Free Days Seattle Art Museums for Art Lovers
SAM, Asian Art Museum, and the Art Walk at Pioneer Square
Jun 26, 2009
These free Seattle art museums are fab places to catch new trends. Try SAM (Seattle Art Museum) or SAM's little sisters: Seattle Asian Art Museum or Olympic Sculpture Park. First Thursday Art Walks bring a people watching explosion for folks lazing through the galleries in Pioneer Square.
Art Walk really is a perfect place for artsy types to explore their wild side with their partners, on their own, or finding new friends.
Seattle has always been a breeding ground for creative and innovative people drawn to the visual, musical, and performing arts. There is just something so inviting about the gray soggy damp, which turns a light switch on in any receptive artist’s mind.
Seattle Art Museums with No Fee or a Free Day Each Month
- Seattle Art Museum (SAM)
- Seattle Asian Art Museum
- Olympic Sculpture Park
- Art Walk (Pioneer Square Galleries).
Seattle Art Museum (pronounced SAM)
The Seattle Art Museum outgrew its original location and stretched out by building a larger space in Downtown Seattle (1991). This newer SAM building has a magnificent entryway called the Art Ladder. And, just outside of SAM, a 48 ft. tall statue of Hammering Man pounds away as a creative muse for laborers, art lovers, and artisans worldwide.
Unfortunately, SAM’s European and American permanent collections are a bit thin. But, the Seattle Art Museum has found a way to compensate for this with their truly cool Native American carvings, slinking African masks, exotic textiles, and the everchanging traveling exhibits from great museums around the world.
Free:
- First Thursdays of each month: Free to all
- First Friday: Free to seniors (age 62+)
- Second Fridays, 5–9 pm: Free to teens (ages 13–19) with ID
Seattle Asian Art Museum on Capitol Hill
Since the Pacific Northwest is so close to Asia, it is not surprising that SAM’s strength has traditionally been in its Asian collections. Seattle’s Asian art remains housed in the original (1933) Art Deco museum in Volunteer Park, on Capitol Hill (Seattle). This venue shows some great Chinese artwork, and while not Shanghai Museum quality, there are nice pieces from the Neolithic period to the present.
- Japanese
- Chinese
- South Asian
The Asian Museum brings a brilliant hipness factor, when the space is used for things like: in March 2009, they had a DJ spin some popular Indian dance music. Seattle visitors and newbies might, also, note that Volunteer Park has great shots of the Space Needle. Bring the camera.
Free Days:
- First Thursdays (everyone).
- First Fridays for Seniors 62+.
- First Saturdays for families. The interior of this old museum echoes and sound magnifies, so family day is a great time to bring kids.
Olympic Sculpture Park
And, now for something completely different: The outdoor Olympic Sculpture Park.
This newer park, unfortunately, has no beautiful European statuary. Instead, the outdoor setting is filled with large vibrant mod pop metals, making it feel like oversized Jetson's architectural art with an otherworldly view of Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountain Range.
Find the graphic Sculpture Park at the north end of Seattle's Waterfront, near:
- Belltown
- Pike Place Market
- SAM
- Seattle's tourist areas
The Olympic Sculpture Park's Paccar Pavilion:
The Olympic Sculpture Park is open and free to the public 365 days a year, however:
- The Sculpture Park is closed at night.
- The Paccar Pavilion is closed on Mondays, holidays, at night.
- Pay parking is at Paccar Pavilion.
- No overnight parking. No parking on Mondays or holidays.
First Thursday (of each month) Art Walk in Pioneer Square Seattle WA
First Thursday is one of the best places to meet people in Seattle. Once upon a time there were snacks and the wine flowed on First Thursdays. Now, one must get on some mailing lists to find receptions like these. Don't be shy. At some point everyone is going to need something more than weightless posters to make a house feel like a home (or an apartment feel like a condo).
To find participating galleries, go to Pioneer Square and look for the flow of playful, artsy, antsy people wandering the galleries in Pioneer Square. Or ask an employee for a map.
- Artists will feel a charge of artistic adrenaline.
- Patrons will feel the rush of discovery.
- Professional shoppers will feel a zap of haggling fever.
- Lookie Lous will perfect their networking skills.
- Lucky Lookie Lous will end up with a new phone number or a dinner date.
Seattle Museums
Just because it is drizzling, there is no excuse to stay home. Get away from the computer desk and visit SAM (Seattle Art Museum), Seattle Asian Art Museum, or the Olympic Sculpture Park. Find a friend or go alone. Learn a few artsy buzzwords then get over to the First Thursdays Art Walk in Pioneer Square. One needs to learn how to take charge of one's own life, or be forever sucked down into the lonely abyss.
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