 Denver is home to many nationally recognized museums , including a new wing for the Denver Art Museum by world @-@ renowned architect Daniel Libeskind , the second largest Performing Arts Center in the nation after Lincoln Center in New York City and bustling neighborhoods such as LoDo , filled with art galleries , restaurants , bars and clubs . That is part of the reason why Denver was recently recognized for the third year in a row as the best city for singles . Denver 's neighborhoods also continue their influx of diverse people and businesses while the city 's cultural institutions grow and prosper . The city acquired the estate of abstract expressionist painter Clyfford Still in 2004 and built a museum to exhibit his works near the Denver Art Museum . The Denver Museum of Nature and Science currently holds an aquamarine specimen valued at over one million dollars , as well as specimens of the state mineral , rhodochrosite . Every September the Denver Mart , located at 451 E. 58th Avenue hosts a gem and mineral show . The state history museum , History Colorado Center , opened in April 2012 . It features hands @-@ on and interactive exhibits , artifacts and programs about Colorado history . It was named in 2013 by True West Magazine as one of the top @-@ ten " must see " history museums in the country . History Colorado 's Byers @-@ Evans House Museum and the Molly Brown House are nearby . 
