Seattle: On View

New Olympic Sculpture Park Offers Great Art and Gorgeous Vistas - Seattle Art Museum opened the 9-acre, $85 million Olympic Sculpture Park in January 2007.  The park connects Seattle’s bustling Belltown neighborhood to the central waterfront, providing a continuous landscape of native plantings and a wide range of sculpture. Recently named "Best Cultural Space" by Travel + Leisure magazine in the 2008 design awards, the park features internationally-recognized artists, including Alexander Calder, Louise Bourgeois, Richard Serra, and Tony Smith. Panoramic views of the Olympic Mountains, Elliott Bay and Puget Sound add to the experience. Admission is free.

Expanded SAM open in downtown Seattle - The opening of the new Seattle Art Museum  in May 2007 marked the beginning of a dynamic new era for the art museum in the heart of downtown Seattle. The addition more than doubled the museum's exhibit and public spaces.  In recognition of the expansion and SAM's 75th anniversary in 2008, the museum has received an unprecedented series of gifts from prominent collectors, adding nearly 1,000 works of art from 40 collections, valued at more than $1 billion.

Koolhaas Library - Seattle's central library, designed by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, opened in 2004 to great acclaim from both users and architectural critics. New York Times critic Herbert Muschamp called it "the most exciting new building it has been my honor to review in more than 30 years of writing about architecture." The library offers docent-guided architectural tours and includes public art installations by Ann Hamilton, Gary Hill and Tony Oursler. Fun fact: the bold new building includes enough glass to cover 5 football fields.

Museums for every interest - From traditional or contemporary art at the Seattle Art Museum, Henry Art Gallery, and several alternative spaces, to natural history and culture at the Burke Museum, our many museums offer a delightful way to while away an afternoon.

The Seattle Asian Art Museum has the finest collection of Japanese porcelain outside Japan, while the newly expanded Wing Luke Asian Museum in the International District explores the culture and history of Asian Pacific Americans. Located in the charming Ballard neighborhood, the Nordic Heritage Museum is the only museum in the United States to honor the legacy of immigrants from the Nordic countries.

The free Frye Art Museum celebrates representational art, mixing period masters with contemporary artists. History buffs will delight in the Museum of History and Industry and its 1.2 million piece historic photograph collection, and the Museum of Flight's exploration of the amazing story of aviation.

For something completely different, the Frank Gehry-designed Experience Music Project is the only museum of its kind in the world, offering interactive exhibits, pop culture, live music and more. 

Seattle's Science Fiction Museum & Hall of Fame is the world's first of its kind. SFM offers artifacts that represent science fiction's influence on science and popular culture, including original pieces, interactive exhibits, and replicas from a wide range of art, film and literature. SFM is co-located with Experience Music Project.

Leaders in public art - Seattle was one of the first cities in the nation to enact a program to include art in public projects, embracing the artist's role in our community and creating opportunities for artists to work designing manhole covers, civic plazas, and our unique bus tunnel, for example. Some of our most beloved public artworks include Jack Mackie's famous "Dance Steps" along Broadway on Capitol Hill, several fountains by George Tsutakawa, and Isamu Noguchi's "Black Sun" at Volunteer Park. You might want to take one of several self-guided public art walking tours with these online guides.

First Thursdays - Some 50 galleries located in historic Pioneer Square and the downtown area open their new exhibitions on the first Thursday each month by extending their evening hours. It's a happening scene, with artists, collectors, arts aficionados and generally interesting people mingling to check out exciting new works by emerging young artists and Northwest icons alike.

Funky Fremont - Locals love the quirky "Waiting for the Interurban" sculpture by Richard Beyer in Fremont, and it is often festively attired for birthdays and other celebrations. You'll also find the Volkswagen Beetle-eating Troll under the Aurora Bridge, and the Fremont Rocket, built from the remains of a circa-1950 rocket missile fuselage. Erected in 1994, the 53ft rocket carries Fremont's motto, "De Libertas Quirkas", which locals translate as "Freedom to be Peculiar." As you approach this artsy neighborhood, full of boutiques and cafes and dubbed the "Artists' Republic of Fremont," signs advise you to set your watch back 5 minutes as you are now entering the "center of the universe."