Seattle Art Museum

From SF to Seattle! “Suchitra Mattai: she walked in reverse and found their songs” is opening at the Seattle Asian Art Museum on April 9, 2025 after a successful run at Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco this summer. In this exhibition, Mattai turns inward, examining the power of memory in the creation of her own stories. The history of her ancestors—brought from India to work as indentured laborers in Guyana—deeply influences her practice. At the core of the exhibition, Mattai reimagines her grandparents’ home in Guyana. Using techniques passed down through generations, she weaves materials marked by the past into a collective story of migration and gendered labor. Suchitra Mattai was recently highlighted in artnet as one of 5 artists that “speak to our cultural moment": https://lnkd.in/gPn2y7_Y [🎨 "Pappy’s house," 2024, Suchitra Mattai, Guyana, b. 1973, worn saris, aluminum, beaded trim, tinsel, 216 x 110.96 x 81.38 in., Courtesy of the artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles, California, photo: Nicholas Lea Bruno]

🎉 Big news! The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation announced a suite of eight grants totaling $9 million+ to support the cultural vitality of downtown Seattle. SAM is one of the recipients and will receive $500,000 over two years to support extending our Free First Thursday program into the evening. Free First Thursdays at the downtown museum—when the museum is free to all, all day on the first Thursday of each month—will now run until 8 pm and feature programming from 5 to 8 pm. With this funding, says Scott Stulen, SAM’s Illsley Ball Nordstrom Director and CEO, “local artists will create dynamic programs, our community partners will have a platform, and audiences will be able to visit the museum who may not otherwise have been able to do so. Philanthropic support like this is critical for organizations of all sizes, and SAM relies on substantial investments like this to be sure that we are here for generations to come.” Read the full announcement, including what to expect at the first edition of Free First Thursday supported by the grant on October 3: https://lnkd.in/gYrrd8rR [📸 @alborzk]

🌧️A popular Haitian proverb says: “Remember the rain that makes your corn grow.” There's just a few weeks left to see "Remember the Rain" at the Seattle Art Museum, a show featuring works by Haitian artists from SAM's collection. The proverb inspires the selection of a group of mid-20th century Haitian paintings. Full of vibrant colors and strong graphics, each painting presents a narrative scene drawing on different vantage points of Haitian life: the relationships between landscape and community and between the celestial and the earthly environment, and the mundane thrums of daily life. Artists on view include Hector Hyppolite, Fernand Pierre, S. Bernadel, Toussaint Auguste, Castera Bazile, Philomé Obin, and Jacques-Enguerran d'Gourgue. The show closes on Sunday, October 14! Learn more and get your tickets here: https://lnkd.in/ggc8wTiP _ [📸 Alborz Kamalizad, Chloe Collyer]

🚨 ONE MONTH! That’s how long you have left to see “Calder: In Motion, The Shirley Family Collection” at SAM before it closes on October 20. The inaugural exhibition in the multiyear "Calder at SAM" initiative, “Calder: In Motion” traces Alexander Calder’s career, highlighting the most important themes, styles, and materials from the 1920s through the 1970s. With more than 45 artworks by the revolutionary American artist on view, it’s one exhibition you don’t want to miss. Reserve your tickets to see it at SAM today! visitsam.org/calder [📸 Alborz Kamalizad © 2024 Calder Foundation, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.]

⏪ Time for a flashback! We're missing our homegrown summer exhibition, "Poke in the Eye: Art of the West Coast Counterculture," and all of its offbeat, colorful, irreverent art that filled the galleries. Tune in to our YouTube playlist of zany infomercials, fascinating curator spotlights, and artist interviews we created for the exhibition: https://lnkd.in/g4vhzCqQ

🐦 Crowds are flocking to SAM to see “Bird” (1968) at SAM! Birds proved a consistent source of artistic inspiration for Alexander Calder. Throughout his career, the artist created a variety of bird sculptures, some of which rose from the ground while others dangled from above. This particular bird, the only one of its kind in the Shirley Family’s Calder collection, is composed of tin cans and wire. Sculptures such as these reinforced Calder’s nickname as “le roi du fil de fer” (the king of wire). By bending and twisting wire, the artist was able to create “drawings in space,” which projected shadows, captured voids, and challenged perceptions. Get tickets to see “Bird” on view in “Calder: In Motion, The Shirley Family Collection” before it closes October 20! visitsam.org/calder [📸 Chloe Collyer © 2024 Calder Foundation, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.]

"'Meot,' said [guest curator HJ] Han at the exhibit’s press preview, can convey such concepts as 'beauty, style, [and] refined sensibilities.' It can apply to nature, but also to art. One thing Han said with certainty, though: Frank Bayley had, and his collection embodies, the spirit of 'meot' all the way." Andrew Hamlin of Northwest Asian Weekly reviews "Meot: Korean Art from the Frank Bayley Collection," now on view at the Seattle Asian Art Museum. Read more about his impressions of this exhibition that features over 60 Korean ceramics, paintings, and more from across time: https://lnkd.in/gVjySpqH _ [📸 @Chloe Collyer]

🥥 “What Does This All Have to Do with Coconuts & Rice?” That's the question that kicks off this season of the long-running and popular Saturday University Lecture Series, which offers new insights on Asia presented by experts from around the world. Challenging, thought-provoking, and sometimes surprising, each lecture also presents opportunities for audience discussion with visiting scholars, authors, artists, and thinkers. Don't miss your chance to snag a series pass now before the first lecture this Saturday, September 14. Passes are $90; $60 for SAM members & students. After that, tickets to individual lectures are $15; $10 for SAM members & students. The 2024–2025 Saturday University Lecture Series takes place on select Saturdays, September–June, 10–11:30 am, in the Stimson Auditorium at the Seattle Asian Art Museum. Admission to the galleries is included, so you can make a day of it. ➡️ Explore the series and book your pass: https://lnkd.in/gfdmsTS2

✨ Don’t just take it from us, take it from our visitors: “Calder: In Motion, The Shirley Family Collection" is not to be missed! See what visitors had to say about experiencing the iconic artwork of Alexander Calder, then make plans to see it for yourself at SAM. Reserve your tickets now! ➡️ visitsam.org/calder [📸 Chloe Collyer & Alborz Kamalizad © 2024 Calder Foundation, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.]

🤓 We're back with more art world news for your brain! In this edition: Northwest Asian Weekly and The Wall Street Journal both feature "Meot: Korean Art from the Frank Bayley Collection" at the Seattle Asian Art Museum, Margo Vansynghel of The Seattle Times shares art show recs for cooler temps, and Gia Kourlas of The New York Times reviews the Whitney Museum of American Art's ambitious Alvin Ailey exhibition. Read Muse/News now on #SAMStories!