Founded in 1893, this seven-story museum is wrapped by a thin 28-sided wall faced with one million sparkling tiles designed by Gio Ponti of Italy and James Sudler Associates of Denver. A new main entrance on Acoma Plaza boasts a dramatic steel canopy and is convenient to the parking lots at Acoma Street and 13th Avenue.

The seventh floor houses the museum's expanding collection of Western and regional works. Included are Frederic Remington's bronze The Cheyenne, Charles Russell's painting In the Enemy's Country, plus 19th-century photography, historical pieces, and works by Georgia O'Keeffe. In 2001, Dorothy and William Harmsen, longtime Colorado residents and founders of the Jolly Rancher Candy Company, donated their prestigious Western art collection to the museum. Assembled over 40 years, the collection immediately made the museum's inventory of Western art one of the most impressive in the nation.

The American Indian collection consists of more than 17,000 pieces from 150 tribes of North America, spanning nearly 2,000 years. The collection is growing through the acquisition of historic pieces as well as the commissioning of works by contemporary artists. Other collections include architecture and design; graphics; and Asian, modern and contemporary, pre-Columbian, and Spanish Colonial art.

The vastness of these collections mean the museum is currently strapped for display space. Construction on a jagged, avant-garde addition (designed by renowned architect Daniel Libeskind) will begin in 2003. When finished in 2005, the unique structure will double the size of the museum and afford some additional space for the Harmsen collection and other displays.

Overview tours are available Tuesday through Sunday at 1:30pm, plus 11am on Saturday; an in-depth tour of a different area of the museum is offered each Wednesday and Friday at noon and 1pm; and a variety of child-oriented and family programs are scheduled regularly. A restaurant, Palettes, serves American lunches (and dinner on Wed) and a cafe offers lighter fare plus baked goods. There is also a gift shop. Allow 2 to 3 hours.