Do you have any glass or pottery worthy of being on exhibit in a museum? I would bet money that you just might have some in your home that you're not aware of. A trip down to the Kirkland Museum of Fine and Decorative Art, in Denver, might just convince you that you do have some. Hugh Grant, director of the Kirkland museum, has been assembling a prestigious collection of 20 th century glass and pottery that is the envy of many other museums around the country.

The museum was named after artist Vance Kirkland who worked for the University of Denver before opening "Kirkland School of Art" at the museums current location. In 1991 Kirkland passed away and left his estate to Grant. In the mid 90's the Vance Kirkland Foundation was formed.

The artist's studio was left unchanged after Kirkland's death. Many of Kirkland's original furniture, paintings, glass, pottery and artist supplies are on exhibit. The studio where Kirkland painted has the original table that he painted on and straps (not original) suspended from beams in the ceiling that allowed Kirkland to lie suspended above large paintings while he painted them.

The museum has glass and pottery on display in every room in the museum including a room which was once used as an "outhouse". The Kirkland Museum features more than 3,000 decorative art works, focusing on the first seventy five years of the 20th Century, including Arts & Crafts, Art Nouveau, Art Deco, Modern and Pop Art.

In my last visit to the museum I counted at least 75 different American glass patterns on exhibit. Some of the glass companies being displayed are: Blenko, Cambridge, Consolidated, Diamond, Duncan Miller, Fostoria, Heisey, Hocking, Indiana, Jeanette, Kopp, Libbey, Lotus, McKee, Morgantown, New Martinsville, Westmoreland and others. Now use your imagination and try to visualize what these manufactures patterns look like: Abstraction, American, Block Optic, Caprice, Caribbean, Catalonia, Contrast, Deauville, Embassy, Festive, Flame, Floating Square, La Furiste, Liberty, Lifesaver, Marguerite, Mayfair, Microphone, Modernistic, Moondrops, Nautilus, Neo Classic, Odd Ball, Pinwheel, Pyramid, Quadrangle, Ruba Rombic, Saturn, Seascape, Stanhope, Tea Room, Terrace, Top Notch, Victory and Zig Zag.

Pottery and china companies on exhibit include: Bauer, Coors, Franciscan, Gates, Grubie, Hall, Home Laughlin, Jason, Muncie, Raymore, Red Wing, Rookwood, Roseville, Russell Wright, Salem, Steubenville, Van Briggle, Weller and others. Pattern names for pottery are just as intriguing as glass names: American Modern, Carnelian I & II, Contermpora, Coppertone, Fiesta, Free Form, Futura, Harlequin, Hercules, Manta Ray, Mardi Gras, Mobile, Modern, Rozane, Smart Set, Silhouette, Snail, Starburst, Teco, Tricornne, Tri-Tone and others.

The Kirkland Museum will be exhibiting part of the museums extensive collection at the 34 th "Array of Color" Glass and Pottery show being held at the Douglas County Fairgrounds, in Castle Rock, on April 26 th and 27 th. Ruba Rombic, American Modern, Teco, Grubie, Van Briggle, Rocket Moondrops and a very rare Jazz bowl/plate are some of the patterns that the museum mentioned that they may be bringing to the show. In addition to the museum exhibit, there will be a display of three very rare Cambridge Mannequin heads and a collection of Nudes. There will also be 12-14 exhibits of including the following companies and patterns: American Modern, Duncan Miller glass, Cambridge glass patterns, Central glass patterns, Metlox Free Form, Morgantown glass, Steubenville Harlequin, Tiffin Modern.

The Kirkland Museum is located at 1311 Pearl St., Denver, Co. 80203 (303) 832-8576.

The show is located at the Douglas County Events Center, 500 Fairgrounds Road (Exit 181 from I25) in Castle Rock, Co. 80104. Hours: Sat. (10am - 5pm) Sun. (11am - 4pm) Admission: $4 good for both days. Parking is free, food is available, and the Events Center is handicap accessible. Show Link: ( Glass & Pottery Show).

The Denver Modernism Show is a fantastic opportunity to add to your collection of modern and Art Deco glass or pottery; you might want to consider attending the show to learn more about collecting Art Deco and Modern glass. In addition to glass, the show will have a wide assortment of other Art Deco and Modern merchandise for sale. The next Denver Modernism show will be Aug. 15 - 17, 2008. The 3rd Annual Denver Modernism Show will be held at the National Western Complex, near the intersection of I-25 and I-70. Please visit their website at: ( www.denvermodernism.com).