Museums
Bellevue Arts Museum has grown alongside the city of Bellevue to become the Pacific Northwest's center to experience art, craft, and design. It is one of few museums that grew out of an art fair. Started by a handful of dedicated volunteers, the first fair was held in 1947 and eventually led to the founding of the museum in 1975. With a long history of community engagement, the museum today is home to provocative exhibitions and programs highlighting some of the region's most influential artists as well as international collections.
Opened in 1980, Children's Museum of Virginia is the largest children's museum in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Located in the heart of Olde Town Portsmouth, the museum is for young children and their families. The museum is a place where families and caregivers with children ages 1-11 are encouraged to imagine, explore, and discover together through play. The museum highlights a life size tug boat for children to play on, a bubble area, a fire engine, a city bus, the Beazley Planetarium and the Lancaster train exhibit. It is a place where everyone can come and explore the discovery of learning.
Children's Museum of Richmond began in 1977 as the Richmond Children's Museum in the Navy Hill School building in downtown Richmond, Virginia. In 1981, the museum opened to the public with its premiere exhibit, Boxes, Blocks, and Blueprints. In 2000, the Children's Museum moved to its new 44,000 square foot facility on West Broad Street. It welcomes more than 400,000 visitors each year. The Children's Museum is a center for active learning, creative play and global exploration. It has a long history of providing opportunities for learning through play. It inspires growth in all children by engaging families in learning through play.
Virginia Discovery Museum is a hands-on children's museum for newborns to kids age 8 that fosters intellectual curiosity and development for all children in our community. Located in Charlottesville, Virginia, it is a nonprofit children's museum, with exhibits on literacy, science, math, history, and the arts. It welcomes more than 70,000 visitors each year. For more than 25 years, Virginia Discovery Museum has provided enrichment opportunities through interactive exhibits, exploratory and imaginative play environments, and educational programs. The museum brings young children and families together to engage minds, excite imaginations and explore the world around them.
Seattle Art Museum is the center for world-class visual arts in the Pacific Northwest. Located in Seattle, Washington, it maintains three major facilities: its main museum in downtown Seattle, the Seattle Asian Art Museum in Volunteer Park on Capitol Hill, and the open Olympic Sculpture Park on the central Seattle waterfront. The Seattle Art Museum features beautiful galleries, from iconic 14th-century Chinese camels to rotating installations of modern and contemporary art. The museum's growing collection contains nearly 25,000 works of art from around the world. Dating from antiquity to the present, the permanent collection represents a wide range of global cultures and historical perspectives.
Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience is a history museum of the culture, art, and history of Asian Pacific Americans located in Seattle, Washington's Chinatown-International District. As a National Park Service Affiliated Area and the first Smithsonian affiliate in the Pacific Northwest, the museum offers an authentic and unique perspective on the American story. It is the only pan-Asian Pacific American community-based museum in the US.
Opened in 2008, Northwest African American Museum serves to present and preserve the connections between the Pacific Northwest and people of African descent and investigate and celebrate Black experiences in America through exhibitions, programs and events. The museum is housed in the historic Colman School building overlooking a beautiful, sprawling green park, named after rock legend, Jimi Hendrix, in the heart of Seattle's Central District.
Tacoma Art Museum is a museum in Tacoma, Washington emphasizing art and artists from the Northwest and broader western region. Founded in the 1935, the museum has strong roots in the community and anchors Tacoma's downtown university and museum district. The museum's collection of more than 4,500 works emphasizes the art and artists of the Northwest and broader western region.
Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture is the largest cultural organization in the Inland Northwest with five underground galleries, store, education center, community room and the Center for Plateau Cultural Studies. It serves more than 100,000 visitors a year. It is one of Washington State's five Smithsonian affiliates and is accredited by the Alliance of American Museums. The museum resides in the historic Browne's Addition neighborhood of Spokane, Washington. The museum preserves and cultivates the heritage of the Inland Northwest people through collections, exhibitions, and programs that bring their stories to life.
SCAD Museum of Art is a premier contemporary art museum that features emerging and established international artists through commissioned works and rotating exhibitions; engages local communities with special initiatives of an international scope; and serves as a resource for Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) students and alumni during their academic careers and beyond.