This article is part of our Museums special section about how institutions are striving to offer their visitors more to see, do and feel.

The first thing that greets visitors at the Denver Art Museum’s new exhibition of contemporary furniture is a rather large sign announcing the show’s name. “Have a Seat: Mexican Chair Design Today,” it reads in uppercase letters rendered in an eye-popping, pink font.

Just a few steps inside the gallery, visitors arrive at a second message, this one more pragmatic, posted at eye level and meant to clear the air of any doubts.

“Seriously,” the placard reads. “have a seat.”

That is all the invitation they need to acquaint themselves with the goods in a way they are rarely permitted at serious institutions. They plop down on precious objects, put their feet up and generally make themselves at home on the stools, benches, side chairs and sofas scattered about the exhibition.

That is what the curator, Jorge Rivas Pérez, said he hoped for when assembling the show, which runs through Nov. 3. He wanted to upend the don’t-touch etiquette in practice at most art galleries and, at the same time, allow his guests to evaluate the objects on more practical terms, the way they might check out a recliner at a local department store.

The show provides “a full, sensorial, immersive space,” Rivas said, where visitors can feel the fabrics, smell the leather and wood, move things around to get a sense of their weight, and answer the ultimate question that even the prettiest chair has to face: Is it comfortable?

Designers represented in the exhibition discussed their creations, including what inspired them and the materials they used. Their remarks have been edited and condensed.