DENVER, COLORADO.-Before we know it snow will be flying, temperatures will drop and fun will be sought indoors! At the Denver Art Museum, the whole family can enjoy world-class art and winter fun with Rhymes and Riddles. Starting Saturday, December 17, 2005, through Saturday, December 31, 2005, Museum galleries and C-level are brimming with family-friendly activities from solving riddles that will lead families to art objects throughout the Museum to exploring different collections with our Family Backpacks. Also a family favorite, the Just for Fun Family Center, open every day for winter fun with Rhymes & Riddles during normal Museum hours, has seven play stations ranging from a giant 3-D Maya puzzle to whimsical chairs you can decorate and put together. The Kids Corner on the 1st floor gives kids the opportunity to express their inner artist through a bilingual hands-on artmaking activity, while Eye Spy games on all floors lets young art explorers take a closer look at the art with this great detective game.

The exploration doesn’t end there! The Museum's Discovery Library engages the entire family with more hands-on activities from costume closets to computer games. Families can enter a drawing to win great prizes when they visit the Museum during Rhymes & Riddles as well. While you’re at the Museum, don’t forget to check out the new exhibition, Building Outside the Box: Creating the New Denver Art Museum. Kids and adults can put on a harness like those used by construction workers as they work on the extraordinary new building, or try your hand at architecture and create your own plans for a building. The exhibition is included in general Museum admission.

In honor of her feast day, the Denver Art Museum is highlighting paintings of Our Lady of Guadalupe in the Museum’s 4th floor Spanish Colonial galleries Saturday, December 10, 2005 through Saturday, December 31, 2005. Visitors can view different depictions of the Virgin of Guadalupe and participate in fun family activities. The Virgin of Guadalupe is the most beloved image in Mexican Colonial art. Ten years after the Spanish conquest of Mexico, she reportedly appeared in a vision to the Aztec Indian Juan Diego, who was made a saint in 2001. Her imagery is connected to Mexico’s Indian religion, Catholicism and nationalism. Our Lady of Guadalupe is known for her healing abilities; it is believed that she ended a plague in 1737 and since then has cured the worst of diseases, including those thought to be incurable. Families presenting a special voucher will receive free general Museum admission. This voucher is available at churches, libraries or by calling the Museum at 720-913-0113. For more information, visit www.denverartmuseum.org or call 720-913-0121. The Museum’s Our Lady of Guadalupe Celebration is sponsored by the Museum’s Latino Outreach Committee.