Galactic Gold Celebration

Guests gather at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science’s Galactic Gold Celebration on Friday, August. 8, 2025 in Denver. | Photo by Lara Photography

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The Denver Museum of Nature & Science marked its 125th anniversary with the Galactic Gold Celebration, a cosmic cowboy party that brought nearly 700 guests together on Aug. 8 at the Museum. The evening honored 125 years since the Museum’s founding in 1900 and its enduring impact on science and community.

Guests explore the Avenir Collections Center at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science’s Galactic Gold Celebration on Friday, August. 8, 2025 in Denver. | Photo by Lara Photography

The Museum, for the night, transformed into a space western playground. Guests explored interactive science activities, enjoyed hors d’oeuvres and desserts, sipped specialty cocktails and danced into the evening. The best part? Everyone was there to support the Museum’s mission to inspire curiosity and lifelong learning.

Since its earliest days, when naturalist Edwin Carter’s collections helped form the organization, the Museum has been a treasured institution in our community. It was incorporated in 1900 and opened to the public in 1908 with displays of butterflies, moths and crystallized gold, among many other fascinating objects and materials.

The Denver Museum of Nature & Science building lit up at the Galactic Gold Celebration on Friday, August. 8, 2025 in Denver. | Photo by Lara Photography

Growth continued through the decades with the addition of the Gates Planetarium, exhibition galleries and the giant screen theater, which offered new ways to explore Earth and the universe. Landmark projects such as the 2010 “Snowmastodon” excavation and the “Discovering Teen Rex” exhibition in 2023 underscore its role in scientific discovery and education.

The anniversary underscored the vision of the Museum’s founders and the generations of donors, volunteers and supporters who have carried it forward. Since its beginning, the institution advanced scientific understanding and created connections across communities.

Susan Adams, Merrill Shields, M. Ray Thomasson, Wynne Strahle, Linda Stevens and Jim Stevens at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science’s Galactic Gold Celebration on Friday, August. 8, 2025 in Denver. | Photo by Lara Photography

Galactic Gold Celebration captured this spirit of curiosity and innovation while inviting the community to celebrate the Museum’s place in Colorado and beyond. Guests arrived in metallic jackets, cowboy boots and other themed attire that reflected the blend of space and the West.

As the Museum’s first board president John Campion declared at the Museum’s dedication more than a century ago: “a museum of natural history is never finished.” The event honored that idea, looking back at 125 years of impact while celebrating the next chapter of science, curiosity and exploration.