"Because we have only had one gallery that changes in the past, we have not had a full gallery space that serves both audiences at the same time."
Longmont Museum Director Erik Mason said that in May 2025, a few days before the galleries at 400 Quail Road closed for construction. He was describing a scheduling problem anyone who has visited regularly will recognize. The museum had two regular audiences. One was adults who came for art and history. The other was children, families and caregivers who came for programs and shows like the earlier Lego exhibit. With one changing gallery, each show served one of those groups while the other waited for its turn.
When the galleries reopen on Saturday, Oct. 17, that wait ends. On opening day, a major adult exhibition, a second art show and a permanent children's gallery all open together, and the same building now has to plan for all of them at once.
What fills the new space on Oct. 17
The City describes the project as a nearly $10 million expansion that adds 70% more public gallery space. Here is how that space is being used this fall.
| Gallery | What's on view | Run |
|---|---|---|
| Bill Stewart Feature Gallery | "Frida Kahlo: An Intimate Portrait," 98 rare photographs plus personal letters and notes from Kahlo's private collection | Oct. 17 to Jan. 31 |
| Exhibition gallery | "Women Artists: Four Centuries of Creativity," with works by Rosa Bonheur, Sonia Delaunay, Käthe Kollwitz, Louise Nevelson and Françoise Gilot | Oct. 17 to Jan. 24 |
| Lila's Children's Gallery | "DreamLab," a permanent hands-on exhibit with a dragon castle and a calming crystal cave | Permanent |
The run dates are what change a family's planning. The two adult shows close a week apart in late January. DreamLab stays. A household with young kids no longer has to wait out an art show the kids would sit through for the adults' sake. The kids' gallery is open on every visit, and the art shows rotate around it.
The children's gallery was designed with the same split in mind. In 2025, Mason described it as a set of thematic zones aimed at different ages, with quieter areas for toddlers and spaces for "imagined play" for older children. The crystal cave and the dragon castle are those two ideas built out.
A 2002 building that finally got its big renovation
The museum building dates to 2002, and the Stewart Auditorium was added in 2015. The Longmont Leader reported in 2025 that the building had not had any other significant renovation since it first opened. The gallery expansion is the last phase of a multi-phase upgrade. Earlier phases converted a storage space and opened the Stewart Family Courtyard, which hosts the museum's free summer concerts.
Essenza Architecture, a Louisville firm, designed the expansion after about three years of planning with museum staff. The new feature gallery is nearly twice the size of the old one. It sits in a new wing, and the project also enlarged the lobby and redesigned the entrance for universal access.
Most of the money came from private donors. The City reports that more than 450 individuals, foundations and corporations gave to the capital campaign, which beat its original goal. The Stewart Family Foundation alone contributed more than $6 million. That name now appears across the campus, on the auditorium, the courtyard and the new Bill Stewart Feature Gallery.
The galleries closed on May 26, 2025, after "A Graphic Journey: Prints by Pablo Picasso" ended. Classes, concerts, films, talks and camps continued throughout the closure. Oct. 17 ends roughly 17 months without exhibitions.
Reopening day, then the regular schedule
The reopening celebration runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Oct. 17. It starts with a 9 a.m. ribbon-cutting, followed by historical talks, art classes, Discovery Days crafts, animated films and guided tours, all free. The City keeps the reopening-day schedule updated.
The museum's fall guide sets the hours and prices that apply after that day:
- Hours: Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, 1 to 5 p.m.; plus most Thursdays, 5 to 9 p.m.
- Closed: Nov. 26
- Admission: $12 adults, $8 youth, free for children under 2 and for museum members
- Reduced rate: $1 with a qualifying EBT or SNAP card
- Free gallery days: Nov. 14 and Dec. 12
Neither the Frida Kahlo page nor the Women Artists page lists a separate exhibit surcharge or timed-entry ticket. Both list the same general admission prices. At those prices, two adults and two children pay $40 for a visit. The free days in November and December cover the same galleries at no cost. The fall guide lists no separate Longmont-resident rate.
The Thursday evening hours work well for the adult shows. They line up with the museum's Thursday Nights program, which runs through Dec. 10.
The fall calendar around the galleries
Programs in the Stewart Auditorium and around town fill the weeks after reopening:
- Thursday, Oct. 22: "¡Viva la Vida!" in the Thursday Nights series.
- Saturday, Oct. 24, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.: The free Day of the Dead Family Celebration at 4th Avenue and Kimbark Street downtown, with music, dance, crafts, food trucks and a Gigantes Procession.
- Thursday, Oct. 29: Mont Alto performs a live score for Fritz Lang's silent film "Destiny."
- Friday, Oct. 30, 7 p.m.: "Noche de Museo: Celebrating Day of the Dead" in the Stewart Auditorium, with reserved seats at $23, or $20 for members.
- Thursday, Nov. 19, 7 to 9 p.m.: Cultural Caravan's chamber music concert, $18 general admission or $15 for members.
- Saturday, Dec. 5, 3 and 7 p.m.: The 11th Annual Holiday Show, with reserved seats at $35, or $30 for members.
The Day of the Dead events on Oct. 24 and Oct. 30 fall in the first two weeks of the Frida Kahlo exhibition. Kahlo's letters and photographs will be on view during the same stretch as the museum's annual Día de los Muertos programs.
Next door at 310 Quail Road
The museum's neighbor on Quail Road is reopening something of its own this month. At the Longmont Recreation Center, the leisure pool area, including the lazy river and slides, reopens Friday, Oct. 2, at 11 a.m. with a new interactive play feature. A ribbon-cutting and celebration follows on Saturday, Oct. 10, at 11 a.m. No registration is needed, and entry is covered by a recreation pass or the regular daily fee.
The new feature includes three slides: two side-by-side racer slides and an open-top curving slide. It also has spray zones, dumping buckets, sprayers kids can aim themselves, water tables with movable pieces, and two toddler features that replace the old geysers. There are also splash-free zones for swimmers who would rather stay dry. The equipment fits in the shallowest part of the pool, which leaves more open water for leisure swimming and lessons.
This reopening slipped once. In August, the Longmont Leader reported a planned public reopening event for Sept. 19. The City's pool page now gives Oct. 2 for the opening and Oct. 10 for the celebration.
The pool schedule starting Oct. 2 includes all-ages leisure pool and slide time on Monday and Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 4 to 7 p.m. On Tuesday and Thursday it runs from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., but features and slides are off during swim lessons from 9 to 11 a.m. and 4 to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday afternoons run from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Adults have the leisure pool to themselves on Monday and Wednesday from 1 to 4 p.m. Daily resident admission is $7.75 for ages 18 to 54, $6.50 for ages 11 to 17 and 55 and older, and $6 for ages 2 to 10. Children under 2 are free. Nonresidents pay $9.50, $8 and $7.50 in those same groups.
Put the two schedules side by side and a Quail Road Saturday works out on paper. The museum opens at 9 a.m. The weekend all-ages afternoon swim starts at 11 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday. For three months this fall and winter, both buildings are running their newest features at once, and the museum is showing both its adult exhibitions and its new permanent children's gallery for the first time.
If the Quail Road reopenings have you thinking about how close your own street is to the museum, the pool or downtown, I'm glad to talk it through. I'm Jane Kraemer, a Longmont native, and I can walk you through what's been changing near you and how it shows up in what homes on your street are worth today. Schedule Your Free Market Consultation.
