"Because we have only had one gallery that changes in the past, we have not had a full gallery space that serves both audiences at the same time," Museum Director Erik Mason told the Longmont Leader. He was describing the two groups the Longmont Museum has always had to choose between. One is the adults who come for art and history. The other is the families and caregivers who came for shows like the museum's earlier Lego exhibit. For years, only one of them could have the changing gallery at a time.

That is the change behind the galleries that reopened last Saturday at 400 Quail Road. The new square footage matters, but the bigger difference is that adults and kids no longer have to take turns. The first few weeks show it plainly. A Frida Kahlo exhibition, a show of four centuries of women artists and a permanent children's gallery opened together on Oct. 17. Seven days later, the museum takes its 26th annual Day of the Dead celebration into downtown Longmont.

One changing gallery became two

The galleries had been dark since May 26, 2025, when "A Graphic Journey: Prints by Pablo Picasso" closed. That's almost 17 months. Museum programs kept running throughout the renovation, the Times-Call reported. The museum opened in 2002, and the Stewart Auditorium was added in 2015. Until this project, the Longmont Leader reports, the building had seen no other significant renovation.

The City of Longmont says the expansion cost nearly $10 million and adds 70% more public gallery space. Here is what changed:

• The Bill Stewart Feature Gallery, the space for touring exhibitions, is nearly twice its old size, according to the museum's capital campaign page. The Times-Call puts the added space at 1,000 square feet.
• DreamLab in Lila's Children's Gallery is a new permanent hands-on space.
• The lobby was expanded and the front entrance redesigned, according to the Times-Call's construction report.
• The courtyard was renovated and now has a new stage.
• Office and support space grew as well.

Louisville-based Essenza Architecture designed the project. The firm spent nearly five years planning it with the museum. The gallery work is the last phase of a longer series of upgrades. An earlier phase converted a storage space and opened the Stewart Family Courtyard, which hosted the museum's free Summer Concert Series.

Donors paid for it. The capital campaign first aimed for $8.1 million, passed that, and then met a revised goal of $10.2 million, the Times-Call reported in February. More than 450 individuals, foundations and corporations gave. The Stewart Family Foundation alone gave more than $6 million. The Stewart name is now on three parts of the building: the auditorium, the courtyard and the feature gallery.

Frida Kahlo for adults, a dragon castle for kids

You can see the two-audience plan as soon as you walk in. The first show in the new Bill Stewart Feature Gallery is "Frida Kahlo: An Intimate Portrait." It includes 98 rare photographs and personal letters from Kahlo's private collection, and it runs through Jan. 31. Next to it is "Women Artists: Four Centuries of Creativity," a show of original works by Rosa Bonheur, Sonia Delaunay, Käthe Kollwitz, Louise Nevelson, Françoise Gilot and others, on view through Jan. 24.

At the same time, younger visitors have their own permanent gallery. DreamLab is split into themed areas: Lilypad Landing, Deep Sea Diner, Dragon Sky Castle, Mushroom Forest and Crystal Cave. Before the expansion, a kids' show and a show of Kollwitz prints would have competed for the same rooms. Now they run side by side.

A third piece is still coming. The museum's fall 2026 catalog says a long-term history exhibition is planned for January, with no exact date yet.

The 26th Day of the Dead moves out of the building and into downtown

The timing puts the museum's biggest annual tradition right after its reopening. The museum's Día de Muertos program started in 2001. The city calls it the longest-running Day of the Dead exhibition and celebration in Colorado, and it draws more than 6,000 people a year.

This year's two main events happen in different places:

Day of the Dead Family Celebration. Saturday, Oct. 24, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., free, at 4th Avenue and Kimbark Street in downtown Longmont. The outdoor street festival returns with traditional live music and dance, face painting, sugar skull decorating, crafts, food trucks, a kids' play zone, local vendors and a Gigantes Procession.

Noche de Museo: Celebrating Day of the Dead. Friday, Oct. 30, 7 p.m., in the Stewart Auditorium. Reserved seats are $23, or $20 for members. The band iZCALLi curates the night and headlines it, and Aztec dance group Grupo Azteca Tlahuitzcalli also performs. Tickets are sold on the event page.

The museum also keeps bilingual home guides at longmontdayofthedead.com and longmontdiademuertos.com. They cover cooking, traditional crafts and building an altar at home.

The festival is the museum's event, but it takes place outdoors downtown. So the Kahlo show on Quail Road and the street festival at 4th and Kimbark can be one Saturday plan. Go to the galleries when they open at 9 a.m., then drive downtown before the festival starts at 11.

Two weeks, one calendar

From publication day to Halloween, the museum's dates line up with other downtown events:

Drifters is a vintage shop, bar and event space that had its grand opening on Sept. 26. So the evening after the festival is also one of its first big nights downtown.

When to go after the opening rush

The new schedule makes some visits cheaper or easier. From Oct. 17, the museum is open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m., with extra hours from 5 to 9 p.m. on most Thursdays. Exhibition admission costs:

• $12 for adults and $8 for youth
• Free for children under 2 and for museum members
• $1 with a qualifying EBT or SNAP card

Program tickets, including Noche de Museo, are priced separately from admission.

At those prices, two adults and two youth pay $40 on a regular day. On the second Saturday of each month, exhibition admission is free. On the 2026 and 2027 calendars, those free days fall on Nov. 14, Dec. 12 and Jan. 9. Jan. 9 is the last free Saturday before "Women Artists" closes Jan. 24 and the Kahlo show closes Jan. 31.

The Thursday evening hours help adults most. With the galleries open until 9 p.m. on most Thursdays, you can see the Kahlo photographs after work. A family can bring the kids to DreamLab on a weekday morning. Those are the two audiences Mason described, and now they can come at different times.

At the Patrick Brown Group, we pay close attention to civic buildings like this one, where one local architecture firm planned an expansion for nearly five years and longtime donors paid for it. If you're thinking about design, renovation or what a well-planned addition is worth to your own Longmont or Niwot property, schedule a consultation and we'll walk through it with you.