Denver Museum Gift Shops

About ten years ago I wrote a series of three blog posts on the phenomenon of museum gift shops, the first on Philadelphia (where I was living at the time), one on New York City (where I had previously lived and worked), and a third covering the rest of the country based on museums I had visited in my extensive national travels. I was reminded of these bog posts (which got a lot of attention at the time) by new data just shared by Colleen Dillenschneider on her great Know Your Own Bone blog - "Engagement Insights from the Museum Gift Shop: The Best Thing About Museum Retail Experiences." For the full report click on the link, but in summary the research found that the five best things from a consumer standpoint are: 5) friendly/helpful staff, 4) finding gifts for a child, 3) finding gifts for adult friend or family, 2) supporting the organization, and the number one reason is: 1) unique merchandise only available at this location.

When I wrote about museum gift shops many years ago, I found myself explicitly rating them based on this last point, not based on data, just based on what resonated with me - what kept me returning to certain museum gift shops but not others, what made them unique.

So inspired by this new data, it is time for a long-delayed fourth installment in the series - DENVER!

Denver Art Museum - the biggest museum in the community, and the biggest gift shop. The main shop is in the lobby of the Hamilton Building, designed by Daniel Libeskind, and that is what I will talk about, though like many major museums, they usually establish specialized satellite shops specific to each "blockbuster" exhibition (i.e. Monet, Frida, Dior...). DAM's gift shop does a great job of always including a fine selection of merchandise related to current exhibitions that goes well beyond branded 

Earrings by Colorado's Left Hand Studio

tee shirts and caps. The ample shop has a great selection of jewelry, with a clear effort to include local Colorado artists, and also quite a selection of handmade artisanal glass - again many by local artists. There are many "artsy" scarves, shawls and wraps that are quite nicely curated. Of course, there are the usual art books, postcards, posters, etc., based on the collections in the museum. There is an excellent, modestly sized kids section- can't say it is especially unique but it is a great place to shop for special gifts for a child. There is a quite well-stocked section of kitchen and dining implements/objects. Again, most of it not that different from other major museum shops, BUT pretty unique for Denver so a great place to shop for a housewarming gift or something special for someone who likes to cook/entertain. And then there is a wide assortment of artisanal "stuff" - reading glasses, paperweights, desk supplies, bags and briefcases, belts, etc. - often changing, cool items, well-designed; not necessarily with a strong local focus but worth checking out as well. Fun historical tidbit? When I first moved to Denver I noticed the shop - for all its merchandise - had no Denver Art Museum logo caps or t-shirts, and I periodically would remind the Director when I saw him about this gap. Now they finally have caps! I will also say their e-commerce site for the shop is much better than most museums, with a wider array of merchandise, but still just a tiny fraction of what is in the shop. 

Kirkland Museum of Fine and Decorative Arts - The Kirkland is a pretty unique museum, and its small but well-curated shop reflects that. The museum has three focus areas: 1) The work of Colorado artist Vance Kirkland, whose working studio is incorporated into the museum. 2) Fine art by other Colorado

Vance Kirkland Open Sun Coasters

 "modern" artists - i.e. avoiding contemporary art but focusing on artists of the 20th C. - who fall between the cracks of exhibiting and collecting at DAM and MCA. 3) An international collection of extraordinary decorative arts from the 1870's to the present - furniture, lighting, dining ware and other objects  . It is very much a reflection of the voracious thoughtful collecting and personal attention of founder and director Hugh Grant (no, not THAT Hugh Grant). You will find works by Gio Ponti (the architect of the newly refurbished original "North" building of the Denver Art Museum), Breuer, Mies, Wright, Eames, Saarinen, Hoffmann, Gehry - just to name a few. The gift shop is a small gem - lots of work by local artists and designers and many items specifically related to the designers in the collection, as well as Vance Kirkland. Because of the museum's smaller scale, the online store is really limited. If at all possible visit in person.

Clyfford Still Museum - The Still museum is also quite unique but in a different way. It is a single-artist museum - one of the best in the world created when Still, one of the giants of the Abstract Expressionist movement, for the most part stopped selling his work at the height of his powers but kept making work and in his will called for all his work (as well as his papers and other ephemera) to be

A mobile based on Still shapes and colors

donated to a city that would build a dedicated museum exclusively for his work; Denver won the "contest" and the museum is extraordinary. As part of the arrangement the museum is barred from having a formal gift shop as part of the building, but there is a small but beautifully curated collection of merchandise in sort of a kiosk structure in the lobby. The staff of the museum have been very creative in offering a small but might collection of material, some based on Still's work, some based on the architecture of the building, some inspired by current exhibitions or Still's philosophy around art and color. I especially like this hanging mobile inspired by the shapes and colors that are so prominent in Still's large paintings. This is also connected to a current show that was actually curated by children. There is a pretty good selection of items available in their online shop. 

