The Kirkland Historic Studio Building in Denver, Colorado was built in 1910-1911 and is the oldest commercial art building in Denver and the second oldest in the state. It was commissioned by English artist Henry Read to house his Students' School of Art and was designed in the Arts and Crafts architectural style by architects Maurice Biscoe and Henry Hewitt. In 1932, artist Vance Kirkland rented the building and started the Kirkland School of Art, using it as his personal studio until his death in 1981. In 2002, a large addition was completed to help expand the Kirkland Museum, which opened in the building in 2003 to display Kirkland's works and those of his Colorado colleagues.

1. KIRKLAND’S HISTORIC STUDIO BUILDING
Built 1910–1911: Denver’s oldest commercial art building; 2nd
oldest in
Colorado, after the Van Briggle Memorial Pottery building in Colorado
Springs
Architectural style: Arts & Crafts
Architects: Maurice Biscoe and Henry Hewitt
English born artist Henry Read (1847-1935) commissioned architects Maurice B. Biscoe
(c.1872-1953) and Henry H. Hewitt (c.1875-c.1955) to construct 1311 Pearl Street to
house his Students’ School of Art. Biscoe originally came to Denver to supervise the
construction of Saint John’s Episcopal Cathedral (14th
& Washington, begun in 1904).
Although both were trained in the Beaux-Arts style, the Pearl Street building is in an
Arts and Crafts style. Among the best known of the Biscoe and Hewitt collaborations
are the Clayton College for Boys (32nd
& Colorado, 1909-11) and the Helen Bonfils
home (707 Washington Street).
Mr. Read was one of the thirteen founding members of the Artists’ Club (1893) which
later became the Denver Art Museum (1923). Kirkland recounted that Read and other
members used their homes and the Pearl Street building for meetings of the Artists’
Club/Denver Art Association from 1911 until 1922 when this organization was deeded
Chappell House (1300 Logan, razed 1970).
The University of Denver appointed Vance Kirkland of Ohio (1904-1981) director of
the Chappell School of Art in January of 1929. However, in 1932, Kirkland left the
University because it would not give full academic degree credit for their art courses.
He rented and later purchased the building at 1311 Pearl Street and started the Kirkland
School of Art (1932-46) with classes accredited by the University of Colorado beginning
in 1933. The Kirkland School of Art was highly successful, and in 1946, the University of
Denver enticed Kirkland to return with a salary equal to the University Chancellor.
Kirkland again became director of the School of Art on the University campus. His
several hundred students followed him there. When Kirkland finally left the University
in 1969, his was the University’s largest undergraduate school with 400 majors. From
1932 until his death in 1981, Kirkland used 1311 Pearl Street as his personal studio.
The entire Pearl Street building was built with northern facing skylight windows for
painting by natural light. The twelve, original ribbed, chicken wire, glass windows have
been saved in the workroom, while the first two rooms have newer, smooth, chicken
wire glass. Behind the original building was a garden and outhouse with no running
water. One had to go out the back door and across the garden to enter the outhouse.
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2. Each of the three main rooms had a coal and wood burning stove for heating. There
was no electricity in the first two rooms and the hallway. Only the third and last room
(Kirkland’s workroom) had some minimal electrical lighting (one or two Art Deco
chandeliers). Gaslights lit the front exterior and each room had a gaslight fixture. Also,
many candlesticks and oil lamps were used. This was a true bohemian existence in the
middle of Denver. The three lions on the front of Vance Kirkland Studio were acquired
about 1950 when the Flatiron Building (16th
& Court Place) was remodeled, and they
were added to Kirkland’s studio in 1980. The lions were originally made by the Denver
Brick and Terra Cotta Company circa 1900.
Kirkland died in May 1981. Since Kirkland’s wife had already died and they had no
children, family friend Hugh Grant became executor of the estate. Kirkland Foundation
was established in 1996 to preserve the works of Vance Kirkland and the other
collections. Grant has continued to do exhibitions, hold the collection together, and
further build upon it. In April 2003 the Kirkland Museum opened to the public,
displaying the works of Kirkland, his Colorado colleagues, and 20th-century decorative
art.
In 2002, a 9400 sq. ft. addition to the original building was completed. This addition was
built to the immediate South of the original art school and studio building. It uses brick
closely matching the original building, as does the exterior and interior design. The
architects were (Richard) Chip Melick, Jr. (born 1956) and Rachel Lawrence (born 1969)
of Melick and Associates, Inc.
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