy and Girl” by Colorado native Jeremy Burns, a 3D mural of a boy or a girl, depending on which direction you’re standing; dreamy floral designs by Monet-inspired Denver artist Ashley Joon; and “Power & Equality" by renowned street artist Shepard Fairey (above), who created the iconic Obama "HOPE" poster in 2008. 

You can tour the art yourself using this map or sign up for a two-hour guided tour with Denver Graffiti Tour. 

Fun fact: One of the most unique examples of street art is by the Ladies Fancywork Society, a gang of crocheting street artists who have “crochet bombed” benches and signs around town and have also been commissioned for large-scale installations, such as a giant ball of yarn chained to the leg of the Blue Bear sculpture at the Colorado Convention Center.

American Museum of Western Art

1727 Tremont Pl.

The best place to explore both the Old West and the New West is the American Museum of Western Art (AMWA), home to the Anschutz Collection, one of the greatest collections of Western American art in the country.

Tucked away across the street from the historic Brown Palace Hotel in downtown Denver, AMWA opened to the public in 2010, a jam-packed monument to life in the West from the 1820s to today. Its 600 paintings, drawings and sculptures by 180 artists represent the dozen or so schools and styles of art that contributed to the development of the American West and American art, ranging from the Hudson River School and the Golden Age of Illustration to American Regionalism and Art of the New Deal.

Fun fact: The historic Navarre Building that houses the museum was constructed in 1880 as a school for girls and later served as a gentleman’s club, a bordello and, eventually, a fine dining spot and jazz club.

Kirkland Museum of Fine and Decorative Art

1201 Bannock St.

A strikingly modern looking building—with its flat roof, yellow panels and UV-protected glass that doubles as windows—the Kirkland Museum stands out, even in Denver’s artsy Golden Triangle district. 

Inside, the salon-style setting is as unique as the art itself, which covers about 150 years’ worth in three main collections: a celebrated international collection of decorative art from the 1870s to today, including Arts & Crafts, Art Nouveau, Bauhaus, Art Deco and Pop Art; a Colorado and regional art collection from 1845 to the present; and a retrospective of Colorado’s visionary abstract painter and the museum’s namesake, Vance Kirkland (1904-1981). 

Originally from Ohio, Kirkland came to Denver in 1929 as the founding director of the School of Art at the University of Denver. A key figure in the Modern Art movement in Denver, Kirkland left DU in 1932 to open the highly successful Kirkland School of Art but returned DU in 1946 to lead the school of art again until he retired in 1969.

Fun fact: Kirkland’s original three-room studio was moved, intact, via remote-controlled rig from its Capitol Hill location to the museum’s current location about eight blocks away. Today, visitors can peek into the mostly untouched workroom, which includes the aerial rig he would hang from to complete his famous dot paintings.    

Black American West Museum & Heritage Center

3091 California St.

Did you know that one in three cowboys were Black? This is the history that the Black American West Museum illuminates, with collections, educational programs and exhibits that promote an understanding of the role African Americans played in the settlement and growth of the western United States—not just as cowboys but also as the miners, soldiers, homesteaders, ranchers, blacksmiths, teachers and lawmen that helped develop the West. 

The museum was founded in 1971 as a passion project of the late Paul W. Stewart, who as a child playing cowboys and Indians, always played an Indian because he was told, “There is no such thing as a Black cowboy.” Originally from Iowa, Stewart became interested in the history of Blacks in the West when visiting a relative in Denver in the 1960s. He moved here shortly after, starting a collection in a saloon of 35,000-plus items, including personal artifacts, photographs, clothing, paintings, letters, legal documents, newspapers and oral histories. 

The museum is open for limited, scheduled slots that you sign up for on their website.

Fun fact: In 1991, the museum moved into the former home of Dr. Justina L. Ford, the first licensed African American female physician in Colorado. Ford, who was denied the right to treat patients at Denver General Hospital because of her race and gender, delivered more than 7,000 babies out of her Five Points home in the first half of the 20th century. 

Museo de las Americas

861 Santa Fe Dr.

Located in the heart of the Art District on Santa Fe, Museo de las Americas is the premier Latin American art museum in the Rocky Mountain region. Since 1991, the museum has served the Denver community through the collection, preservation and exhibition of the diverse arts of the Americas, from ancient to contemporary. More than 4,800 art pieces are on display, including Ancient American and Spanish colonial art, folk art, pottery, textiles and more, with every country in South and Central America, Mesoamerica and the Caribbean represented.

Fun fact: The museum’s façade is painted hot pink, a color that is associated in Latin culture with vibrant energy and cultural identity. It’s used prominently in Mexican architecture and design, in particular, representing the lively and festive feeling within the culture.