I always love the story behind the art in our city and if you go to Calder: In Motion at the Seattle Art Museum this exhibition has a really beautiful connection. This exhibition is part of an ongoing gift from the Shirley family to the Seattle Art Museum and it has a goal of helping to revitalize Seattle and we are so lucky to have the Shirleys in our city.
If you’ve ever been to the Olympic Sculpture Park (and you should visit-it has the most incredible views) Jon Shirley is a big reason why we all have access to this beautiful park for free (and I only learned this the other day). He and his late wife Mary also donated Alexander Calder’s Eagle, the giant red sculpture you might have sat under and watched the water in the summer as the Argosy ships and ferries go by.
Now he and his wife Kim are donating a 48 piece collection of Alexander Calder’s works to the Seattle Art Museum. These works are part of an exhibition that will be on display until August 4, 2024. I have seen some of Alexander Calder’s giant sculptures in other cities, like his Flamingo in Chicago, but I didn’t know he also created mobiles or that he’s credited as being the inventor of the mobile.
There are many mobiles in the exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum and because they are really intriguing with their movements and colorful materials, it’s the type of exhibition that is more accessible to kids as well. This is the type of exhibit my kids would have really loved when they were small and I’m looking forward to bringing them when they have some free time. (As current freshman they are extremely busy with school and us parents are extremely exhausted from driving them to school and all their activities…)
We currently have a Patron membership to the Seattle Art Museum and now that my guys are 15 it is extremely valuable. Kids 14 and under are still free at the museum but teens 15-19 are $19.99. So a family like ours would be about $100 for a visit but we go many times a year, even just for a short visit and it is included with our membership. (We’ve even been to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Whitney Museum in New York for free with this membership too.). Memberships are a great way to support our local museums and zoos and the Seattle Art Museum membership also includes access to the Seattle Asian Art Museum in Volunteer Park.
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)
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