SFC: Denver Art Museum

My fabulous friend, Jesse, had a brilliant idea that we've named the SFC, which means the Sunday Funday Club. Once a month, my closest gal pals get together for a Sunday afternoon activity that's a little outside our norm. It may be going to a museum, trying a new sport, taking a trip to a nearby town or attending a local event. We kicked off this great, soon-to-be tradition with a trip to the Denver Art Museum.

Enjoying a skinny vanilla latte, I sat in the backseat of Sheila's Passat in a green-and-white striped racerback jersey dress with black leggings, flats and a belted black cardigan sweater. Taking in the beautiful Colorado landscape, I stared out the window at the Colorado Rocky Mountains which jutted out of the earth, reaching to the clear blue sky with their dusted-white fingertips.

We arrived in Denver around 10:30am....and a note for future museum guests, the museum doesn't open until 12pm on Sunday's. With an hour and half to kill, we walked through the courtyard of Denver's Public Library looking for a snack and shooing pigeons (the rats of the sky). We came across a block with a couple of restaurants and viewed our options. On one side of the street, a green and yellow restaurant was bursting with families, a sign on the exterior promised of fresh baked donuts and the smell of coffee and brunch bounced along the breeze.

On the other side of the street, we took in an old mission-style building with a Brittish flag, red phone booth, wrap around front porch and not a soul in site but a very rugged, very muscular waiter. Intrigued, we took a closer look and discovered that it was not a breakfast restaurant, but a good ol' English pub, Pints Pub. Weighing our options....breakfast or beer....we chose the pub.

We enjoyed their home-brewed beers and a fabulous array of Brittish samplings. My plate included lox on a pumpernickel toast with tomatoes, onions and a wasabi mayonnaise. It was unbelievable! We took pictures in the phone book, talked about our waiter and enjoyed gabbing away with each other about life.

We made our way over the the museum a little after noon and found ourselves in a mecca of modern art. The museum building is a work of art in itself, with its surprising angles, modern titanium exterior and enormous courtyard sculptures. Inside, we found seven floors and eleven collections of art including African, American Indian, Oceanic, Modern & Contemporary, Pre-Columbian, Western, Asian, Textile, European & American and Architecture, Design & Graphics.

A little overwhelmed, we made our way through each collection noting pieces that were beautiful, inspiring, interesting, or...lets face it...just plain weird. An artist I am not, but spending the day surrounded by the creativity of individuals throughout time and all over the world awakened an inner desire to create something interesting of my own (someday...maybe).

Unfortunately, we weren't able to visit the 6th floor due to a exhibit in transition. The 6th floor held the Architecture, Design & Graphics and European & American Art collections, which are the two collections I'm most interested. Typical. However, the highlights of the Denver Art Museum included the Fox Games exhibit, the Buddist Art, the Design wing and the colorful painting and digital numbers in the foyer of Hamilton Building

All in all, I couldn't ask for a better day of friendship, food, beer and art! I will be back to visit the Denver Art Museum soon, to see the newest collections and take in the 6th floor!!

Look for an update about our October SFC....Corn Maze & Pumpkin Patch!