List of museums in Seattle

Last updated

The Seattle Asian Art Museum (SAAM) in Volunteer Park is a designated city landmark. From 1933 to 1981, the building housed the main Seattle Art Museum (SAM). Seattle Asian Art Museum.jpg
The Seattle Asian Art Museum (SAAM) in Volunteer Park is a designated city landmark. From 1933 to 1981, the building housed the main Seattle Art Museum (SAM).
The "Art Ladder": the main staircase of the 1991 Robert Venturi-designed wing of SAM. SAM Art Ladder 02.jpg
The "Art Ladder": the main staircase of the 1991 Robert Venturi-designed wing of SAM.
The Naval Reserve Armory, now home to MOHAI. MOHAI Armory building at Lake Union Park west side.jpg
The Naval Reserve Armory, now home to MOHAI.

Seattle, Washington is home to four major art museums and galleries: the Frye Art Museum, Henry Art Gallery, Seattle Art Museum, [1] and the Seattle Asian Art Museum. Several Seattle museums and cultural institutions that are not specifically art museums also have excellent art collections, most notably the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, which has an excellent collection of Native American artwork.

Contents

Seattle is also home to well over 100 commercial art galleries, at least a dozen non-profit art galleries, and perhaps a hundred artists' studios that are open to the public at least once a month. About half of these galleries and studios are concentrated in one neighborhood, Pioneer Square.

Museums

NameNeighborhoodTypeSummary
Ballard Locks Museum/Visitor CenterBallardHistoryArtifacts and exhibits of Hiram M. Chittenden Locks dedicated in 1917 website http://ballardlocks.org/visitor-center-museum.html
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Visitor Center Lower Queen Anne History website, innovations and inventions around the world to make life better [ needs update ]
Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture University District Natural historyPart of the University of Washington, includes fossils, natural history dioramas, Native American artifacts, Pacific Rim cultures exhibit, gems and minerals
Center for Wooden Boats South Lake Union MaritimeHistoric wooden sailboats, rowboats and other boats, locations in Lake Union Park and Cama Beach State Park
Center on Contemporary ArtSeattleArt website, contemporary exhibitions at various locations
Chihuly Garden and Glass Lower Queen AnneArtStudio glass of Dale Chihuly, located in the Seattle Center
Coast Guard Museum Northwest SoDo MilitaryIncludes U.S. Coast Guard ship models, uniforms, photos and artifacts
Connections Museum Georgetown Technology website Working telephone switching systems, old telephones and payphones, teletypes
Daybreak Star Cultural Center Magnolia ArtNative American art gallery and cultural center operated by United Indians of All Tribes
Museum of Pop Culture Lower Queen AnneMediaPopular culture, includes rock & roll and popular music memorabilia, interactive exhibits, Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame
Frye Art Museum First Hill Art website, Painting and sculpture from the nineteenth century to the present
Georgetown Steam Plant Georgetown TechnologySteam engines in the former power plant
Giant Shoe Museum Downtown CommodityLocated in Pike Place Market, collection of giant shoes [2]
Henry Art Gallery University DistrictArtThe art museum of the University of Washington, includes rotating exhibitions of contemporary art
History House of Greater Seattle Fremont History - LocalHistory and heritage of Seattle and its neighborhoods
Jack Straw New Media Gallery University DistrictArt website, non-profit multidisciplinary audio arts center
Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park Pioneer Square HistorySeattle's role in the Klondike Gold Rush
Last Resort Fire Department MuseumDowntownFirefighting website, vintage fire trucks, equipment, uniforms, located at the HQ for the Seattle Fire Department
Living Computer Museum SoDoComputerHistory of the development of computers with vintage computers displayed for interactive public use
Log House Museum West Seattle Local history website, operated by the Southwest Seattle Historical Society
Museum of Flight SouthAerospaceIncorporates Boeing's original manufacturing plant, the largest private air and space museum in the world includes private and military aircraft
Museum of History and Industry South Lake UnionHistoryWashington's history and culture. Largest heritage organization in the State of Washington, with a collection of over 4 million artifacts, photographs, and archival materials, primarily related to the history of Seattle and the greater Puget Sound region.
Museum of Museums Capitol HillContemporary ArtThree floors of visual art and installations, with a gift shop, movie theater, and classroom space. website
National Nordic Museum; formerly known as Nordic Heritage Museum Ballard Ethnic - NordicHeritage of Seattle's Danish, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish immigrants; expanded in 2018 with a new building and permanent exhibition focused on a broader understanding of Nordic life and culture as it has evolved over the last twelve thousand years.
Northwest African American Museum Central District Ethnic - African AmericanAfrican American heritage in the Northwest
Northwest Nikkei Museum Central DistrictEthnicOperated by the Japanese Cultural Community Center, heritage and history of the Pacific Northwest’s Nikkei community
Northwest Seaport South Lake UnionMaritimeIncludes the Arthur Foss tugboat, Lightship 83
Olympic Sculpture Park DowntownArt9-acre sculpture park
Pacific Science Center Lower Queen AnneScienceExhibits include health, dinosaurs, space, human body, Puget Sound, technology
Photographic Center Northwest Capitol Hill Art website, includes a contemporary photography gallery
Pioneer Association of the State of Washington Madison ParkHistory, Genealogy, Library https://wapioneers.com/, Oldest history organization in the State of Washington, meeting since 1871, incorporated 1895; headquarters at historic 1910 Washington Pioneer Hall on the shores of Lake Washington; Pioneer Hall is on the United States National Park Service register of Historic Places.
Seattle Art Museum DowntownArt3 facilities: main museum with diverse collections, Seattle Asian Art Museum and the Olympic Sculpture Park
Seattle Asian Art Museum Capitol HillArtAsian art, facility of the Seattle Art Museum
Seattle Central College M. Rosetta Hunter Art GalleryCapitol HillArt website
Seattle Children's Museum Lower Queen AnneChildren'sLocated in the Seattle Center
Seattle Mariners Hall of Fame SoDoSportsLocated at T-Mobile Park
Seattle Metropolitan Police Museum DowntownLaw enforcementHistory of policing in the Pacific Northwest
Seattle Pinball MuseumChinatown-International DistrictAmusement website, vintage pinball machines
Seattle University GalleriesFirst HillArtHedreen Gallery at the Lee Center for the Arts, [3] Kinsey Gallery, [4] Vachon Gallery [5]
Steamship Virginia V South Lake UnionMaritime1922 steamship
The Unity MuseumUniversity DistrictEnvisioning One Humanity website
Wing Luke Museum Chinatown-International District Ethnic - Pan Asian Pacific AmericanCulture, art and history of Asian Pacific Americans

