The last show in the old galleries at the Longmont Museum was "A Graphic Journey: Prints by Pablo Picasso." When it closed on May 26, the galleries closed with it, and they have been shut for more than a year since. On Saturday, Oct. 17, they reopen at 400 Quail Road. The first show in the new Bill Stewart Feature Gallery is "Frida Kahlo: An Intimate Portrait," made up of 98 rare photographs, personal letters and notes from Kahlo's private collection.
The Kahlo show runs through Jan. 31, so nobody has to rush. But its first two weeks line up with the most crowded stretch of Longmont's Día de Muertos season. That puts a show about Mexico's best-known painter in the same weeks as a downtown street fiesta, a giant-puppet procession, a tamale festival and a Day of the Dead concert held in the museum itself. After Nov. 1 the museum is still worth the trip, but these two weeks have something extra.
What the new building adds
According to the Longmont Leader's look inside the expansion, the museum was built in 2002, added the Stewart Auditorium in 2015, and had no other major renovation until now. The gallery expansion is the last phase of a longer upgrade. Earlier phases converted a storage space and opened the Stewart Family Courtyard, where the free Summer Concert Series ran this past year.
The new galleries cost nearly $10 million and add 70% more public gallery space. Louisville-based Essenza Architecture designed the project after nearly five years of planning with museum staff. Two spaces account for most of the change:
- The Bill Stewart Feature Gallery, a larger room built for traveling exhibitions. Kahlo is the first show in it.
- DreamLab in Lila's Children's Gallery, a permanent hands-on exhibit with a dragon castle and a calming crystal cave.
Most of the money came from local donors. The City of Longmont says more than 450 individuals, foundations and corporations gave to the capital campaign, which beat its original goal. The Stewart Family Foundation alone gave more than $6 million. The Leader puts the foundation's gift at about $6.7 million.
A bigger feature gallery means bigger traveling shows, and the museum picked one that fits the season for its opening.
Why the Kahlo show fits late October
The photographs were chosen from Kahlo's private albums, and handwritten letters and notes hang alongside them. Vicente Wolf Associates organized the show from Vicente Wolf's collection. The museum describes it as a close look at the artist's life and the people who knew her. It is mostly photographs of Kahlo, not her paintings, so it shows the people and places around her.
The second new show runs in the galleries next door. "Women Artists: Four Centuries of Creativity" includes work by Rosa Bonheur, Sonia Delaunay, Käthe Kollwitz, Louise Nevelson and Françoise Gilot. It closes Jan. 24, a week before Kahlo does.
Here is what else is on the calendar during the Kahlo show's first two weeks.
Oct. 9 through Nov. 1: Firehouse Art Center
The Firehouse Art Center's free Día de Muertos exhibition, "Remembering is Resistance," was already open when the museum's doors opened. Downtown Longmont describes it as work made with community members to share immigrant experiences. Its run ends Nov. 1, so for 16 days you can see both shows on the same day.
Oct. 17: Reopening day
Admission is free all day, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Details are in the next section.
Oct. 24: The busiest Saturday downtown this fall
This is the day when everything lands at once. Each event has its own listing, and together they fill the day from late morning until late at night:
| Time | Event | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. | Day of the Dead Family Celebration, free | Fourth Avenue and Kimbark Street |
| 2 p.m. | Firehouse Art Center's Gigantes Procession | Leaves from the fiesta through downtown |
| 4 to 8 p.m. | 4th Annual Feria del Tamal, with a drone show | Boulder County Fairgrounds |
| 5 to 9 p.m. | Haunt the 'Mont business crawl | Downtown Longmont |
| 9 to 11 p.m. | Haunt the 'Mont after-party | Longmont Elks Lodge #1055 |
At the Day of the Dead Family Celebration you'll find music and dance, face painting, sugar-skull decorating, crafts, food trucks, vendors and a kids' play zone. The procession is the part to plan around. Aztec dancers lead papier-mâché and cardboard Gigantes puppets, 10 to 15 feet tall, through downtown. The Feria del Tamal starts an hour after the fiesta ends, across town at the fairgrounds.
Oct. 30: Noche de Museo
The season ends back at the museum. Noche de Museo runs 7 to 9 p.m. in the Stewart Auditorium. The night is curated by the band iZCALLi and goes from ancient Aztec dance with Grupo Azteca Tlahuitzcalli to iZCALLi's genre-bending rock and roll. The city calls the annual show part of Longmont's cultural fabric. Seats are reserved and cost $23, or $20 for members.
Thursday is the only weekday with evening gallery hours, and Oct. 30 is a Friday. So the concert is a separate trip from a gallery visit unless you come during the day.
Reopening day, hour by hour
The reopening schedule starts with a 9 a.m. ribbon cutting. Museum Director Erik Mason will speak, and there will be bubble wands. The galleries stay open all day. The programs come in three blocks:
- 10:45 to 11:45 a.m. A sample Discovery Days session for kids, art activities for adults and teens, a Longmont history talk, "Silly Symphonies" screenings and guided tours of the new spaces.
- 1 to 2 p.m. The same kids' and art activities, plus a Women of Longmont History talk, screenings and tours.
- 3 to 4 p.m. A Longmont history talk, screenings and guided tours.
Families with young kids should know that DreamLab closes for cleaning from 11 to 11:20 a.m. and from 2 to 2:20 p.m. The 1 p.m. talk on Longmont's women pairs well with "Women Artists" upstairs. It's the one part of the day that ties local history to the new shows.
Mason put it this way in the city's announcement:
"The reopening is about so much more than a bigger building. It's about creating more opportunities for people to come together, explore, learn, imagine and connect."
After opening day: hours, prices and free days
Free entry on Oct. 17 is a one-day deal. Starting that day, the museum's fall 2026 calendar lists these regular terms:
- Hours: Monday through Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday 1 to 5 p.m. Most Thursdays stay open late, 5 to 9 p.m.
- Admission: $12 adults and $8 youth. Free for members and children under 2. Qualifying EBT/SNAP cardholders pay $1.
- Free days: Nov. 14 and Dec. 12.
- Closed: Nov. 26.
The free days matter for anyone who skips the opening-day crowd. Both fall inside the Kahlo and "Women Artists" runs, but both come after the Firehouse exhibition closes. So late October costs a ticket and gets you the shows plus everything around them. November and December can cost nothing and get you the shows alone. A family of two adults and two kids would pay $40 on a regular day, based on the posted prices. The museum's materials don't say whether gallery entry needs a timed ticket, so check its site before a busy weekend.
If you can only go once, a Thursday evening in the week of Oct. 19 or Oct. 26 gets you into the Kahlo galleries after work. The Firehouse show is still up then, and the downtown puppets are either just ahead or just behind you.
If seeing a room you've driven past for years finally open has you thinking about how your own home has changed since you bought it, Marie Jacobs can help you put a number on it. Get your instant home valuation, then go see the Kahlo show.
