Almost 1,000 people an hour filed through the Denver Art Museum’s new addition this weekend during the free public opening that ran 35 continuous hours from Saturday morning through Sunday evening.
Museum officials said a total of 33,755 visitors streamed through the Frederic C. Hamilton Building, built at a cost of nearly $110 million.
New York-based architect Daniel Libeskind was on-hand at the 10 a.m. opening Saturday, greeting visitors, posing for pictures and autographing entrance tickets.
“This is a dream come true,” said the ruddy-faced, grinning, cowboy- booted Libeskind.
The building, he said, “evokes the sense of wonder in architecture and art. It’s a contribution to a city. It’s part of people’s lives and emotions.”
The unorthodox-looking building, with its wild angles and titanium skin, appeared to be a welcome addition to the city, based on the huge response by first-time viewers.
The project “overwhelmed” Westminster painter Jasmine Dillingham, 29.
“I feel giddy,” she said while standing alone in a small room dominated by ceramic, slug-like shapes attached to a slanting wall. “There are so many famous artists’ work here. I can see the actual brush strokes.”
The size of the crowd heartened her, she said.
“This many people show up for a football game, but for culture and art? It makes me happy for the world.”
David Beldus, 73, drove down from Estes Park for the opening because “this is special.”
“Art is culture,” said the retired teacher and Korean War paratrooper. “It tells us about magnificent abilities of people to represent themselves and others.”
Sara Long, 29, an Ecuadorian nanny living in Arvada, congratulated Libeskind when she entered and then spent a few hours wandering the galleries and walking up and down the winding, disorienting staircases.
“Everything here is floating,” she said. “It’s heavy but it’s floating. It moves.”
It was all a bit much for Scott Yeager, 41, a New Jersey artist who plans to move back to Colorado. He brought his family out for the opening.
He liked the new addition, but felt all of the tilted, bare walls were wasted space. After about an hour there he scooted over to the original museum, connected to the new wing by a bridge over 13th Street.
“It does feel a lot more comfortable over here,” he said, examining an exhibit of American Indian art.
Staff Writer Douglas Brown can be reached at 303-820-1395 and djbrown@denverpost.com.