Museum of Contemporary Art Denver - MCA Denver - MCA is another one of Denver's cultural gems. This museum, in a gorgeous David Adjaye designed building in the LoDo neighborhood, is what is known as a "kunsthalle" - a non-collecting museum that has no permanent collection but is devoted to mounting temporary exhibitions. MCA focuses on a diverse array of contemporary artists, local, national and international. Their gift shop is - as a good museum gift should be - totally reflective of their mission, artists and ethos. A small, but quirky, unique and highly selection of items. Always some related to the current exhibition(s) but much to see and admire (and buy!) no matter what the current show is. The museum definitely has a great sense of humor, energy and style in all they do, and that is reflected in the shop.  Their online shop is excellent, too. And illustrating the sense of humor that permeates the shop the example I am sharing is the "Booty Burner" - an incense holder for those who felt that the past year or two have "left them feeling like they have a stick up their a**." 

Museo de las Americas - Museo, located in the heart of the Arts District on Santa Fe, "is the premier Latin American Art Museum in the Rocky Mountain region, and has been celebrating the artistic and

cultural achievements of the community for over three decades, from ancient to folk to contemporary art." They are always worth a visit - they have a couple of small galleries devoted to their permanent collection of art and cultural objects from Mexico and throughout Latin America, and then the rest of the space is devoted to major temporary exhibits. They have a lovely small shop tucked off the entrance lobby that features a limited but well-curated selection - prints, books, clothing items, jewelry, crafts, embroidery, etc. - some by local artists and artisans, but all tied to their culture and mission. As with all of these museums, but especially given their small size, buying gifts at Museo is a great way to provide extra support for the museum. Because Museo does not have an online shop, you must pay them a visit to check out the selection!

Denver Museum of Nature and Science - This is our major science and nature museum, hugely popular with kids and families, and their gift shop reflects that. Lots of plush stuffies of cute cuddly animals and dinosaurs, books, cards and posters, t-shirts, stuff related to space and science, rocks and minerals, inexpensive jewelry and "mood rings." In the way back there is some nice, more pricey Native American ceramics, but mostly it is relatively affordable, generic merchandise targeted to kids. As with the art museums there are usually some items related to current special exhibitions, and most of the major touring special exhibitions will have their own themed shop as you exit the exhibit. If you are seeking kids gifts, and have a budding scientist, naturalist, astronaut or dinosaur lover, this is your place. There is a good online shop.

Denver Botanic Gardens - While not an art museum, botanic gardens are in fact "living collections," and in the case of DBG, they also have an extensive gallery exhibition program (with beautiful relatively new exhibition spaces. And in terms of gift shops, I have to say DBG has one of the best that I find myself returning to often. There is a selection of artisan outdoor garden sculpture, urns, planters,

tools and gardening implements etc., but the shop is also filled with a beautiful array of jewelry, botanical lotions and soaps, decorative objects, scarves, hats, cards, bowls, vases; many items are crafted by local artisans. At holiday times they have an extraordinary assortment of ornaments and other related items. There is a small but excellent selection of children's items. Here is the area of their website with more shop info, but it appears they have now closed their online shop, so you will just have to visit in person!

Children's Museum of Denver - Of course, as its name would tell you, this is Denver's wonderful children's museum. In the past few years they have significantly expanded their space, adding not just to the museum building, but also adding a large outdoor interactive play area, Joy Park. And as you would expect, the museum has a great gift shop, especially for younger children, the core audience for the museum - items that are fun, beautiful, engaging, educational. It is really one of the best kids gift shops in Denver. There is no e-commerce site, so again you will just have to visit!

Meow Wolf Denver - "Convergence Station" - While not strictly a museum, Meow Wolf Denver is a new massive unclassifiable immersive creative experience that places guests in an imaginary space station/alternate universe environment with a maze of different unique spaces each designed by a different artist or team of artists, including many from the Denver area as well as some from the original Meow Wolf home in Santa Fe. It's Cirque du Soleil meets contemporary visual art meets Disney meets Las Vegas meets Star Wars meets acid trip. Some hate it, some love it, but regardless it is a cultural phenomenon that has engaged the work of scores of artists. It also has a great funky gift shop that utilizes some of the art/designs developed by the artists. There is not an online shop just for Denver (there are operations in Santa Fe and Las Vegas as well, with more to come) but you can actually sort items to see just merchandise related to Denver - here is the direct link. For the image I have selected a bucket hat featuring the bizarre futuristic faux brand logos designed for the C Street section of Convergence Station. It can be hard to sort out which artists designed which pieces of the environment, because they want to foster the illusion of this imaginary world, but if you dig deep enough on their web site you can learn that the lead designer for C Street is Nathaniel Gutierrez, an Albuquerque artist.