Defunct museums

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dale Chihuly</span> American glass sculptor and entrepreneur

Dale Chihuly is an American glass artist and entrepreneur. He is well known in the field of blown glass, "moving it into the realm of large-scale sculpture".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Museum of Science and Industry (Chicago)</span> Science and technology museum in Illinois, US

The Griffin Museum of Science and Industry(MSI), formerly known as the Museum of Science and Industry, is a science museum located in Chicago, Illinois, in Jackson Park, in the Hyde Park neighborhood between Lake Michigan and The University of Chicago. It is housed in the Palace of Fine Arts from the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. Initially endowed by Sears, Roebuck and Company president and philanthropist Julius Rosenwald and supported by the Commercial Club of Chicago, it opened in 1933 during the Century of Progress Exposition. It was renamed for benefactor and financier Kenneth C. Griffin on May 19, 2024.

<i>Broken Obelisk</i> Sculpture by Barnett Newman

Broken Obelisk is a sculpture designed by Barnett Newman between 1963 and 1967. Fabricated from three tons of Cor-Ten steel, which acquires a rust-colored patina, it is the largest and best known of his six sculptures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seattle Art Museum</span> Art museum in Seattle, Washington, United States

The Seattle Art Museum is an art museum located in Seattle, Washington, United States. The museum operates three major facilities: its main museum in downtown Seattle; the Seattle Asian Art Museum in Volunteer Park, Capitol Hill; and Olympic Sculpture Park on the central Seattle waterfront, which opened in 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Museum of History & Industry</span> Museum in Seattle, Washington

The Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI) is a history museum in the South Lake Union neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the largest private heritage organization in Washington state, maintaining a collection of nearly four million artifacts, photographs, and archival materials primarily focusing on Seattle and the greater Puget Sound region. A portion of this collection is on display in the museum's galleries at the historic Naval Reserve Armory in Lake Union Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smithsonian American Art Museum</span> Museum in Washington, D.C., United States

The Smithsonian American Art Museum is a museum in Washington, D.C., part of the Smithsonian Institution. Together with its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, SAAM holds one of the world's largest and most inclusive collections of art, from the colonial period to the present, made in the United States. More than 7,000 artists are represented in the museum's collection. Most exhibitions are held in the museum's main building, the Old Patent Office Building, while craft-focused exhibitions are shown in the Renwick Gallery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">California Science Center</span> Science museum in California, U.S.

The California Science Center is a state agency and science museum located in Exposition Park, Los Angeles, next to the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and the University of Southern California. The museum includes many exhibits of aircraft and spacecraft, including Space Shuttle Endeavor, multiple hands-on galleries, special exhibitions, and IMAX movies.

The Western Australian Museum is a statutory authority within the Culture and the Arts Portfolio, established under the Museum Act 1969.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heather Hart</span> American visual artist

Heather T. Hart is an American visual artist who works in a variety of media including interactive and participatory Installation art, drawing, collage, and painting. She is a co-founder of the Black Lunch Table Project, which includes a Wikipedia initiative focused on addressing diversity representation in the arts on Wikipedia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smithsonian Affiliations</span> American museum partnership organization

Smithsonian Affiliations is a division of the Smithsonian Institution that establishes long-term partnerships with non-Smithsonian museums and educational and cultural organizations in order to share collections, exhibitions and educational strategies and conduct joint research. Partner organizations are known as "Smithsonian Affiliates".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joyce J. Scott</span> African-American artist

Joyce J. Scott is an African-American artist, sculptor, quilter, performance artist, installation artist, print-maker, lecturer and educator. Named a MacArthur Fellow in 2016, and a Smithsonian Visionary Artist in 2019, Scott is best known for her figurative sculptures and jewelry using free form, off-loom beadweaving techniques, similar to a peyote stitch. Each piece is often constructed using thousands of glass seed beads or pony beads, and sometimes other found objects or materials such as glass, quilting and leather. In 2018, she was hailed for working in new medium — a mixture of soil, clay, straw, and cement — for a sculpture meant to disintegrate and return to the earth. Scott is influenced by a variety of diverse cultures, including Native American and African traditions, Mexican, Czech, and Russian beadwork, illustration and comic books, and pop culture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Bruce Inverarity</span>

Robert Bruce Inverarity was an American artist, art educator, museum director, author, and anthropologist. He was the Washington State Director of the Federal Arts Project from 1936 to 1939 and the Washington Arts Project from 1939 to 1941, working with many noted Pacific Northwest artists. Fascinated with the Indian tribes of the Northwest from early youth, he amassed a major collection of North Pacific Coast Native art and authored several works on the subject.

Virginia "Jinny" Wright, also known as Virginia Bloedel Wright, was an American art collector and philanthropist. She was considered one of the top art collectors in America for having created the largest collection of modern and contemporary art of the Pacific Northwest with her husband Bagley Wright and was credited for having played a pivotal role in the cultural development of Seattle and the Pacific Northwest.

References

  1. Langner, Erin. "Paul Kuniholm Pauper Exhibits At Seattle Art Museum". Seattle Art Museum. Retrieved December 18, 2014.
  2. "Giant Shoe Museum". Roadside America. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
  3. "Hedreen Gallery". Seattle University. Archived from the original on 2 March 2016. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
  4. "Kinsey Gallery". Seattle University. Archived from the original on 2 March 2016. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
  5. "Vachon Gallery". Seattle University. Archived from the original on 2 March 2016. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
  6. "Seattle, Washington: Seattle Museum of the Mysteries (Closed)". Roadside America. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
  7. "Official site". Northwest Museum of Legends and Lore. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
  8. "Port to end pact with maritime museum". Seattle PI. February 26, 2008. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
  9. "Official site". Western Bridge. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  10. "Western Bridge Melts into the Air". The Stranger. November 7, 2012. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
  11. "Wright Exhibition Space to close, art going to SAM". Seattle Times. July 14, 2014. Retrieved 25 February 2016.