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Gift cards may be redeemed onsite for tickets, memberships, or merchandise within the Shops in the Hamilton Building and Sie Welcome Center. Not valid for online purchases.

Gift cards should arrive within 5-10 business days.

Limit 1 per transaction. To purchase multiple gift cards, call 720-913-0130 to speak with an associate.

We look forward to your visit!

Gift cards may be redeemed onsite for tickets, memberships, or merchandise within the Shops in the Hamilton Building and Sie Welcome Center. Not valid for online purchases.

Gift cards should arrive within 5-10 business days.

Limit 1 per transaction. To purchase multiple gift cards, call 720-913-0130 to speak with an associate.

We look forward to your visit!

Gift cards may be redeemed onsite for tickets, memberships, or merchandise within the Shops in the Hamilton Building and Sie Welcome Center. Not valid for online purchases.

Gift cards should arrive within 5-10 business days.

Limit 1 per transaction. To purchase multiple gift cards, call 720-913-0130 to speak with an associate.

We look forward to your visit!

Gift cards may be redeemed onsite for tickets, memberships, or merchandise within the Shops in the Hamilton Building and Sie Welcome Center. Not valid for online purchases.

Gift cards should arrive within 5-10 business days.

Limit 1 per transaction. To purchase multiple gift cards, call 720-913-0130 to speak with an associate.

We look forward to your visit!

*Students will purchase their own materials and should expect to spend $50-100.

Class Description:

In this course, students will explore both expressive and representational techniques in watercolor, ink, and gouache. Using seasonal, botanical subjects such as branches and flowers, students will complete drawings that include texture, color, and depth. Students will learn a variety of water media techniques including stretching paper, creating washes, and building transparent vs. opaque layers. We will make connections to work in the DAM’s Asian Art Collection, including the use of value to create depth in the ink painting Bamboo by Chinese artist Zhou Zhenyue, or the use of texture and brushwork in the piece White Herons and an Old Willow by Japanese artist Kikuchi Hobun. We will also look at contemporary uses of watercolor in the Denver Art Museum collection, including watercolor drawings by Enrique Martinez Celaya and Laura Ball.

What to Expect:

This class welcomes both beginners as well as students who have some drawing or painting experience. We will visit the galleries together to discuss water media work in the DAM's collections, and then spend time learning new techniques in small studies in the classroom. Students will then use these new approaches in a larger, finished drawing from observation of botanical subjects. We will have the option to work outdoors from life in the Sensory Garden or focus indoors on our favorite houseplants or branches.

Timeline:

Class 1:

Gallery Visit to the Asian Art Collection

B&W Mark making in Ink

Stretching Paper

Class 2:

Look at images from the exhibition "Drawings from Vicki and Kent Logan Collection"

Expressive Washes in Watercolor

Layering Washes to Create Depth

Class 3:

Observational Drawing and Composition

Opacity Vs. Transparency with Gouache

Saving Whites

Class 4:

Studio Time to Finish Larger Drawing

Reflection and Conversation

Class Cancellation Policy:

If a class or workshop needs to be cancelled due to inclement weather or teacher illness, a “make-up” day will be scheduled on a FRIDAY or SATURDAY as the educator’s schedule allows.

Materials:

Students will purchase their own materials and should expect to spend $50-100.

GET THE MATERIALS KIT AT MEININGER’S ART SUPPLY or purchase the items individually.

