Seattle Art Museum features world-class exhibits and though-provoking visual arts. The museum includes three major facilities in the city:
- Seattle Art Museum (SAM) in downtown Seattle
- Seattle Asian Art Museum (SAAM) in Volunteer Park on Capitol Hill
- Olympic Sculpture Park on the Seattle waterfront
Each of these locations is described in detail below.
Seattle Art Museum fronted by Hammering Man sculpture – DepositPhotos.com
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History of the Seattle Art Museum
The history of SAM begins in early Seattle history. Here are some of the highlights of SAM’s history that established each of its locations and its reputation as a world-class art institution.
The parent institution for SAM, the Seattle Fine Art Society dates back to 1906. The society staged exhibitions at various venues around the city. In 1929, it was renamed the Art Institute of Seattle as it continued to search for a permanent facility. From 1931-1933, a $250,000 donation provided for the construction of a new building located in Capitol Hill’s Volunteer Park–today, the site of the Seattle Asian Art Museum.
Seattle Art Museum opened its doors to the public in June 1933 at the Art Deco building in Volunteer Park. Over the next few decades, the museum continued to expand its collections in European and Asian arts, establishing itself as an important institution for international art.
When the 1962 World’s Fair was hosted by Seattle, the event established the city as a modern arts hub and allowed for further expansion and more diverse displays of art at SAM that continued through the 1970s. In particular, the 1978 exhibit the “Treasures of Tutankhamun” at the Seattle Center Flag Pavilion expanded the museum’s profile. The “Tut” exhibition’s popularity and financial success fueled plans for a permanent downtown facility.
In 1981, the SAM collection expands again with an unexpected gift of African art in an extraordinary combination of private philanthropy and corporate support.
In 1991, several significant events continues to expand the museum’s profile. SAM receives a donated collection of Northwest Native art, the Volunteer Park building closes for renovations, the new SAM location opens in downtown Seattle–fronted by Jonathan Borofsky’s 48-foot-tall Hammering Man, and the Seattle Asian Art Museum is formed in the former SAM location.
In 1994, the Volunteer Park location is rededicated as the Seattle Asian Art Museum. The new space allowed many more of the approximately its collection of Asian art objects to go on display. Today, SAAM is one of only a few art museums in the country, and the only in the Pacific Northwest that highlights art from throughout Asia.
In 2007, Olympic Sculpture Park opened. The waterfront park featuring massive sculptures has become a popular destination for tourists and locals alike. Located about one mile north of SAM, the unique outdoor park sits on nine acres long the Seattle waterfront. It is Seattle’s largest green space, highlighted by these stunning works of modern and contemporary art. Visitors to the park enjoy sweeping views of the Puget Sound as well as views of the city. Sculptures are occasionally rotated out and/or undergo maintenance to preserve them from the effects of being outdoors and exposure to saltwater from the Puget Sound.
In 2020, SAAM at Volunteer Park reopened following an extensive renovation.
Read on for more information about visiting each of the SAM locations.
Visiting Seattle Art Museum
Location: 1300 First Ave, Seattle, WA 98101. The museum is easily accessed via King County Metro bus service from stops along 3rd Avenue at University or Seneca.
Parking is available in the Russell Investment Center garage or the 3rd and Stewart garage. Make sure to ask for a voucher for a discounted rate from the art museum.
Hours: Re-opening weekend, March 5–7, 2021 (SAM members get access beginning February 27). Advance purchase tickets on sale beginning February 18. Download a map to your smartphone to use during your visit.
- Their newest special exhibition is an American revolutionary story as told through the paintings of Jacob Lawrence along with multimedia works by contemporary artists Derrick Adams, Bethany Collins, and Hank Willis Thomas. Lawrence’s 30-panel series “The American Struggle!” is reunited for the first time since 1958, and SAM will be its only West Coast venue.
Admission: Visitors can choose what they are able to pay for general entry. Suggested admission is $19.99 for adults. Special exhibitions require reservations and a special ticket, which includes general admission to the museum’s collections.
Discount tickets:
- FREE admission on the first Thursday of every month.
- Seniors are FREE the first Friday of every month.
- Students, teens, seniors, and military with IDs get a discount as well.
- Membership provides FREE entry after the membership fee is paid.
- The website also states “individual, family, or group as passes especially those for whom the cost of a ticket is prohibitive, and groups who have been historically excluded from the museum space due to systematic oppression.”
Current exhibits – Monet at Étretat
MONET AT ÉTRETAT. JUL 1 – OCT 17 2021. Meet Monet at a pivotal moment in his pursuit of impressions. During the 1880s, tensions in the artist’s life and increasing financial pressure to produce marketable work took Monet to the seaside town of Étretat on the Normandy Coast, a well-known destination for tourists and artists. This period of artistic frustration and self-doubt turned out to be fruitful in a way he could not imagine at the time. This focused exhibition places SAM’s Monet painting, Fishing Boats at Étretat, within the larger landscape of this important painter’s artistic development. In 10 paintings created by Monet and 12 works by other artists of his era, this exhibition sheds light on an oft-overlooked period of growth in Monet’s life.
- To view Monet at Étretat, you must purchase a General Admission ticket and add the Special Exhibition ticket for an additional surcharge. Regular adult admission: $19.99; Special Exhibition ticket: $10. More info: Monet at Etretat at Seattle Art Museum | July 1-October 17 2021 and Seattle Art Museum ticket info
Website: Seattle Art Museum
Location information and upcoming events at Seattle Art Museum
Virtual Seattle Art Museum
In 2020, Seattle Art Museum added a virtual collections featuring around 25,000 items.
Your first stop for a virtual tour of the museum is the Collections page were you’ll find highlights from the collection under several different categories. Each piece in the virtual collection includes information about the artist, history, and more.
Make sure to also check out the digital collection from the research libraries. Several libraries are available through the museum and can be searched online.
Finally, find more information on the Collection Resources page, including a number of online publications, educational and historical information about the museum, featured artwork, past exhibit information, and more.
Visiting Seattle Asian Art Museum
Location: 1400 East Prospect St, Seattle, WA 98112.
Parking: FREE parking in Volunteer Park. Easy access from public transit.
Hours: Closed until further notice.
Admission: Closed until further notice.
Discount tickets:
- Upon reopening, FREE admission on the first and second Thursday of every month, and on the first Saturday of the month.
- Seniors are FREE the first Friday of every month.
- Students, teens, seniors, and military with IDs get a discount as well.
- Membership provides FREE entry after the membership fee is paid.
- FREE tours with regular admission price.
Website: Seattle Asian Art Museum
Location information and upcoming events at Seattle Asian Art Museum
Visiting Olympic Sculpture Park
Olympic Sculpture Park “Eagle” and Space Needle in the background – DepositPhotos.com
Location: 2901 Western Ave, Seattle, WA 98121
Parking: paid parking available in the PACCAR Pavilion garage or street parking. Bike parking available as well.
Hours: Open 365 days a year 30 minutes before sunrise and closes 30 minutes after sunset.
Admission: Admission is always FREE.
- FREE public tours are held as well, but are currently paused.
Website: Olympic Sculpture Park
Location information and upcoming events at Olympic Sculpture Park
Upcoming Museum Events
Friday, July 30, 2021
Saturday, July 31, 2021
Sunday, August 1, 2021
Monday, August 2, 2021
Tuesday, August 3, 2021
Wednesday, August 4, 2021
Thursday, August 5, 2021
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But wait, there’s more!
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