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The Creative Student's Guide to Denver Art Education and Careers

...for students of art, design, fashion design, photography, film/video, advertising, interior design and other creative fields.

Visit our Complete Directory of
Denver Art Schools and Art Colleges!

by C.J. Gustafson
ArtSchools.com Contributing Writer

Denver There was gold in those dusty hills on Nov. 28, 1858, when a group of prospectors established a town they named after Colorado Governor, James W. Denver. Nicknamed the "mile high" city because one step of the state capitol building is exactly 5,280 feet above sea level, Denver is the 19th largest metropolitan area in the U.S. The city proper has a population of 554,636 residents occupying 153.35 sq. miles. A favorite neighborhood among locals and tourists alike is the "LoDo" (lower downtown) area known for its 29 blocks of shopping, nightlife, and buildings preserved from the original settlement. Also, visitors will appreciate the Denver Art Museum with its extensive collection of Native American art, as well as the biggest collection of Asian art in the Rockies.

Oodles of Art and Strong Support
Other Denver art museums and galleries of note are the Museum of Contemporary Art/Denver, the Kirkland Museum -- which displays a nationally important collection of 20th-century decorative arts as well as work from over 150 Colorado artists from the last century -- and the Museo de las Americas, which is the only museum in the region devoted exclusively to Latin American art, history, and culture.

According to Julia Shepherd, alumna of the Denver University School of Art and Area Arts Specialist for the Denver Public Schools, "The contemporary gallery scene is very lively for young students. There are Friday night gallery walks in various parts of the city from Santa Fe Drive to the West side. New galleries pop up daily and respond to the variety of artists and cultures represented in the city. The University's own gallery, the Victoria H. Myhren Gallery, has a rotating array of student and contemporary work including highlighting the contemporary art collection of the Denver Art Museum."

art degrees in Denver Support for artists and the visual arts is evident in the many groups and resources in the Denver area. For example, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Denver is the largest chapter of that organization in Colorado and provides support and services to those in architecture careers, and The Art Guild (TAG) is an artist organization designed to foster the development of marketing skills among artists, providing a great opportunity to combine a love of art with advertising careers or to successfully and independently market one's own art. The Denver Potter's Association, owned and organized by Castle Clay Artists, offers large, well-attended sales event twice a year. For more on Denver's large list of arts-friendly organizations, visit Arts to Zoo, an excellent website that offers information on over 350 cultural events and organizations and includes a job search section for art careers in the Denver area.

In 2006, the Denver Art Museum opened an expansion -- the Frederic C. Hamilton Building -- designed by Daniel Libeskind. The Hamilton building was the first Libeskind building in North America. The extension houses galleries highlighting the modern and contemporary collection, with selections from artists including Robert Motherwell, Ed Ruscha, Donald Judd, George Rickey, and Dan Flavin.

Art Schools and Programs

art student in Denver Denver also is home to numerous schools and universities that offer visual arts educations including Colorado Technical University - Denver, The Art Institute of Colorado, and Westwood College -- which has two locations in Denver.

The Art Department at Metro State College of Denver, the Regis University Art Department, the University of Colorado at Denver College of Architecture and Planning and College of Arts and Media, and the Denver University's School of Art and Art History also offer arts degrees.

These schools prepare visual arts students for photography careers, advertising careers, fashion careers, and work in animation and website design. In addition, the schools offer Graphic Design degrees, Interior Design degrees, and Architecture degrees.

On a less-formal but still professional level, the Art Students League of Denver offers students the opportunity to learn art from teachers that include over 60 of the Rocky Mountain Region's best-known artists. In addition, the Mizel Center for Arts and Culture offers adult art classes covering topics such as art history and marketing, ceramics, painting, and printing.

Besides cultural and educational opportunities, Denver has an enormous outdoor flea market, a nationally recognized zoo, numerous professional sports teams, a Six Flags amusement park -- and, of course, the Rocky Mountains, which provide a variety of activities for all seasons. Many other well-known tourist sites are within driving distance, including Pike's Peak, Red Rocks Amphitheatre, and Rocky Mountain National Park. With so many ways to keep busy and enjoy the arts, students who choose to study in Denver find it to be an inspiring and supportive environment.

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