Kimbell Art Museum
Fort Worth, Texas
From its start in 1936 as a private collection of British and French portraits through the addition of the director of the world-class Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1965 and a new mandate to acquire works of “definitive excellence” regardless of period or geography, the Kimbell Art Museum has cultivated a 350-piece-strong collection of singular masterpieces from around the world.
The second Saturday of select months, “After Hours at the Kimbell” features live music with the month’s signature cocktails and hors d’oeuvres in the Renzo Piano Pavilion while docents lead tours through the galleries and special exhibits. Beyond the main after-hours program, every Friday, in the Buffet Restaurant, local musicians serenade diners, and groups can also catch visiting musicians in the Pavilion’s 289-seat auditorium.
Denver Museum of Nature and Science
Denver
Denver’s 115-year-old, Smithsonian-affiliated nature and science museum is home to more than 1 million objects, a planetarium and an Imax theater. Due to the size and breadth of its collection, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science is able to run multiple after-hours programs concurrently, such as the themed science lounges on the third Thursdays, which combine modern beverages and natural history around themes as diverse as Lucy the Australopithecus and chocolate.
Nearly every night of the week, however, the museum runs after-hours programs, many taking advantage of its Imax theater to show special screenings of archival films on topics from explorers that once gave the world its first look at rare species of hard-to-reach lands from New Zealand to the underwater world of Jean-Michel Cousteau. Live and participatory programs allow visiting groups to interact with everyone from beer and chocolate researchers to “Charles Darwin,” who regales visitors with stories of his adventures.
