DENVER, CO.-Opening Saturday, August 13, 2005, Blanket Statements will give Museum visitors a snapshot of a single decade in the long history of Navajo creativity through close examination of more than 10 Navajo textiles woven in the 1980s. Navajo weavers have been creating exquisite textiles for more than three centuries. With ever-changing ideas, materials and designs, they have enthusiastically and skillfully created a world of beauty for which they have become justly famous. Ranging from abstract, eye-dazzling patterns to intricate pictorial scenes to bold geometric explosions, the designs created by Navajo weavers during the 1980s were built upon their strong cultural heritage while also being clearly focused on the present. Visitors will have the opportunity to learn why master weaver Isabel John wove detailed scenes of life on the Navajo reservation into her textiles, while Irene Clark chose to collaborate with the contemporary American painter, Kenneth Noland, to translate one of his drawings into a woven textile. This installation is the first Neusteter Textile Gallery exhibition dedicated solely to the art of the Navajo weaver.

As summer winds down, activities for families at the Denver Art Museum will be in full swing until Friday, August 19, 2005, with the Just for Fun Family Center and Family Backpacks available daily. Kids can explore the different worlds of art in the Just For Fun Family Center with activities that give them a unique learning experience. Families can enjoy different art-themed Family Backpacks, filled with games and hands-on activities to lead them on an adventure through the galleries. On Saturdays through September 24, they can also follow the stop signs to Art Stops to learn how to handle a samurai sword, how Navajo people weave their blankets and much more. At each station, there are objects for children to handle and trained art interpreters to answer questions. A host of other activities—including the Kids Corner, Eye Spy games and the Discovery Library—are also available everyday. Kids 12 and under always receive free general Museum admission. After Friday, August 19, the Just for Fun Family Center and Family Backpacks will return to their regular schedule of being available on weekends during normal Museum hours.

For those grown-ups who like to dabble in art, registration for the Museum’s fall adult studio classes opens to the public Monday, August 29, 2005. Studio classes include drawing, mixed media, painting, and watercolors for all artistic levels. Classes are normally offered in the spring, fall, and winter but after this fall’s round of classes, studio classes and courses will be on hiatus until January 2007 to accommodate the opening the new Frederic C. Hamilton Building in the fall of 2006.