Art
Find art museums, classes, and more in Colorado. Learn how to teach art at home and explore wonderful resources to introduce every aspect of the fine arts to your child.
Things to See & Do
Swetsville Zoo - UPDATE: CLOSED 2016
Located at 4801 E. Harmony Road in Fort Collins, the Swetsville Zoo is an outdoor art gallery filled with metal animal sculptures. Bill Swets, creator of the Swetsville Zoo, built them all from car parts, farm machinery and scrap metal. Admission is free, but they do take donations. To read about the closing and moving of the sculptures, refer to the link in the title of this entry.
Van Briggle Pottery Factory Tour
Born in 1869, Artus Van Briggle from an early age demonstrated a unique artistic gift. He eventually open a pottery studio in Colorado Springs, using local clays found in the Colorado Springs area. His work earned him many honors. Artus Van Briggle died in 1904, but his wife continued to operate the pottery company. Today, the factory continues to produce many of Van Briggle’s original designs, often in his turquoise Ming matte glaze. The factory offers free tours.
Shankar's International Children's Competition (SICC)
K. Shankar Pillai (July 31, 1902–December 26, 1989) was a famous cartoonist. He brought out a political magazine called ‘Shankar’s Weekly’. Under the auspices of this magazine, a competition called the Shankar’s International Children’s Competition was organized in 1949. It invited paintings and writings from children in India. Children sent about 3,000 entries. The following year the competition was thrown open to children from all over the world. Today, the competition has grown and about 1,60,000 entries are received from over 130 countries. The entries are judged by an international jury. The prizewinning entries are compiled in a volume called the ‘Shankar’s Children’s Art Number’. The competition is open to children all over the world below the age of 16 years. There is no entry fee and competitors are free to choose the theme/subject they are interested in, or like most, for their paintings/ drawings/writings.
Longmont Museum and Cultural Center
The Longmont Museum, housed in a distinctive contemporary building, features changing exhibits in history, art, and science, as well as the award-winning Front Range Rising, a long-term exhibit on the history and culture of this region. The Museum recently opened an expansion, featuring the 250-seat Stewart Auditorium and Cone-Shortall stage, the Swan Atrium, and the Kaiser Permanente Education Center. The Museum also has hands-on education programs for all ages, indoor and outdoor concerts and performances, film series, lectures and a gift shop featuring local history books, souvenirs and exhibit-related materials.
Gallery of Contemporary Art
Featuring a selection of contemporary art, the Gallery is located at and operated by the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.
Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities
The Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities was founded in 1976. Offers award-winning, professional regional theater, children’s theater, concerts, classical and contemporary dance performances, gallery exhibitions, a history museum, and over 600 arts and humanities classes each year for students of all ages.
Sangre de Cristo Arts Center and Buell Children’s Museum
From contemporary and historic visual arts exhibitions to an interactive children’s museum; from world-class performing arts programs to hundreds of education classes, the Sangre de Cristo Arts Center has it all. The Center is located in Pueblo.
University Memorial Center Art Gallery
The University Memorial Center Art Gallery, located in UMC 225, exhibits a variety of visual offerings ranging from student works created on campus to presentations of internationally recognized artists. The UMC Art Gallery seeks to expose the CU and Boulder communities to the role that art plays in understanding the complexity of human experience and culture. The gallery's role is to educate as well as display high quality artwork. The UMC Art Gallery exhibits the work of area and national artists. The gallery presents seven shows per year; three each semester and one in the summer.
SOS Children's Villages - USA Family Dinner Time Art Contest
The Family Dinner Time Art Contest celebrates family dinner time and kicks off on Thanksgiving each year. Children may submit artwork of their family at dinner time to win a home computer. Artwork can be in any form, but must illustrate a family eating together. For sculptures and other difficult-to-ship items, please send a photo as opposed to the actual artwork. A winner will be selected from each age group: preschool ages 1-7; grade school ages 8-12; and high school ages 13 -17.
Living Arts School Homeschool Programs
Homeschoolers in this program have the opportunity to learn many traditional living skills and crafts, build friendships in a non-competitive, loving community, as well as gain a new understanding of themselves and what lies within. They offer a playful and rich exploration of folk arts and crafts.
Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center
The Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center offers a multidisciplinary focus and includes the Taylor Museum, performing arts theatre, and the Bemis School of Art.
Denver Art Museum
The Denver Art Museum has the largest and most comprehensive collection of world art between Kansas City and the West Coast, with over 55,000 works of art, including American Indian, pre-Columbian, and Spanish Colonial art. Other collections include Painting & Sculpture, Asian, Architecture, Design & Graphics, Modern & Contemporary, Textile Art, European, American and Western painting, sculpture, decorative art, textiles, and photography.
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Featured Resources

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