The museum also oversees a collection of 14 outdoor sculptures by international and Michigan artists on the grounds of the college campus.

Barbara and husband Michael Dennos, then an executive with Chef Pierre (Sarah Lee Corporation), were both instrumental in the formation and funding of the museum.

[8] In 1988, founding director Eugene Jenneman was hired by Northwestern Michigan College to work with architect Bob Holdeman to design and oversee the building of the museum.

[10] The Barbara and Michael Dennos Museum Center was one of the first collections of Inuit art open to the public in the United States.

[11] The Dennos Museum Center building, designed by Holdeman, includes the 367-seat Milliken Auditorium, home to a concert and lecture series, educational events, and other programming.

[21] In 2021, the museum began providing access to part of the collection via an online database that contains images of approximately 800 Inuit works on paper.