Seattle Art Museum
The Seattle Art Museum, also called ” SAM “, is an art museum in Seattle, Washington, United States. The Seattle Museum has three properties: the main museum in downtown Seattle, the Seattle Asian Art Museum (VSV) in Volunteer Park on Capitol Hill, and the Olympic Sculpture Park on the central Seattle Waterfront.
According to mcat-test-centers, the Seattle Museum is known for its ever-changing exhibitions of art from around the world. But its permanent exhibitions also invite visitors to examine more than 23,000 exhibits. The exhibitions show works of art from Europe, America, Asia, Africa, Australia and Oceania. Exhibits from antiquity to the present can be found here. A highlight is the Native American collection. In addition to paintings and sculptures, ceramics, textiles and other handicrafts can also be seen.
Visitors are greeted by a giant figure standing in front of the Seattle Art Museum. It is one of the well-known Hammering Mans by Jonathan Borofsky. The steel figure is 15 meters high and depicts the moving silhouette of a worker wielding a hammer against a symbolic workpiece. The movement of the hammer itself is motor-driven, so there is no rapid hammering action, but the hammer is moved against the workpiece just as slowly as it is lifted. Other Hammering Man sculptures are in front of US landmarks in Dallas, Gainsville, La Jolla, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York City and Washington DC
History of the Seattle Art Museum
In 1931, the Seattle Fine Arts Society established the Seattle Art Museum under the direction of Richard Fuller. Richard Fuller and his mother Margaret Fuller MacTavish donated $250,000 to build an art museum in Volunteer Park on Seattle’s Capitol Hill. In 1933 the exhibition moved into its first museum building. When it opened, the collection contained just 1,926 works of art. There are now around 23,000 works of art through purchases and donations. Fuller served as the museum’s director until the 1970s.
During the Second World War, around 650 important works from the collection were evacuated to Denver in 1941 and 1942 to protect them from possible war damage and losses. After the war ended, the artworks returned to Seattle.
In 1944, while the war was still going on, the Seattle Museum housed its first major touring exhibition entitled India: Its Achievements of the Past and of the Present. Sherman E. Lee, an art historian specializing in Asian art, became the museum’s deputy director in 1948 and mainly expanded the Asian part of the collection and the collection of European paintings. In the course of the 1962 World Exhibition, the museum became better known.
In 1975, as a result of increasing exhibition activity in the field of contemporary art, a separate department was set up for this. In 1978 the idea of building a new museum building in downtown Seattle was first considered. In 1981 the collection grew to include many works of African art.
On December 5, 1991, the SAM Museum was opened in the new building downtown. The old building has housed the Seattle Asian Art Museum since 1994. In 1992 Jonathan Borofsky installed the Hammering Man sculptures in front of the museum. In 1994, the Volunteer Park facility and the Seattle Asian Art Museum reopened. In 2007, the Olympic Sculpture Park opened to the public. The new facility offers 312,000 square feet (29,000 m2) of exhibition space and a 9-acre (3.6 ha) park.
In 2006, the Seattle Art Museum began an exhibition expansion at the Washington Mutual. The expanded building offers 70 percent more exhibition space, an expanded museum shop and a new restaurant.
Exhibitions at the Seattle Art Museum – SAT
The Seattle Art Museum’s collection includes a total of 23,000 works of art from Oceania and Australia, African art, Asian art, American and European art, and Islamic art. When you visit the Seattle Museum you will find paintings, sculptures, decorative arts, crafts and textiles. The exhibits range from antiquity to modern and contemporary art.
In addition, large special and traveling exhibitions are regularly held in the Seattle Museum.
Libraries at the Seattle Art Museum
The Seattle Art Museum contains the Dorothy Stimson Bullitt Library and the McCaw Foundation Library of Art.
The Dorothy Stimson Bullitt Library was established in 1991. As of 2011, it contains 20,000 books and 100 magazines specializing in African art, contemporary art, decorative arts, European art, modern art and photography.
The McCaw Foundation Library of Asian Art was established in 1933. As of 2011, it contains 15,000 books and 100 magazines specializing in Asian art.
Seattle Asian Art Museum
The Seattle Asian Art Museum (VSV) has been housed in the original 1933 Deco/Modern SAM facility in Volunteer Park on Seattle’s Capitol Hill since 1994. It is a museum of Asian art within Volunteer Park in Seattle, Washington. Admission to the Seattle Asian Art Museum is free on the first Thursday and first Saturday of every month.
Olympic Sculpture Park
Olympic Sculpture Park is a public park in Seattle, Washington that opened on January 20, 2007. It features a 9-acre (36,000 m2) Outdoor Sculpture Museum. Admission to the Olympic Sculpture Park is free.
Admission and opening times to the Seattle Art Museum
The Seattle Art Museum is open Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 10am to 5pm. On Thursdays it is open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. It is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Children under the age of 12 do not pay admission.
Admission to the sculpture park is always free. Admission to the other facilities is free on the first Thursday of every month. SAM also offers free admission on the first Saturday of the month.
Directions to the SAM Museum in Seattle
The museum entrance is on 1st Ave and Union St. to the Seattle Art Museum, Olympic Sculpture Park and the Asian Art Museum.
Address of the Seattle Art Museum attraction in Washington
Seattle Art Museum
1300 1st Ave
Seattle, WA 98101
United States
www.seattleartmuseum.org