$20 million donation from Susan Sturm opens new wing Museum of Nature & Science
The Denver Museum of Nature & Science will open its new Sturm Family Wing and a reimagined giant-screen theater on Tuesday, Sept. 1, with a free grand opening celebration from 4 to 9 p.m. open to the public.
The transformation was made possible by a $20 million gift from the Sturm Family Foundation, announced in early 2025 — the largest private donation in the museum’s history, surpassing a $25 million anonymous gift the museum received in 2021 (which held the record until now, since it wasn’t tied to a named donor).
The gift funds a multi-phase renovation of the museum’s east wing, theater, lobby and plaza. Design work wrapped in 2024, construction began in April 2025, and the project builds on an even earlier commitment: reports from 2020 already described a $20 million Sturm gift to redesign the museum’s historic theater, lobby and plaza, making the current work the culmination of a multi-year relationship rather than a one-time grant.
The renovation transformed the former Phipps theater into the Sturm Infinity Theater (that phase completed in 2022) and, this spring, finished the new Sturm Infinity Lobby and Sturm Family Plaza.
The finished spaces include a flexible outdoor plaza for gatherings and performances, a new theater lobby, new ramps, upgraded elevator service, a new sidewalk, and broader accessibility and infrastructure upgrades.
The opening kicks off a yearlong slate of events in the new spaces. Coinciding with the celebration, the Sturm Infinity Theater will debut “Penguins: A Love Story,” a film following a penguin partnership across Antarctica.
“The Sturm Family Wing is a gift to Denver — a place where science, nature and community converge,” said George Sparks, President & CEO of the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.
“We are deeply grateful to the Sturm Family Foundation for the vision and generosity that made this transformation possible.
These transformed spaces belong to the community, and we can’t wait to welcome everyone from near and far.”
“Our family has always seen the Museum as a place for everyone to enjoy, and we are grateful to collaborate on this transformative renovation,” said Susan Sturm, Chair of the Sturm Family Foundation. “The Museum brings the world to Denver, and through these spaces and programs, we hope everyone has the opportunity to follow their curiosity, expand their understanding and be inspired by the world around them.”
The gift is the latest chapter in decades of high-impact giving by the Sturm Family Foundation, established by Donald L. Sturm and Susan M. Sturm and formally incorporated in December 2000, with roots in their giving as far back as the 1990s.
Donald, an Army veteran, New York native and founder of American National Bank, built a substantial real estate portfolio across Colorado, Wyoming and Kansas before his death in August 2024; Susan continues to lead the foundation today.
Based in Denver, the foundation operates on an endowment model, doesn’t accept unsolicited proposals, and grants by invitation to organizations aligned with the family’s values — chiefly education for low- and moderate-income children, support for a strong centrally located university, affordable housing, and Jewish community life, with a geographic focus on Colorado and especially Denver.
In 2023, the foundation gave roughly $7.8 million across 32 awards, drawn from assets in the $110–$160 million range, with individual grants ranging from under $1,000 to more than $600,000 for major partners.
The museum’s 2024 gratitude report lists the foundation among its $5 million-plus donors.
Elsewhere in Denver, the Sturms have given roughly $30 million to the University of Denver over 24 years of Donald’s trusteeship, funding the Sturm College of Law, Sturm Hall and the Sturm Behavioral Center — including an earlier gift of $20 million that was, at the time, the largest single donation in DU’s history.
Other major beneficiaries include the Denver Art Museum, Denver Botanic Gardens, Colorado public radio and television, roughly a dozen charter schools across Colorado and Wyoming, revolving loan funds for home ownership, and the Mayo Clinic and National Jewish Health.
At Arapahoe Community College, the Sturm Collaboration Campus stands as the largest gift in the history of Colorado’s community college system.
Seen against that history, the Sturm Family Wing isn’t an isolated act of generosity but the latest in a long pattern of concentrated, name-defining gifts the family has used to shape the institutions that anchor Denver’s cultural and educational life.