ODD BITS: Century-old museum moves inside a new museum in Denver

Denverites -- no, you're not hallucinating.

This is a real photo of the city's 150-ton Kirkland Museum of

Decorative and Fine Arts being moved to its new site, 8 blocks away. 

or, as the Denver Post more cleverly wrote in their top headline (11/6/16):

"Historic 150-ton Kirkland Museum trundles across 

downtown Denver as it moves to new location" 

from article:

"Chris Ayres, 34, brought his 6-year-old son David from their home in Lone Tree to watch the move. "This guy loves watching big things move," he said of the boy. Below: onlookers are baffled, trying to figure out where they can buy more of the great, legal weed they've been smoking. "We can't wait to see it going downhill" exclaimed Todd Johnson, 47, who was at the corner of 13th Avenue and Pearl St. with his family.

Above: The 105-year old former Kirkland Museum 

The museum houses a stellar and eccentric 30,000-piece collection of 20th century decorative arts, from zany Clarice Cliff ceramic tableware to elegant Wiener Werkstätte silver flatware and textiles, Art Noveau furniture and metalwork, Charles Rennie Mackintosh chairs and picture frames, lots of mid-century modern furniture, and, of course, paintings by Vance Kirkland himself.

Above: Crowds begin to gather to watch The Big Move.



Above: The 105-year old former Kirkland Museum


Below: Artist's rendering of new Kirkland Museum, 8 blocks away from original site; 
another view showing incorporation of old museum







For more detailed info about the new Kirkland's architecture, visit

Transcendent and Ascendent

from the Denver Post

And now, a small peek at what's inside ...

Above: Jules Leleu Settee (c. 1933) from the S.S. Normandie

Below: a whole lotta mid-mod furniture, plus paintings by Vance Kirkland.

The Kirkland Museum houses three principal collections,

 and includes the original school and studio of artist Vance Kirkland.

 My husband and I visited several years ago, and were blown away 

by the quality and quantity of the artwork on display.

I'm a big Clarice Cliff fan, so I would have been happy

 just to see that!! 

The photos below were taken by Michael Schonbach

 in August 2013.

Eva Zeisel ceramics




Clarice Cliff's line of Bizarre Ware pottery -- hugely popular in the 1930s; wildly collectible today

Below: A crocheted 1970s dress and an iconic Andy Warhol soup can frock

Below: the thin line between collecting and hoarding?

Having attractive vitrines for display purposes helps a lot.

~oOo~

The new venue is scheduled to open in Denver in early 2018. See http://www.kirklandmuseum.org/ for detailed info.