Seattle Art Museum - aka SAM

Whether you love ancient art or modern, realistic or abstract, the Seattle Art Museum is the place to see it all.

The largest and most well-known of Seattle museums, the newly remodeled SAM houses a permanent collection of art ranging from ancient Mediterranean to contemporary American. It is also home to an extensive collection of Northwest Coast Native American Art.

The new building's clean lines and expanded space make it possible to showcase more of the collection than ever before. The new art ladder and craft area make the museum family-friendly and the Taste Restaurant offers Northwest beers, wines, and a happy hour for adults.

A few must sees at the SAM from my daughter, a dedicated patron and art buff:

• Inopportune: Stage One - The very first thing you see when you walk in, this piece grabs your attention with its large scale and flashing lights.
• The Porcelain Room - Highlighting the collection of Eighteenth-century porcelain displayed in ideal lighting and evoking a time when porcelain was displayed as treasured art.
• Cartoon Forest - As you walk through this installation, strategically placed cameras make you appear to be strolling through a forest.
• The Doge's Palace and the Grand Canal, Venice - the endless sky makes you feel as though you are right there in the painting.
• Native American art collection - for those interested in taking a look at Seattle's native history.

My favorites?

The traveling exhibits! Thanks to the Seattle Art Museum, I have seen some wonderful art from museums all over the world right here at home!

Some recent traveling exhibits included:

• John Singer Sargent - SAM hosted the first major West Coast exhibition of Sargent's work in early 2001. One of my favorite artists, John Singer Sargent was a genius with a paintbrush. I spent several hours wandering from room to room gazing at life-size portraits, masterful watercolors, and expressive charcoal sketches. Thank you, SAM, for that opportunity!
• The Gates of Paradise: Lorenzo Ghiberti's Renaissance Masterpiece - 2008 - unbelievably large and beautiful in person!
• Roman Art from the Louvre - 2008 - After several years of teaching Greek and Roman history to third graders, I was thrilled when I heard that SAM was hosting this exhibit! I was familiar with many of the items on display from my years of studying. But it was altogether a different experience to actually stand in front of a larger than life marble statue of Caesar Augustus or a six-and-a-half foot tall bust of Lucilla!
• Inspiring Impressionism - The Impressionists and the Art of the Past - 2008
• Edward Hopper's Women - Nov. 13, 2008 - Mar. 1, 2009
• Michelangelo Public and Private: Drawings for the Sistine Chapel and Other Treasures from the Casa Buonarroti

A Sampling of Current or Upcoming Exhibits:

March 14 - November 6, 2011 - Picturing the Artist

Free Days:

This includes entrance to special exhibitions as well as SAM permanent collections.

• First Thursdays - free to all
• First Fridays - seniors (age 62+)
• Second Fridays, 5-9pm - teens age 13-19 with ID

Discounted Parking Validation for SAM Visitors

Wednesday - Friday, entry after noon (12:00pm) and anytime on Saturday and Sunday

Park at the Chase Parking Garage and pay only $6 for up to 5 hours of parking. Tickets must be validated at the SAM ticketing Desk. If you stay longer than 5 hours, the discount does not apply.

For more information about the Seattle Art Museum's collection, exhibitions, member news, programs, events, and store:
Seattle Art Museum
1300 First Avenue
206-654-3100
www.seattleartmuseum.org