Museums and galleries of Seattle
Encyclopedia
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and the Eastern United States
Eastern United States
The Eastern United States, the American East, or simply the East is traditionally defined as the states east of the Mississippi River. The first two tiers of states west of the Mississippi have traditionally been considered part of the West, but can be included in the East today; usually in...
, Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
has a lower profile in terms of art museums than it does in the performing arts. It is nonetheless home to five major art museums and galleries
Art gallery
An art gallery or art museum is a building or space for the exhibition of art, usually visual art.Museums can be public or private, but what distinguishes a museum is the ownership of a collection...
: Consolidated Works
Consolidated Works
Consolidated Works was a "multi-disciplinary contemporary arts center" located successively in two former warehouses in the South Lake Union neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, USA, just west of what would be considered the Cascade neighborhood within South Lake Union...
, the Frye Art Museum
Frye Art Museum
The Frye Art Museum is an art museum located in the First Hill neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, USA . The museum emphasizes painting and sculpture from the nineteenth century to the present. Its holdings originate in the private collection of Charles and Emma Frye...
, the Henry Art Gallery
Henry Art Gallery
The Henry Art Gallery is the art museum of the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, USA. Located on the west edge of the university's campus along 15th Avenue N.E. in the University District, it was founded in 1927 and was the first public art museum in the state of Washington. The...
, the Seattle Art Museum
Seattle Art Museum
The Seattle Art Museum is an art museum located in Seattle, Washington, USA. It maintains three major facilities: its main museum in downtown Seattle; the Seattle Asian Art Museum in Volunteer Park on Capitol Hill, and the Olympic Sculpture Park on the central Seattle waterfront, which opened on...
, and the Seattle Asian Art Museum
Seattle Asian Art Museum
The Seattle Asian Art Museum is a museum of Asian art located inside Volunteer Park on Seattle, Washington USA's Capitol Hill. Part of the Seattle Art Museum, SAAM occupies the 1933 Art Moderne building which was originally home to the Seattle Art Museum's main collection...
. 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
Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture
The Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture has been a Washington state museum since 1899. It is located at the University of Washington campus at the intersection of N.E. 45th Street and 17th Avenue N.E. in Seattle, Washington, USA, in the University District. It is the only major natural...
, which has an excellent collection of Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
artwork.
Seattle is also home to well over 100 commercial art galleries, at least a dozen non-profit art galleries, and perhaps a hundred artists' studio
Studio
A studio is an artist's or worker's workroom, or the catchall term for an artist and his or her employees who work within that studio. This can be for the purpose of architecture, painting, pottery , sculpture, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, radio or television...
s 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
Pioneer Square, Seattle, Washington
Pioneer Square is a neighborhood in the southwest corner of Downtown Seattle, Washington, USA. It was once the heart of the city: Seattle's founders settled there in 1852, following a brief six-month settlement at Alki Point on the far side of Elliott Bay. The early structures in the neighborhood...
.
Outside of the realm of art, Seattle has several other notable museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
s and similar institutions:
- The Burke Museum of Natural History and CultureBurke Museum of Natural History and CultureThe Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture has been a Washington state museum since 1899. It is located at the University of Washington campus at the intersection of N.E. 45th Street and 17th Avenue N.E. in Seattle, Washington, USA, in the University District. It is the only major natural...
, on the campus of the University of WashingtonUniversity of WashingtonUniversity of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
, has a large collection of botanicalBotanyBotany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...
, zoologicalZoologyZoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...
, and geologicGeologyGeology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
specimens in addition to an anthropologyAnthropologyAnthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
collection notable for its coverage of Native Americans of the Pacific Northwest. - Regional history and industry figure prominently at the Museum of History and IndustryMuseum of History and IndustryThe Museum of History and Industry is a museum located in the Montlake neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, United States.Accredited by the American Association of Museums, MOHAI is "dedicated to enriching lives by preserving, sharing and teaching the diverse history of Seattle, the Puget Sound...
(scheduled to move downtown from its current building in a public park in the MontlakeMontlake, Seattle, WashingtonMontlake is an affluent residential neighborhood in central Seattle. It is bounded to the north by Portage Bay and the Montlake Cut section of the Lake Washington Ship Canal, to the east by the Washington Park Arboretum, and to the south and west by Interlaken Park. Capitol Hill is on its south and...
neighborhood); the Center for Wooden BoatsCenter for Wooden BoatsThe Center for Wooden Boats is a museum dedicated to preserving and documenting the maritime history of the Pacific Northwest area of the United States. Unlike most other museums, at CWB the public is invited to touch the exhibits and explore maritime history first hand by rowing, paddling or...
, a maritime heritage museum on Lake UnionLake UnionLake Union is a freshwater lake entirely within the Seattle, Washington city limits.-Origins:A glacial lake, its basin was dug 12,000 years ago by the Vashon glacier, which also created Lake Washington and Seattle's Green, Bitter, and Haller Lakes.-Name:...
; the Museum of FlightMuseum of FlightThe Museum of Flight is a private non-profit air and space museum at King County International Airport , south of downtown Seattle, Washington. It was established in 1965 and is fully accredited by the American Association of Museums...
, which incorporates BoeingBoeingThe Boeing Company is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing Corporate headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois since 2001...
's original manufacturing plant; the Museum of CommunicationsMuseum of CommunicationsThe Museum of Communications, originally the Vintage Telephone Equipment Museum, is located in Qwest's Duwamish Central Office at East Marginal Way S. and Corson Avenue S. in Georgetown, Seattle, Washington...
; and the Museum Without WallsMuseum Without WallsThe University District Museum Without Walls is a virtual museum in Seattle, Washington's University District devoted to the history of that neighborhood...
