The DAM is one of the best regional art museums in the United States, and the holdings of Indigenous Arts of North America are the strongest in the country — over 18,000 objects spanning pre-contact ceramics to contemporary work. The pre-Columbian and Spanish Colonial galleries are similarly deep, reflecting Denver's position at the crossroads of Latin American trade routes.
The campus has two main buildings: the Hamilton (Libeskind's titanium sculpture) and the Martin, the renovated North Building by Gio Ponti, originally clad in a million glass tiles. Plan at least half a day, longer if you take in a special exhibition. The Ponti Café on the top floor of the Martin has the best museum food in town and a balcony view back across Civic Center to the Capitol. Just outside, Mark di Suvero's red steel sculpture Lao Tzu sits on the plaza.