Until this fall, where did the kids go when the Longmont Museum's only changing gallery was showing Picasso prints?
For most of the building's life, the answer depended on the show. The museum at 400 Quail Road had one gallery that rotated. Each exhibition had to choose an audience. A Lego show worked for families. "A Graphic Journey: Prints by Pablo Picasso," the last exhibit before the galleries closed for renovation, worked for adults. Museum Director Erik Mason described the problem to the Longmont Leader: "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."
The nearly $10 million expansion that reopened on October 17 was built to fix that. The museum can now hold an adult exhibition and a children's gallery at once, so a weekday visit, a free Saturday or a Thursday night out each work for more than one kind of visitor.
One feature gallery now holds two exhibitions
The new Bill Stewart Feature Gallery is nearly twice the size of the old one. Temporary walls let staff split the room among several shows, as Jackie Hobbins, senior manager of exhibitions, explained to the Longmont Times-Call. According to the City of Longmont, the expansion adds 70% more public gallery space. Joan Harrold, who runs marketing and communications for the museum, told the Times-Call that the new gallery spaces total 9,110 square feet.
Two exhibitions share the room this season:
- "Frida Kahlo: An Intimate Portrait" brings together roughly 100 photographs taken by and of Kahlo, some by her father, along with personal letters. "These were photographs that she had and touched," Hobbins told the Times-Call.
- "Women Artists: Four Centuries of Creativity" shows original work by artists including Rosa Bonheur, Sonia Delaunay, Käthe Kollwitz, Louise Nevelson and Françoise Gilot.
Hobbins told the Times-Call the two shows complement each other. The Kahlo show goes deep on one life, and the second "shows the breadth of women who have similar stories to share." Harrold said the museum chose a big name to open with on purpose: "It's nice for the Longmont Museum to be able to bring this kind of scale of exhibition to the community, and to help the community understand that the museum isn't just a small local history museum."
The kids' side is permanent
Across the building, DreamLab in Lila's Children's Gallery is the part of the expansion that won't rotate out. It's a permanent, hands-on space. Kids can walk into a mushroom house, climb the Dragon Sky Castle under a dragon sculpture, or settle into what the museum calls a "calming crystal cave."
That space came at a cost to the museum's local-history footprint. DreamLab replaced "Front Range Rising," the history exhibition that used to fill that gallery. The history gallery is still being finished, and opening-day visitors could walk through it in progress.
Since DreamLab is permanent, one parent or grandparent can stay with the kids while another adult spends time with Kahlo's letters, and both are inside the same building on the same ticket.
What a visit costs, and when it's free
Exhibition admission is $12 for adults and $8 for youth. Children under 2 get in free, and members are free. Anyone with a qualifying EBT or SNAP card pays $1. The museum's exhibition page for the Kahlo show lists the same $12 and $8 pricing.
A household of two adults and two kids pays $40 for one regular-price visit. The Fall 2026 catalog lists a family/grandparent membership at $60 a year. Individual memberships run $40, dual $50 and family plus $80. Because DreamLab doesn't close when a show does, a family that comes back after the Kahlo show ends is paying to return to a gallery the kids already know.
The second Saturday of every month is free. For the rest of 2026, that means Saturday, November 14 and Saturday, December 12. Free days cover exhibition admission only. Tickets for programs are separate.
Regular hours are 9 am to 5 pm Monday through Saturday and 1 to 5 pm on Sunday. Most Thursdays the museum also stays open from 5 to 9 pm. Call (303) 651-8374 before making a Thursday-night trip.
The calendar is built for two audiences, too
The programming follows the same split as the galleries. Daytime is mostly for kids. Thursday nights are for adults.
Discovery Days Art runs Wednesday through Saturday with sessions at 9:15 am, 10:45 am and 1 pm, and each week has a theme. "Airplanes & Things That Fly" runs this week, November 3 to 7. After that come "Construction" from November 10 to 14, "Fall Harvest" from November 17 to 21, "Outer Space" from December 1 to 6, and "Ornaments & Decorations" from December 8 to 12. There are no sessions during Thanksgiving week, November 24 to 28.
Thursday Nights @ the Museum runs through December 10. It includes Art & Sip, a bar and lounge, and films, performances and talks in the Stewart Auditorium. Wine, beer and concessions are for sale. Several of the evening programs this season tie back to the feature gallery:
| Date | Program | Time | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thu., Nov. 5 | "Like Water for Chocolate" (1992, R) | 7–9 pm | $12, $8 members |
| Thu., Nov. 12 | "The Body Politic: Women Artists After Frida" | 7–9 pm | Free, reservations recommended |
| Fri., Nov. 13 | Friday Afternoon Concert: LAPOMPE | 2:30–4:30 pm | $12, $8 members |
| Sun., Nov. 15 | Longmont Home Movie Day workshop and screening | 1–4:30 pm | Free, reservations recommended |
| Thu., Nov. 19 | Cultural Caravan chamber concert | 7–9 pm | $18, $15 members |
| Thu., Dec. 3 | "!Women Art Revolution" (2010, NR) | 7–9 pm | $12, $8 members |
| Sat., Dec. 5 | The 11th Annual Holiday Show | 3 pm | Reserved seats $35, $30 members |
| Thu., Dec. 10 | BIFF Short Films II | 7 pm | See catalog |
| Fri., Dec. 11 | Friday Afternoon Concert: Boulder Phil's Woodwind Quintet, "Winter Wind'erland" | 2:30 pm | See catalog |
The "Like Water for Chocolate" screening is tonight. The November 12 talk is free, but reservations are recommended. It's the one evening program built directly around both shows in the feature gallery. The Holiday Show features the Longmont All Star Jazz Band, Sphere Ensemble and Paloma Rose.
Two closing dates a week apart
The two feature-gallery shows close a week apart. "Women Artists: Four Centuries of Creativity" is on view through Sunday, January 24. "Frida Kahlo: An Intimate Portrait" stays through Sunday, January 31. The Times-Call reports that a bird-themed quilt exhibit takes over the feature gallery after that.
That leaves two free Saturdays to see both shows together, and the December one packs in the most. On December 12, admission is free, the "Ornaments & Decorations" Discovery Days week wraps up, and the museum hosts Big-Kids Day with holiday crafts for all ages. For a household that wants the Kahlo letters, a dragon castle and an ornament craft table in one trip, that Saturday covers all three.
Who paid for it
Most of the money came from one family foundation. The Stewart Family Foundation contributed about $6.7 million toward the expansion, according to the Longmont Leader. The city, other local organizations and nearly 450 individual donors also gave. The capital campaign raised $10.2 million in total, the Times-Call reported. The Stewart name is on the feature gallery and on the Stewart Auditorium, which opened in 2015. Essenza Architecture of Louisville designed the expansion after nearly five years of planning with the museum. The galleries are the final phase of a multi-phase renovation. An earlier phase gave the museum the Stewart Family Courtyard, home to its free Summer Concert Series.
The building opened in 2002 and had no other significant renovations before this one. Mason told the Leader the goal is "to serve a broader audience all year round."
At Lydia's Home Team, we follow what changes in the Longmont neighborhoods we work in, from a museum adding gallery space to the projects reshaping downtown. If you're in Longmont and curious how local changes like these show up in what your home is worth, get your free home valuation.