, devoted to the University DistrictUniversity District, Seattle, WashingtonThe University District is a neighborhood in Seattle, Washington, so named because the main campus of the University of Washington is located there. The UW moved in two years after the area was annexed to Seattle, while much of the area was still clear cut forest or stump farmland...
. - Key ethnic aspects of Seattle's cultural mix are represented by the Daybreak Star Cultural CenterDaybreak Star Cultural CenterThe Daybreak Star Cultural Center is a Native American cultural center in Seattle, Washington, described by its parent organization United Indians of All Tribes as "an urban base for Native Americans in the Seattle area." Located on 20 acres in Seattle's Discovery Park in the Magnolia...
in Discovery ParkDiscovery Park (Seattle)Discovery Park is a 534 acre park in the peninsular Magnolia neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. It is the city's largest public park and contains 11.81 miles of walking trails. United Indians of All Tribes' Daybreak Star Cultural Center is within the park's boundaries...
, operated by United Indians of All TribesUnited Indians of All TribesUnited Indians of All Tribes is a non-profit foundation that provides social and educational services to Native Americans in the Seattle metropolitan area and aims to promote the well being of the Native American community of the area...
; the Nordic Heritage MuseumNordic Heritage MuseumNordic Heritage Museum is located in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, considered to be the heart of the Scandinavian community. Founded in 1980, the museum is dedicated to the heritage of Seattle's Nordic immigrants, i.e. Danish, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish Americans...
in BallardBallard, Seattle, WashingtonBallard is a neighborhood located in the northwestern part of Seattle, Washington. To the north it is bounded by Crown Hill, ; to the east by Greenwood, Phinney Ridge and Fremont ; to the south by the Lake Washington Ship Canal; and to the west by Puget Sound’s Shilshole Bay. The neighborhood’s...
, which honors Seattle's ScandinaviaScandinaviaScandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
n immigrants; and the Wing Luke Asian MuseumWing Luke Asian MuseumThe Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience is located in Seattle, Washington's Chinatown-International District. A Smithsonian Institution affiliate, it is dedicated to engaging the public to explore issues related to the culture, art and history of Asian Pacific Americans...
in the International DistrictInternational District, Seattle, WashingtonThe Chinatown-International District of Seattle, Washington is an ethnic enclave neighborhood and is the center of Seattle's Asian American community. The neighborhood is multiethnic, consisting mainly of people who are of Chinese, Japanese, and Filipino ethnicity...
which focuses on the culture, art, and history of Asian Pacific AmericansAsian AmericanAsian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau definition of Asians as "Asian” refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan,...
. - The Seattle AquariumSeattle AquariumThe Seattle Aquarium is a public aquarium opened in 1977 and located on Pier 59 on the Elliott Bay waterfront in Seattle, Washington, USA. It is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums .-History:...
is located on piers on the Elliott BayElliott BayElliott Bay is the body of water on which Seattle, Washington, is located. A line drawn from Alki Point in the south to West Point in the north serves to mark the generally accepted division between the bay and the open sound...
waterfront; the Woodland Park ZooWoodland Park ZooWoodland Park Zoo is a zoological garden around the Phinney Ridge neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. Occupying the western half of Woodland Park, the zoo began as a small menagerie on the estate of Guy C. Phinney, a Canadian-born lumber mill owner and real estate developer...
on Phinney RidgePhinney Ridge, Seattle, WashingtonPhinney Ridge is a neighborhood in north central Seattle, Washington, USA. It is named after the ridge which runs north and south, separating Ballard from Green Lake, from approximately N. 45th to N. 85th Street. The ridge, in turn, is named after Guy C. Phinney, lumber mill owner and real estate...
in north Seattle is one of the country's leading zoos, notable especially for its innovations in open and naturalistic zoo exhibits. - The campus of Seattle CenterSeattle CenterSeattle Center is a park and arts and entertainment center in Seattle, Washington. The campus is the site used in 1962 by the Century 21 Exposition. It is located just north of Belltown in the Lower Queen Anne neighborhood.-Attractions:...
includes the Pacific Science CenterPacific Science CenterThe Pacific Science Center is a science museum in Seattle, Washington.-Organization:Pacific Science Center is an independent, non-profit science museum based in Seattle, Washington...
and Paul AllenPaul AllenPaul Gardner Allen is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. Allen co-founded Microsoft with Bill Gates...
's Experience Music ProjectExperience Music ProjectThe EMP Museum is a museum dedicated to the history and exploration of both popular music and science fiction located in Seattle, Washington...
and Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame - The Seattle Metropolitan Police Museum in Pioneer SquarePioneer Square, Seattle, WashingtonPioneer Square is a neighborhood in the southwest corner of Downtown Seattle, Washington, USA. It was once the heart of the city: Seattle's founders settled there in 1852, following a brief six-month settlement at Alki Point on the far side of Elliott Bay. The early structures in the neighborhood...
honors the city's police force.
Writing in November 2007, Jen Graves of Seattle alternative weekly
Alternative weekly
An alternative newspaper is a type of newspaper, that eschews comprehensive coverage of general news in favor of stylized reporting, opinionated reviews and columns, investigations into edgy topics and magazine-style feature stories highlighting local people and culture. Their news coverage is more...
The Stranger
The Stranger (newspaper)
The Stranger is an alternative weekly newspaper in Seattle, Washington, USA. It runs a blog known as Slog.-History:The Stranger was founded by Tim Keck, who had previously co-founded the satirical newspaper The Onion, and cartoonist James Sturm. Its first issue came out on September 23, 1991...
considers the Lawrimore Project (founded 2005) "the closest thing contemporary art in Seattle has to a center". Four of the five visual artists who had by that time won the Stranger's annual "Genius Awards" had come to be represented by Lawrimore, although only one was at the time it received the award.