Seattle, Washington is home to four major art museums and galleries: the Frye Art Museum, Henry Art Gallery, Seattle Art Museum,[1] and the Seattle Asian Art Museum. 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, which has an excellent collection of Native American 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' studios 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.
| Name | Neighborhood | Type | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ballard Locks Museum/Visitor Center | Ballard | History | Artifacts and exhibits of Hiram M. Chittenden Locks dedicated in 1917 website http://ballardlocks.org/visitor-center-museum.html |
| Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Visitor Center | History | website, innovations and inventions around the world to make life better | |
| Natural history | Part of the University of Washington, includes fossils, natural history dioramas, Native American artifacts, Pacific Rim cultures exhibit, gems and minerals | ||
| Maritime | Historic wooden sailboats, rowboats and other boats, locations in Lake Union Park and Cama Beach State Park | ||
| Center on Contemporary Art | Seattle | Art | website, contemporary exhibitions at various locations |
| Lower Queen Anne | Art | Studio glass of Dale Chihuly, located in the Seattle Center | |
| Military | Includes U.S. Coast Guard ship models, uniforms, photos and artifacts | ||
| Technology | website Working telephone switching systems, old telephones and payphones, teletypes | ||
| Art | Native American art gallery and cultural center operated by United Indians of All Tribes | ||
| Museum of Pop Culture, aka MoPOP | Lower Queen Anne | Media | Popular culture, includes rock & roll and popular music memorabilia, interactive exhibits, Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame |
| Art | website, Painting and sculpture from the nineteenth century to the present | ||
| Technology | Steam engines in the former power plant | ||
| Commodity | Located in Pike Place Market, collection of giant shoes[2] | ||
| University District | Art | The art museum of the University of Washington, includes rotating exhibitions of contemporary art | |
| History - Local | History and heritage of Seattle and its neighborhoods | ||
| University District | Art | website, non-profit multidisciplinary audio arts center | |
| History | Seattle's role in the Klondike Gold Rush | ||
| Last Resort Fire Department Museum | Downtown | Firefighting | website, vintage fire trucks, equipment, uniforms, located at the HQ for the Seattle Fire Department |
| SoDo | Computer | History of the development of computers with vintage computers displayed for interactive public use | |
| Log House Museum | Local history | website, operated by the Southwest Seattle Historical Society | |
| South | Aerospace | Incorporates Boeing's original manufacturing plant, the largest private air and space museum in the world includes private and military aircraft | |
| South Lake Union | History | Washington's history and culture. Largest heritage organization in the State of Washington, with a collection of over 4 million artifacts, photographs, and archival materials, primarily related to the history of Seattle and the greater Puget Sound region. | |
| Capitol Hill | Contemporary Art | Three floors of visual art and installations, with a gift shop, movie theater, and classroom space. website | |
| National Nordic Museum; formerly known as Nordic Heritage Museum | Ethnic - Nordic | Heritage of Seattle's Danish, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish immigrants; expanded in 2018 with a new building and permanent exhibition focused on a broader understanding of Nordic life and culture as it has evolved over the last twelve thousand years. | |
| Ethnic - African American | African American heritage in the Northwest | ||
| Central District | Ethnic | Operated by the Japanese Cultural Community Center, heritage and history of the Pacific Northwest’s Nikkei community | |
| South Lake Union | Maritime | Includes the Arthur Foss tugboat, Lightship 83 | |
| Downtown | Art | 9-acre sculpture park | |
| Lower Queen Anne | Science | Exhibits include health, dinosaurs, space, human body, Puget Sound, technology | |
| Art | website, includes a contemporary photography gallery | ||
| Pioneer Association of the State of Washington | Madison Park | History, Genealogy, Library | https://wapioneers.com/, Oldest history organization in the State of Washington, meeting since 1871, incorporated 1895; headquarters at historic 1910 Washington Pioneer Hall on the shores of Lake Washington; Pioneer Hall is on the United States National Park Service register of Historic Places. |
| Downtown | Art | 3 facilities: main museum with diverse collections, Seattle Asian Art Museum and the Olympic Sculpture Park | |
| Capitol Hill | Art | Asian art, facility of the Seattle Art Museum | |
| Seattle Central College M. Rosetta Hunter Art Gallery | Capitol Hill | Art | website |
| Lower Queen Anne | Children's | Located in the Seattle Center | |
| SoDo | Sports | Located at T-Mobile Park | |
| Downtown | Law enforcement | History of policing in the Pacific Northwest | |
| Seattle Pinball Museum | Chinatown-International District | Amusement | website, vintage pinball machines |
| Seattle University Galleries | First Hill | Art | Hedreen Gallery at the Lee Center for the Arts,[3] Kinsey Gallery,[4] Vachon Gallery[5] |
| South Lake Union | Maritime | 1922 steamship | |
| The Unity Museum | University District | Envisioning One Humanity | website |
| Ethnic - Pan Asian Pacific American | Culture, art and history of Asian Pacific Americans | ||