Seattle Art Museum

The 2007 expansion of the Seattle Art Museum saw a 70 percent increase in gallery space, creating a worthy setting for the museum’s varied collection of art. While planning the new installation, the curators established three principles for using the collection’s diversity to its utmost benefit: to show the best of SAM’s collection, to address the cultural context of the works of art, and where possible to create bridges between cultures and time periods. The Forum installation leads the way to the spacious modern and contemporary galleries. American art from the 18th to the 19th centuries is sited adjacent to the renowned Native-American art collection of the 19th and 20th centuries, where collaboration between living artists and native advisors is featured. Samplings of creativity from the past as well as the present are the focus of the Australian Aboriginal and Oceanic art gallery, the Meso-American and Andean Art, and the Pan-Asian art galleries. Not to be missed is the Porcelain Room, with 1,000 exquisite works of porcelain, and the recently restored 17th-century Italian Renaissance room. This guide highlights the many different ways in which the museum’s permanent collection may now be experienced, with insights and details of selected artworks.