When you realize how much you actually missed the Seattle Asian Art Museum

I haven’t visited Volunteer Park in Seattle in ages. We used to come here often when the Seattle Asian Art Museum was open but then it closed for renovations about three years ago. I thought it was only last year, but it was THREE YEARS AGO! So the other day I was invited to check out the new renovations and it was like visiting the park for the first time again. The Black (Hole) Sun beckoned to be photographed near the parking lot for the museum. The Observatory glistened. And I almost climbed the stairs to visit the top of the water tower. But this was all for another day. I was here to check out the Seattle Asian Art Museum and in three years of getting all fixed up, there’s a lot at this museum to see.

Are You A Seattle Art Museum Member?

I get a Seattle Art Museum membership every year and you can use it at both the main Seattle Art Museum and now the Seattle Asian Art Museum too. If you get the Patron Membership you also get access to some reciprocal museums and we have visited quite a few that we might not have otherwise visited including the Denver Art Museum and the Dallas Museum of Art. Art is so important to my family and an exhibit about the history of Indigo that showed shortly before the Seattle Asian Art Museum closed three years ago made me so intrigued about indigo that it inspired us to visit a few places, including the Royal Delft Factory on a trip to Amsterdam.

And About the Seattle Asian Art Museum Renovation

I’m slowly learning about building styles through travel and the Seattle Asian Art Museum is built in an Art Deco style. When I walked into the entrance lobby it feels like the perfect space if anyone in Seattle is throwing a Gatsby-esque event in the next couple years. (This seemed to be quite the theme of a bunch of parties lately!). This lobby area is absolutely stunning.

There is also a a new park lobby that reminds me a lot of a glassed in area of the Audain museum in Whistler. LMN architects have created a beautiful space that is indoors but brings in the outdoors and its modern but still reflects the Art Deco style of the past. I’m looking forward to revisiting throughout the seasons and see how a year in Seattle feels in this room.

The other galleries also have updates and new technological features. The gallery lighting is thoughtful and allows for better photography of pieces than I’ve been able to get in some other museums. My favorite room is one all full of ceramics. And in another room hidden technology, like a special glass case for a Buddha statue that would otherwise react to the moisture in our air, allows for this piece to be shown for the first time. I love how museums like the Seattle Asian Art Museum go to such great lengths to preserve and display art.

A Couple Must-See Pieces at the Seattle Asian Art Museum

I don’t have a strong background in Asian art history so I don’t know many of the works in the gallery but I still appreciated roaming through and seeing all the beautiful art. I tend to like modern art and photography. So if you are like me, you might appreciate the Flower Ball Takashi Murakami piece. I saw an exhibition of his work at the Vancouver Art Gallery last year and I gravitate towards pieces like this that make a colorful statement.

A piece by Do Ho Suh called Some/One used to be in the Seattle Art Museum and is now here too and it feels like it really belongs in this room. This piece made up of thousands of soldier’s id’s in the shape of Asian armor is an incredible sculpture to see up close.

There is also a really cool work that incorporates light, sound and movement in the Be/Longing room that you need a couple minutes to watch and experience.

If you bring your kids to the Seattle Asian Art Museum

There is easy parking at this museum and great outdoor spaces to roam around so this kind of museum is fabulous for kids. There is a small art space area where kids can build an art piece and there are a few new interactive exhibits. About a five minute walk from the Seattle Asian Art Museum is a great playground that is a good incentive for after a day at the museum-especially if it’s a sunny one.

And about the Black Sun Noguchi Sculpture

I didn’t realize that the Black Sun in front of the Seattle Asian Art Museum in Volunteer Park was actually by Isamu Noguchi until I went to the museum the other day too. There is a hidden garden near South Coast Plaza Mall in Costa Mesa California that features his California Scenario work and I was obsessed with trying to find it on a trip to California a few years ago. I appreciate how Black Sun and California Scenario incorporate the environment around them into their artistry and if you are ever in either Seattle or Orange County you should definitely check these works out-they are both currently free public pieces of art.

Terumi

Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys.  She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live.  She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)