Seattle Museum Guide

Bellevue Arts Museum
Bellevue Arts Museum is the Pacific Northwest's center for the exploration of art, craft and design through exhibition, educational programs and partnerships, emphasizing the work of regional artists.
(Courtesy of the Bellevue Arts Museum)

The Burke Museum
The museum is responsible for Washington State collections of natural history and cultural heritage, and for sharing the knowledge that makes them meaningful. The Burke welcomes a broad and diverse audience and provides a community gathering place that nurtures life-long learning and encourages respect, responsibility, and reflection. (Courtesy of the Burke Museum)

The Center for Wooden Boats Maritime Museum
The Center for Wooden Boats is a hands on maritime museum. Its purpose is to preserve our rich, vital and varied small craft heritage by preserving both the artifacts and the time-tested maritime skills. Our aim is to provide an educational adventure, through participation, in our small craft heritage.(Courtesy of the Wooden Boats Maritime Museum)

The Children's Museum
The Children’s Museum, Seattle is a 22,000 square foot environment just for children ages birth through 10 years and their families. At the Museum, every exhibit is interactive, which allows little hands and growing minds to explore, play and learn. Want to climb a mountain and jump in a marmot hole? Build something bigger than you are? Jump to different lands and explore new cultures and see how other people live? You can do all of that and more! (Courtesy of the Children's Museum)

Frye Art Museum
The Frye Art Museum is dedicated to artistic inquiry, a rich visitor experience, and civic responsibility. A primary catalyst for our engagement with contemporary art and artists is the Founding Collection of late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century art by Munich-based artists. Admission to the Museum will always be free. (Courtesy of the Frye Art Museum)

Museum of Flight
The independent, non-profit Museum of Flight is one of the largest air and space museums in the world, attracting more than 400,000 visitors annually. The Museum's collection includes more than 150 historically significant air- and spacecraft, as well as the Red Barn®—the original manufacturing facility of The Boeing Co. The Museum's aviation and space library and archives are the largest on the West Coast.(Courtesy of the Museum of Flight)

Klondike Gold Rush Museum
Gold! read the headlines in July of 1897. After years of struggling through a depression, the people of the nation were intrigued by the possibility of riches. Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park preserves the story of the 1897-98 stampede to the Yukon gold fields and Seattle’s role in this event. The park offers a glimpse at the stories of adventure and hardship of the gold rush. (Courtesy of the Klondike Museum)

Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI)
Hidden beyond the museum’s austere doors is an explosion of images, artifacts, information and hands-on activities. The exhibits depict the history of Seattle from the 1800’s to present-day and the many inventions, mannequins and full-scale displays practically come alive to share their stories. It is no wonder, then, that this aesthetically stimulating and very informative collection serves as an educational hotspot for local schools or that groups of students cycle through on an almost daily basis.Read More...

Nordic Heritage Museum
The Nordic Heritage Museum shares Nordic culture with people of all ages and backgrounds by exhibiting art and objects, preserving collections, providing educational and cultural experiences, and serving as a community gathering place.(Courtesy of the Nordic Heritage Museum)

Science Fiction Museum
Housed on the other side of Frank O. Gehry’s architectural masterpiece (which from this standpoint is often interpreted as a symbol of the future rather than a smashed guitar), the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame (SFM) shows how easily overlooked – and yet how important – science fiction is in terms of influencing science and popular culture. The museum is divided into several galleries named aptly Homeworld, Fantastic Voyages, Brave New Worlds and Them; each is filled with related memorabilia (costumes, movie props, posters, etc.) and hands-on displays to keep visitors engaged and active in their own learning.

Seattle Art Museum (SAM)
The Seattle Art Museum, lovingly referred to as SAM, is located in the heart of downtown Seattle on 1st Avenue.  The building, after recently undergoing an $81 million renovation, is itself a work of art.  It has a light and airy feel and a great flow to it.  There are a remarkable variety of permanent collections to feast your eyes on, including the iconic, three-story “Hammering Man,” hammering diligently four times a minute, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Read More...

Seattle Asian Art Museum (SAAM)
Situated amid the lush, green grounds of Volunteer Park, the serenity of SAAM begins with the walk leading up to its heavy front doors. The immaculate tree-lined streets show off the quainter, quieter side of Capitol Hill, a neighborhood clearly proud of the treasure it encloses. Once inside the 1933 art deco building, the elegant yet simple geometric lines become a perfect backdrop for the impressive collection—a vast representation of countries and eras that has been ranked among the top ten outside of Asia. Read More....

Tacoma Museum of Glass
Born out of a casual conversation between friends, the Tacoma Museum of Glass has come to represent the revitalization of downtown Tacoma, as well as the vitality of the medium of glass art.The legendary conversation transpired in 1992 between friends Dale Chihuly, one of the founders of the Pilchuck Glass School and frontrunner in the Glass Movement of the early 1970s, and Phil Phibbs, a retired resident of the University of Puget Sound. Chihuly and Phibbs felt a glass museum was a natural step in recognizing the prominent role the Northwest played in the Glass Movement. Presenting the idea to the Executive Council of Greater Tacoma, Phibbs and Chihuly were surprised to receive overwhelming support for their plan. The Executive Council saw the museum as the finishing touch to the already planned clean-up and redevelopment of the Tacoma waterfront and the then polluted Thea Foss waterway. Read More...

Wing Luke Asian Museum
The Wing Luke Asian Museum engages the Asian Pacific American communities and the public in exploring issues related to the culture, art and history of Asian Pacific Americans. A Smithsonian Institution affiliate, the Wing Luke Asian Museum is the premier pan-Asian Pacific American museum in the country. (Courtesy of Wing Luke Museum)