List of museums in Seattle facts for kids

The Seattle Asian Art Museum (SAAM) in Volunteer Park is a designated city landmark. From 1933 to 1981, the building housed the main Seattle Art Museum (SAM).

The "Art Ladder": the main staircase of the 1991 Robert Venturi-designed wing of SAM.

The Naval Reserve Armory, now home to MOHAI.

Artist and musician Whiting Tennis (left) performs with his band at an opening at the Henry Art Gallery.

Seattle, Washington is home to four major art museums and galleries: the Frye Art Museum, Henry Art Gallery, Seattle Art Museum, and the Seattle Asian Art Museum. Several Seattle museums and cultural institutions that are not specifically art museums also have excellent art collections, most notably the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, which has an excellent collection of Native American artwork.

Seattle is also home to well over 100 commercial art galleries, at least a dozen non-profit art galleries, and perhaps a hundred artists' studios that are open to the public at least once a month. About half of these galleries and studios are concentrated in one neighborhood, Pioneer Square.

Outside of the realm of art, Seattle has several other notable museums and similar institutions, the most notable including:

The Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, on the campus of the University of Washington, has a large collection of botanical, zoological, and geologic specimens in addition to an anthropology collection notable for its coverage of Native Americans of the Pacific Northwest.
The Museum of History & Industry is the largest heritage organization in the State of Washington, with a collection of over 4 million artifacts, photographs, and archival materials, primarily related to the history of Seattle and the greater Puget Sound region. Their public facility is located in the historic Naval Reserve Armory at Lake Union Park in South Lake Union.
Regional history figures prominently in other museum's including the Center for Wooden Boats, a maritime heritage museum on Lake Union; the Museum of Flight, which incorporates Boeing's original manufacturing plant; and the Museum of Communications.
Key ethnic aspects of Seattle's cultural mix are represented by the Daybreak Star Cultural Center in Discovery Park, operated by United Indians of All Tribes; the Nordic Heritage Museum in Ballard, which honors Seattle's Scandinavian immigrants; and the Wing Luke Asian Museum in the International District which focuses on the culture, art, and history of Asian Pacific Americans; and the Northwest African American Museum (NAAM) in the Central District which explores the art, history, and culture of African Americans in the Pacific Northwest.
The Seattle Aquarium is located on piers on the Elliott Bay waterfront; the Woodland Park Zoo on Phinney Ridge in north Seattle is one of the country's leading zoos, notable especially for its innovations in open and naturalistic zoo exhibits.
The campus of Seattle Center includes the Pacific Science Center, Museum of Pop Culture, Chihuly Garden and Glass and the Seattle Children's Museum.
The Seattle Metropolitan Police Museum in Pioneer Square honors the city's police force.
The Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park is also in Pioneer Square tells the story of the people going to Alaska to search for gold.
The Living Computer Museum is in SoDo and exhibits the history of computing. Vintage computers are displayed for interactive public use.

Museums

Name	Neighborhood	Type	Summary
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Visitor Center	Lower Queen Anne	History	website, innovations and inventions around the world to make life better
Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture	University District	Natural history	Part of the University of Washington, includes fossils, natural history dioramas, Native American artifacts, Pacific Rim cultures exhibit, gems and minerals
Center for Wooden Boats	South Lake Union	Maritime	Historic wooden sailboats, rowboats and other boats, locations in Lake Union Park and Cama Beach State Park
Center on Contemporary Art	Seattle	Art	website - contemporary exhibitions at various locations
Chihuly Garden and Glass	Lower Queen Anne	Art	Studio glass of Dale Chihuly, located in the Seattle Center
Coast Guard Museum Northwest	SoDo	Military	Includes U.S. Coast Guard ship models, uniforms, photos and artifacts
Daybreak Star Cultural Center	Magnolia	Art	Native American art gallery and cultural center
EMP Museum	Lower Queen Anne	Media	Popular culture, includes rock & roll and popular music memorabilia, interactive exhibits, Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame
Frye Art Museum	First Hill	Art	Painting and sculpture from the nineteenth century to the present
Georgetown Steam Plant	Georgetown	Technology	Steam engines in the former power plant
Giant Shoe Museum	Downtown	Commodity	Located in Pike Place Market, collection of giant shoes
Henry Art Gallery	University District	Art	The art museum of the University of Washington, includes contemporary art, photography, 19th-century art, Japanese and West Coast ceramics, costumes and textiles
History House of Greater Seattle	Fremont	History - Local	History and heritage of Seattle and its neighborhoods, currently closed, opening in new facility in 2017
Jack Straw New Media Gallery	University District	Art	website, non-profit multidisciplinary audio arts center
Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park	Pioneer Square	History	Seattle's role in the Klondike Gold Rush
Last Resort Fire Department Museum	Downtown	Firefighting	website, vintage fire trucks, equipment, uniforms, located at the HQ for the Seattle Fire Department
Living Computer Museum	SoDo	Computer	History of the development of computers
Log House Museum	West Seattle	Local history	website, operated by the Southwest Seattle Historical Society
Milepost 31	Downtown	History	website, history of Pioneer Square and the construction of the Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement tunnel, features model of Bertha (tunnel boring machine)
Museum of Communications	Georgetown	Technology	Formerly known as the Vintage Telephone Equipment Museum, historic telephone equipment
Museum of Flight	South	Aerospace	Incorporates Boeing's original manufacturing plant, includes private and military aircraft
Museum of History and Industry	South Lake Union	History	Washington's history and culture
Nordic Heritage Museum	Ballard	Ethnic - Nordic	Heritage of Seattle's Danish, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish immigrants
Northwest African American Museum	Central District	Ethnic - African American	African American heritage in the Northwest
Northwest Nikkei Museum	Central District	Ethnic	Operated by the Japanese Cultural Community Center, heritage and history of the Pacific Northwest’s Nikkei community
Northwest Seaport	South Lake Union	Maritime	Includes the Arthur Foss tugboat, Lightship 83
Olympic Sculpture Park	Downtown	Art	9-acre sculpture park
Pacific Science Center	Lower Queen Anne	Science	Exhibits include health, dinosaurs, space, human body, Puget Sound, technology
Photographic Center Northwest	Capitol Hill	Art	website, includes a contemporary photography gallery
Seattle Art Museum	Downtown	Art	3 facilities: main museum with diverse collections, Seattle Asian Art Museum and the Olympic Sculpture Park
Seattle Asian Art Museum	Capitol Hill	Art	Asian art, facility of the Seattle Art Museum
Seattle Central College M. Rosetta Hunter Art Gallery	Capitol Hill	Art	website
Seattle Children's Museum	Lower Queen Anne	Children's	Located in the Seattle Center
Seattle Mariners Hall of Fame	SoDo	Sports	Located at Safeco Field
Seattle Metropolitan Police Museum	Downtown	Law enforcement	History of policing in the Pacific Northwest
Seattle Pinball Museum	Chinatown-International District	Amusement	website, vintage pinball machines
Seattle University Galleries	First Hill	Art	Hedreen Galley at the Lee Center for the Arts, Kinsey Gallery, Vachon Gallery
Steamship Virginia V	South Lake Union	Maritime	1922 steamship
The Unity Museum	University District	Religious	website, peace, justice, and the Bahá'í Faith, locally and internationally
Wing Luke Asian Museum	Chinatown-International District	Ethnic - Pan Asian Pacific American	Culture, art and history of Asian Pacific Americans