Educator:

Mindy Bray is a painter and muralist based in Denver, CO. Her works examine the intersection of natural and built environments. The images are reduced and transformed to create complex visual fields of shape and pattern. Based on photographs of locations such as city parks, wilderness trails and residential landscapes, the works present liminal places that trace the complex relationship between people and their habitat. Mindy earned her Master of Fine Arts in Painting from the University of Iowa in 2005 and has taught drawing and foundations at the University of Denver and Metropolitan State University. Her work has been exhibited nationally at galleries including Goodwin Fine Art, Rule Gallery and Ironton, and her work has been featured in New American Paintings, The Denver Post, Modern in Denver magazine, art ltd., and Luxe Interiors and Design. Mindy’s public commissions include permanent works at the Westin Hotel at Denver International Airport and the Colorado Convention Center, and her private commissions can be found in commercial and residential spaces throughout Denver.

www.mindybray.com

COMPOSING COLOR: THE WORLD OF ALMA THOMAS

American artist Alma Thomas once wrote “Love comes by looking.” In this multi-session course, take a closer look at the artist, her art, and her world. Learn about Thomas’s creative philosophies and inspiration, fall in love with her eye for color and pattern, and dive into the deeper context of her long life and impactful career.

Session #1 – Alma Thomas: The Creative Age

September 14th, 2024 - 2:00 PM

Alma Thomas’s long life and late-career breakthroughs prove that creativity gets better with time. Like other artists who were prolific well into older age, Thomas’s creativity dynamically evolved in her later decades. In this course session, we’ll celebrate Thomas’s vibrant abstractions from the 1950s-1970s and consider her journey and others’ who worked well into their seventies, eighties, and beyond.

Session #2 – Alma’s World

October 19th, 2024 - 2:00 PM

Alma Thomas’s life was as rich and complex as her paintings. The third session of this course focuses on the larger context in which Thomas lived and worked, paying particular attention to the artistic, social, and political movements that influenced Thomas’s development as an artist.

Session #3 – The Meaning and Making of Color

November 16th, 2024 - 2:00 PM

For Alma Thomas, the “spirit and living soul of the world” was manifest through colors. She used art’s most luscious resource brilliantly, concentrating on what she called “beauty and happiness,” rather than urgencies of “inhumanity.” This session offers deep context for how and why artists throughout history have found, manipulated, coded, and celebrated color to achieve staggeringly diverse ends. It’s the ultimate shape-shifter. Color produces happiness—and it also registers power, privilege, spirituality, symbolism, technologies, emotion, and reason. With color at the forefront, artists create endless pathways to expression and offer us inexhaustible insights.

Presented by Stella Paul, writer and educator, author of Chromaphilia: The Story of Color in Art

COMPOSING COLOR: THE WORLD OF ALMA THOMAS

American artist Alma Thomas once wrote “Love comes by looking.” In this multi-session course, take a closer look at the artist, her art, and her world. Learn about Thomas’s creative philosophies and inspiration, fall in love with her eye for color and pattern, and dive into the deeper context of her long life and impactful career.

Session #1 – Alma Thomas: The Creative Age

September 14th, 2024 - 2:00 PM

Alma Thomas’s long life and late-career breakthroughs prove that creativity gets better with time. Like other artists who were prolific well into older age, Thomas’s creativity dynamically evolved in her later decades. In this course session, we’ll celebrate Thomas’s vibrant abstractions from the 1950s-1970s and consider her journey and others’ who worked well into their seventies, eighties, and beyond.

Session #2 – Alma’s World

October 19th, 2024 - 2:00 PM

Alma Thomas’s life was as rich and complex as her paintings. The third session of this course focuses on the larger context in which Thomas lived and worked, paying particular attention to the artistic, social, and political movements that influenced Thomas’s development as an artist.

Session #3 – The Meaning and Making of Color

November 16th, 2024 - 2:00 PM

For Alma Thomas, the “spirit and living soul of the world” was manifest through colors. She used art’s most luscious resource brilliantly, concentrating on what she called “beauty and happiness,” rather than urgencies of “inhumanity.” This session offers deep context for how and why artists throughout history have found, manipulated, coded, and celebrated color to achieve staggeringly diverse ends. It’s the ultimate shape-shifter. Color produces happiness—and it also registers power, privilege, spirituality, symbolism, technologies, emotion, and reason. With color at the forefront, artists create endless pathways to expression and offer us inexhaustible insights.

