Once known as a "cow town", Denver has shed its rustic image. RMCAD students new to the area quickly discover Denver offers a thriving mix of visual and performing arts.

Check out Art in America's February 2007 profile of Denver’s art scene and just a few of the city's cultural highlights:

The Denver Art Museum

The Denver Art Museum complex includes collection gallery space, three temporary exhibition venues, and the Lewis I. Sharp Auditorium. Opened in 2006, the Hamilton Building addition was designed by famed architect Daniel Liebskind. In addition to a vast array of art collections, the DAM has received critical acclaim for encouraging art appreciation through interactive means.

Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA)

MCA is an innovative forum that inspires and challenges all audiences and creates understanding and dialogue about art of our time. British architect David Adjaye designed the new, striking MCA building in the heart of the LoDo district.

Explore Denver's Galleries: First Fridays

Denver boasts over 120 commercial art galleries representing regional, national and international artists of all genres, from western to contemporary. Santa Fe Drive just south of downtown Denver is a favorite neighborhood for gallery hopping. Drop in for a free gallery crawl the first Friday evening of each month. RMCAD students and faculty members routinely show their work in these venues.

Denver Public Art Program

Whenever the City of Denver spends more than $1 million on any capital improvement project, 1% of the total budget goes toward integrating public artwork into the design. So with our new bridges, buildings and highways come world-class sculpture, murals, and other installations—over 300 works of art with new pieces popping up all over the city every year.

Notable works include sculpture by Fernando Botero, Sol LeWitt, Claes Oldenberg, Robert Mangold and Donald Lipski.

Red Rocks Amphitheater

Few experiences are as beautiful as a summer concert at Red Rocks. With Mother Nature as the architect, Red Rocks is a geologically formed, open-air Amphitheatre that is not duplicated anywhere in the world. A trip to Red Rocks should be considered an essential Colorado experience. If you're coming for an open house or campus tour you may want to check out the concert schedule before booking your trip.

The Denver Performing Arts Complex (DPAC)

One of the largest arts complexes in the world, DPAC features ten individual performance spaces connected by an 80 foot tall glass roof. Located in downtown Denver, DPAC is a four-block, 12-acre site that is home to a Tony Award-winning theater company, Broadway touring productions, contemporary dance and ballet, magnificent chorales, a symphony orchestra, and an internationally acclaimed opera house.