Seattle Art Museum

Seattle Art Museum is a super interesting museum. I found so many different art pieces that were beautiful to see and I am glad I stopped in here to look around. This place is close to the Pike Market Place so if you are around the area, this is walkable from there. Most museums if you love going to them have some art pieces that are always inside and others that tour around the world. I got to see the Japanese exhibit of Hokusai which is infamous for that Japanese wave that is so memorable worldwide. Within this exhibit, there are other traditional Japanese art from paintings, kimonos, to even Legos. Overall I had a great time here and with so many floors to explore you will also find something unique and interesting for yourself.

My best friend LOVES Hokusai, so I was extra excited that the Hokusai exhibit was in Seattle during her birthday. I bought our tickets well ahead of time and surprised her with them when the Uber dropped us off at the SAM. We were warned that the line for the exhibit was an hour long, but I didn't mind since it gave me, a SAM first-timer, time to explore the other art on display. My favorite was the Middle East and African art displays. It's a little disappointing that a majority of the African art was of Nigerian origin and there was very little Eastern and Southern African art on display. Once we got to the Hokusai exhibit we went in separate directions to make sure we each were able to see what interested us most. I really liked seeing Hokusai's mentor's art and it's influence on him, and his apprentice's art and his influence on them. It was also interesting to see "The Great Wave" influence on modern art and how it endures to this day. The best ending was being able to design our own block print and having it sent to our emails.

This place was on our "try to do" list when we were in town. We happened to walk past by it on our way to the Seattle aquarium. We had a little over an hour to kill so we decided to stop by. It just so happens that it was the first Thursday of the month, which was free! We didn't know that so it made it even more worth checking out last minute. Museum is pretty big! You can probably spend an hour if you take your time walking around. Cool spot to check out.

Nice place to spend some time to look at the art in Seattle!Check with your employer to see if there are discounts on tickets!Great place to get some steps in and appreciate the artwork. You can easily spend 1-2 hours here.Not sure if there's a parking garage tied to the museum...otherwise, street parking or other garages nearby. The museum is walkable from Pike's. So you can definitely park closer to the market and knock two activties out with one go!

An astounding 5 stars, well deserved!!! I am so impressed by the Seattle Art Museum. I make it my business to explore at least one art gallery or museum of some sort whenever I visit a place for the first time. This one did not disappoint, at all. Coincidentally, while I was in town there was an amazing exhibit on display titled "Dawoud Bey and Carrie Mae Weems in Dialogue". It made me even more excited to stop by! The kind lady at the ticket desk even gave me a 'student discount' price for my ticket entry. How nice of her!There were 3 floors and a different exhibit each. The suspense was building as we rode the elevator from one floor to the next. Each exhibit more exhilarating than the last. Although I went nearly 2 hour before closing, I intended to satisfy the remaining time and I did not feel rushed. So many art pieces, stories - both written next to them and some on video display. The semi-crowded space maintained it's almost dead silence, as people perused and had facial expressions of awe and intense interest. I think I may have people-watched almost just as much as I enjoyed the art and paintings. Overall, this art museum was EVERYTHING! Exceeded my expectations and much more than meets the eye. I would and plan to go again at some point, whenever I am in Seattle again. Great staff, great experience, priceless!

This is a gem! The Hammering Man outside was cool...then you get inside and the world opens up to you....our favorite exhibition was the African art....excellent collection. Easy to navigate and you'll always see a docent ready to help you. First Thursday of each month is free...that's when we went...not crowded at all...

I'm from DC so I am used to the free Smithsonian museums, so I hate paying entrance fees but honestly this was better than I expected! At $29 the day before (you pay an extra $3 if you buy it the day of), $25 for military or seniors, or $20 for teens or college students, it is expensive. But the quality, volume, and variety of artwork was impressive!The fifth floor is close to the public (offices) and the first floor is really just a gift shop. The fourth floor is large, the 3rd floor is HUGE, and the 2nd floor is mostly just the cashier and entrance to the museum. The temporary exhibit about Hokusai's "Great Wave" will be leaving in two weeks, and I am so glad that we were able to see it before I left. The exhibit included 325 different pieces of art along with one of the remaining original 180 prints of the "Great Wave" and his second most popular piece of artwork, "Red Fuji." at 12:30 on Saturday it took 20 minutes for us to get inside. On Saturdays and Sundays a volunteer docent offers a tour at 1:15 PM. We wish we would have walked around the exhibit first before the tour. Note that for the tour, they have folding chairs you can borrow for free at the entrance to the exhibit!!The other temporary exhibit is "Calder in Motion", and included dozens of work from the early 1900s on. It seems like there is often a long line to enter this exhibit as well, but the line moved pretty fast shortly after opening on a Saturday morning.

I left my backpack at the check in and didn't realize it until the following day before my flight. I contacted the museum and left a message. Within an hour, I received a call back and they told me they would ship it all the way to San Diego. I just received it today. Thank you! That is professionalism! The museum is also well worth a visit. Some pics of some items that caught my eye below...

An excellent museum with a great collection in a perfect location. I came here on a Sunday to see the collection and truly enjoyed myself. The collection is small enough that you can see it in a few hours, which makes it a digestible museum. I got tickets to the Amoako Boafo "Souls of Black Folk" exhibition, which was on the top floor, so it allowed me to see the entire collection on the journey up.They have a wonderful Native American Art gallery. Nicholas Galanin's installation, "Neon American Anthem," is a beautifully cathartic experience, and I highly recommend getting out of your comfort zone and participating. I also loved the care they took displaying the African installation, which gave such a refreshing reverence to the art. It's revolutionary. The Amoako Boafo exhibition did not disappoint. The portraiture was moving and revolutionary in its technique.

With a husband as an artist and a dad who had an art gallery, I do love going to art galleries, museums and other spaces. This place was like a breath of fresh air. They had a couple of shows that we really appreciated. However, one issue was the entrance. My app said that the entrance was on one corner and I was upset to realize that I walked past the actual entrance to get to the one on my map. But we found it and got in.There was so much to see and I was glad that they had a couple of "chill out" spaces at the end of the hallway. They took my water bottle when I got there which was frustrating, but they let my husband keep his umbrella, it was small enough to put in my bag.I did see some iconic works from some artists, and the show by the indigenous woman was wonderful. I loved the videos and books that they had in the chill out room. Another thing was the Hammering Man. I loved seeing it and got a kick out of filming it.This museum is a bit smaller and was more diverse than I expected and the art was wonderful. I'd love to come back for another visit to digest the rest of the museum.