Presented by Stella Paul, writer and educator, author of Chromaphilia: The Story of Color in Art

This package includes a Contributing DAM Membership plus a CultureHaus add-on.

In addition to your DAM membership, CultureHaus members enjoy the following benefits:

• Complimentary access to quarterly CultureHaus programs like:
  • Museum after-hours events and curator tours
  • Collection talks and gallery visits
  • Behind-the-scenes moments with artists, museum personalities, and featured guests
• Free admission to all DAM lectures and talks by contemporary artists, visiting scholars, curators, authors, and more!
• Invitations to happy hour meetups before select museum programs
• Four complimentary vouchers to any Untitled: Artist Takeover
• Even greater discounts on courses, Creative Classes, and symposia
• First access and discounted tickets to the Annual Ball, a signature CultureHaus event

This package includes a Contributing DAM Membership plus a Museum Friends add-on.

In addition to your DAM membership, Museum Friends enjoy the following benefits:

• Free admission to talks by visiting scholars, curators, and lectures by contemporary artists
• Greater discounts on exhibition courses and curatorial symposia
• Advance registration for talks, lectures, courses, and symposia
• Access to behind-the-scenes events and museum updates
• Invitations to social and enrichment events that include activities such as:
  • After-hours programs and experiences with curator access and behind the scenes moments
  • Social gatherings and receptions featuring special guests
  • Exclusive tours of exhibitions and collections

Give to the Denver Art Museum's Annual Fund

Your 100% tax-deductible contribution supports inspiring art connections, powerful artist collaborations, community-minded programming at the Denver Art Museum. During these unprecedented times, your donation helps the museum reimagine how we connect in person and online through a series of new opportunities for visitors of all ages. Thank you for your support of the Denver Art Museum's annual fund.

This package includes a Dual DAM Membership plus a CultureHaus add-on.

In addition to your DAM membership, CultureHaus members enjoy the following benefits:

• Complimentary access to quarterly CultureHaus programs like:
  • Museum after-hours events and curator tours
  • Collection talks and gallery visits
  • Behind-the-scenes moments with artists, museum personalities, and featured guests
• Free admission to all DAM lectures and talks by contemporary artists, visiting scholars, curators, authors, and more!
• Invitations to happy hour meetups before select museum programs
• Four complimentary vouchers to any Untitled: Artist Takeover
• Even greater discounts on courses, Creative Classes, and symposia
• First access and discounted tickets to the Annual Ball, a signature CultureHaus event

This package includes a Dual DAM Membership plus a Museum Friends add-on.

In addition to your DAM membership, Museum Friends enjoy the following benefits:

• Free admission to talks by visiting scholars, curators, and lectures by contemporary artists
• Greater discounts on exhibition courses and curatorial symposia
• Advance registration for talks, lectures, courses, and symposia
• Access to behind-the-scenes events and museum updates
• Invitations to social and enrichment events that include activities such as:
  • After-hours programs and experiences with curator access and behind the scenes moments
  • Social gatherings and receptions featuring special guests
  • Exclusive tours of exhibitions and collections

This package includes a Family Plus DAM Membership plus a CultureHaus add-on.

In addition to your DAM membership, CultureHaus members enjoy the following benefits:

• Complimentary access to quarterly CultureHaus programs like:
  • Museum after-hours events and curator tours
  • Collection talks and gallery visits
  • Behind-the-scenes moments with artists, museum personalities, and featured guests
• Free admission to all DAM lectures and talks by contemporary artists, visiting scholars, curators, authors, and more!
• Invitations to happy hour meetups before select museum programs
• Four complimentary vouchers to any Untitled: Artist Takeover
• Even greater discounts on courses, Creative Classes, and symposia
• First access and discounted tickets to the Annual Ball, a signature CultureHaus event

This package includes a Family Plus DAM Membership plus a Museum Friends add-on.

