DENVER, CO.- The Denver Art Museum announced today a $5 million gift from trustee J. Landis Martin and his wife Sharon to fund a full landscaping program related to the Museum’s Frederic C. Hamilton Building expansion. The Museum has named the new 75,000-square-foot pedestrian area the Lanny and Sharon Martin Plaza in honor of their generous contribution and commitment to the Museum.

Designed by Daniel Libeskind, Martin Plaza forms a new civic and cultural space within the city. It creates a pedestrian connection between the Golden Triangle neighborhood and Civic Center Park, while enabling a central gathering point for visitors to the cultural complex and adjacent retail sector. Two monumental sculptures will be sited on Martin Plaza, as well as water features, seating, and colored concrete paving with trees and built-in planters. Set between the titanium-clad Frederic C. Hamilton Building and the seven-story glass and zinc Museum Residences, also designed by Libeskind, Martin Plaza is a key asset within the Civic Center Cultural Complex.

“The Denver Art Museum expansion has grown into an important civic project beyond our initial planning nearly seven years ago. Lanny and Sharon’s generosity has enabled us to realize an enhanced vision for the site, the neighborhood and the city,” said Museum Director Lewis I. Sharp.

Martin Plaza will feature the sculptures Big Sweep by Coosje van Bruggen and Claes Oldenburg and a piece by Beverly Pepper to be titled Denver Monoliths. Both sculptures, monumental in scale, are being installed this summer.

“This extraordinary project deserves a thoughtful, exciting outdoor space that allows visitors to enjoy the incredible architectural experience that these buildings provide,” said Martin. “I am honored to be a part of this development and look forward to seeing the plaza and the Museum complex activated this fall.”

A Museum board member since 1994, Mr. Martin sits on the Museum’s Executive Committee and serves as chairman of the Finance Committee. In 2001, the Martins made additional pledges to both the endowment and capital campaigns. The Museum named one of the traveling exhibition spaces in the south end of the Hamilton Building the J. Landis & Sharon Martin and Richard & Mary Pat McCormick Gallery in recognition of this support. Mr. Martin also provided funding for the purchase of the Hamilton Building’s titanium cladding. Martin is also chairman of the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation in Denver and remains actively involved with the Central City Opera, where he was chairman for nine years.