Seattle Art Museum

I will be 100% honest with you: I only visited the Seattle Art Museum because I was getting hot and tired during a long day of touring Seattle. I needed to sit down in some air conditioning in a quiet space, and an art museum fit the bill.

That being said, it’s an expensive way to get out of the heat. And I don’t think the collection as I saw it quite lived up to the high ticket cost. I’m usually pleasantly surprised and restored by the art museums I visit, finding at least a few pieces that I really connect to. Not so at the Seattle Art Museum. I’m not sure if I was in too much of a brain fog to enjoy their exhibits, or if what they had out just didn’t grab me.

Seattle Art Museum

It’s definitely an eclectic collection. There are large Native American and African collections and a fair amount of European & traditional art, but the bulk of it is on the modern art side. Let’s take a look around.

Entrance & Lobby

First, a word about the entrance to the Seattle Art Museum. I had assumed it was at the corner of 1st & University, where the 48-foot-tall Hammering Man sculpture stands. But right now, the entrance is fully back a block, at the corner of 1st & Union. Maybe that’s always been the case, but it’s not intuitive to the first-time visitor. I had to walk back a block in the heat, and was none too happy about it.

Inside, you find a cool, white interior with long ticket counters. Above hangs a large-scale wooden tree form that is actually a painstaking recreation of an actual tree in the nearby Cascade Mountains.

African Art

I’ll start with my favorite collection, a parade of modern and ancient African art that takes up almost an entire floor. There are ceremonial masks and entire costumes depicting “regular” African traditions and fanciful modern takes on the same.

One gallery room was set up as a theater for a short film about blackness in America, housing, and a poignant look at boyhood. I confess I sat through it a few times in order to rest in the cool dark of the space.

Native American Art

The Seattle Art Museum seems to have a solid Native American collection, mostly notably from the coastal Salish peoples native to the pacific northwest. The collection includes traditional totems, masks, and jewelry, plus modern Native art, including a stack of trade blankets.

One room features an interesting installation – a neon sign inviting visitors to kneel on floor mats and scream their heads off. (And this may not have been specifically in the Native area – it may be in a general “American art” section. It all kind of ran together for me.) I’m not saying it’s not a profound statement or even a helpful outlet. But it is disconcerting to be looking at some serene Asian art while someone screams bloody murder in the next room.

Past Exhibit: IKAT

One interesting section was a temporary exhibit on ikat, the weaving process that uses irregular dye patterns before creating intricate designs. There were examples from around the world, like Indonesia, Japan, Uzbekistan, Africa, the Americas, and more.

Everything Else: European, Asian, & Contemporary

I hate to just lump everything else together, but it really does run together. I was so tired, and to be fair, I don’t feel like it is arranged in any clearly delineated way. It felt like I turned a corner from a contemporary gallery to find a wall of ancient Roman busts. I’m sure that’s deliberate, but I didn’t love it.

The exhibits at the Seattle Art Museum are changing all the time, so you may find it far more interesting than I did. Especially since I was looking for something else other than art (namely, air conditioning, and some peace & quiet).

There’s a great museum shop that takes up a good portion of a lower floor. Part of what makes me think the current entrance is temporary is that the entrance to the gift shop is down a small staircase to one side of the lobby. It’s easy to miss.

Hours & Admission

There are actually three locations of the Seattle Art Museum. The main building, which I visited, is open Wednesday-Sunday, 10 am to 5 pm. Tickets cost $30 if you buy online ahead of time, or $33 if you walk in and buy. There are discounts for seniors 65+ and members of the military with ID ($25 ahead/$28 day of), students with ID and teens 15-19 ($20/$23), and free for anyone 14 and under.

The Seattle Asian Art Museum in Volunteer Park, two and a half miles away, is open Friday-Sunday, 10-5. The Asian collection requires a separate admission ticket. That costs $15 online ahead of time or $18 on the day of. Seniors and military cost $13/$16, and students and teens are $10/$13.

The Olympic Sculpture Park, half a mile from the Space Needle, is open every day for free. Though I will say it doesn’t have a lot of sculpture in it. There’s a pavilion that is open 9-4 every day, which often also hosts special events.