In addition to your DAM membership, Museum Friends enjoy the following benefits:

• Free admission to talks by visiting scholars, curators, and lectures by contemporary artists
• Greater discounts on exhibition courses and curatorial symposia
• Advance registration for talks, lectures, courses, and symposia
• Access to behind-the-scenes events and museum updates
• Invitations to social and enrichment events that include activities such as:
  • After-hours programs and experiences with curator access and behind the scenes moments
  • Social gatherings and receptions featuring special guests
  • Exclusive tours of exhibitions and collections

This package includes an Individual DAM Membership plus a CultureHaus add-on.

In addition to your DAM membership, CultureHaus members enjoy the following benefits:

• Complimentary access to quarterly CultureHaus programs like:
  • Museum after-hours events and curator tours
  • Collection talks and gallery visits
  • Behind-the-scenes moments with artists, museum personalities, and featured guests
• Free admission to all DAM lectures and talks by contemporary artists, visiting scholars, curators, authors, and more!
• Invitations to happy hour meetups before select museum programs
• Four complimentary vouchers to any Untitled: Artist Takeover
• Even greater discounts on courses, Creative Classes, and symposia
• First access and discounted tickets to the Annual Ball, a signature CultureHaus event

This package includes an Individual DAM Membership plus a Museum Friends add-on.

In addition to your DAM membership, Museum Friends enjoy the following benefits:

• Free admission to talks by visiting scholars, curators, and lectures by contemporary artists
• Greater discounts on exhibition courses and curatorial symposia
• Advance registration for talks, lectures, courses, and symposia
• Access to behind-the-scenes events and museum updates
• Invitations to social and enrichment events that include activities such as:
  • After-hours programs and experiences with curator access and behind the scenes moments
  • Social gatherings and receptions featuring special guests
  • Exclusive tours of exhibitions and collections

This package includes a Senior Museum Associates membership plus a Museum Friends add-on.

In addition to your DAM membership, Museum Friends enjoy the following benefits:

• Free admission to talks by visiting scholars, curators, and lectures by contemporary artists
• Greater discounts on exhibition courses and curatorial symposia
• Advance registration for talks, lectures, courses, and symposia
• Access to behind-the-scenes events and museum updates
• Invitations to social and enrichment events that include activities such as:
• After-hours programs and experiences with curator access and behind the scenes moments
• Social gatherings and receptions featuring special guests
• Exclusive tours of exhibitions and collections

This package includes a Supporting DAM Membership plus a CultureHaus add-on.

In addition to your DAM membership, CultureHaus members enjoy the following benefits:

• Complimentary access to quarterly CultureHaus programs like:
  • Museum after-hours events and curator tours
  • Collection talks and gallery visits
  • Behind-the-scenes moments with artists, museum personalities, and featured guests
• Free admission to all DAM lectures and talks by contemporary artists, visiting scholars, curators, authors, and more!
• Invitations to happy hour meetups before select museum programs
• Four complimentary vouchers to any Untitled: Artist Takeover
• Even greater discounts on courses, Creative Classes, and symposia
• First access and discounted tickets to the Annual Ball, a signature CultureHaus event

This package includes a Supporting DAM Membership plus a Museum Friends add-on.

In addition to your DAM membership, Museum Friends enjoy the following benefits:

• Free admission to talks by visiting scholars, curators, and lectures by contemporary artists
• Greater discounts on exhibition courses and curatorial symposia
• Advance registration for talks, lectures, courses, and symposia
• Access to behind-the-scenes events and museum updates
• Invitations to social and enrichment events that include activities such as:
  • After-hours programs and experiences with curator access and behind the scenes moments
  • Social gatherings and receptions featuring special guests
  • Exclusive tours of exhibitions and collections

Donations to this fund are invested by the DAM foundation with the intention to grow the fund in value over time. This fund provides an annual distribution based on the Foundation's policy.  Distributed funds are used to acquire new artwork for the DAM.

The Museum regularly reconciles expenditures made from distributed funds to ensure that they are allocated as intended.