Don’t miss these current exhibitions in Seattle!
Seattle is an exciting city to visit or live in if you love art. We have so many incredible museums here, from the Seattle Asian Art Museum to the National Nordic Museum. In the spirit of helping you navigate the sheer breadth of options, we put together this guide to some of the coolest current exhibitions in Seattle. Whether you’re looking for an immersive experience or a family-friendly exhibition, we got you. Some of these exhibitions are even free of charge!
Make sure to save this post and check back regularly as we will update this list to reflect the most current options a few times a year.
Here are some of the best temporary exhibitions in Seattle that you can view in spring/summer 2024:
1. Massive: The Power of Pop Culture
Where: Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP)
When: Opening March 16, 2024
You can get tickets and more info on the MoPOP website.
2. Hybrid Skin, Mythical Presence
Where: Seattle Asian Art Museum
When: January 18 through July 7, 2024
This exciting new exhibition opens at the beginning of 2024 at the Seattle Asian Art Museum. It showcases two of Tacoma-based artist Anida Yoeu Ali’s performance-based works: The Buddhist Bug and The Red Chador. In addition to the exhibition, you’ll be able to see Ali enact the works in two separate performances: The Red Chador will be performed on March 23, 2024 and The Buddhist Bug will be performed on June 1, 2024. See more info and get tickets on the Seattle Asian Art Museum website.
2. Home Beyond Earth
Where: The Museum of Flight
When: Opening June 8, 2024
Ever wonder what it would be like to live in outer space? This new temporary exhibition at Seattle’s Museum of Flight presents an immersive experience with digital projections, interactive elements, and artifacts from space stations. Get tickets on the Museum of Flight website.
3. Nordic Utopia? African Americans in the 20th Century
Where: National Nordic Museum
When: March 23 through July 21, 2024
Seattle’s National Nordic Museum is located in Ballard and is a must-visit whenever you’re in the neighborhood. We’re looking forward to viewing their newest temporary exhibition: Nordic Utopia? African Americans in the 20th Century. This exhibition “is the first comprehensive examination” of the topic of African American artists living and creating in Nordic countries. While you’re there, make sure to stop just outside of the museum entrance to view one of the Northwest Trolls (more info below!).
4. Northwest Trolls
Where: various locations
When: for three years starting in August 2023
Northwest Trolls by Thomas Dambo is a long-term but temporary installation of larger-than-life trolls in the PNW area. The troll sculptures are constructed from recycled materials. They can be found at Lincoln Park in West Seattle, Issaquah, Bainbridge Island, Vashon Island, and in Ballard at the National Nordic Museum. There’s also one in Portland. Read more about the Northwest Trolls.
5. Stephanie Syjuco: After/Images
Where: Frye Art Museum
When: June 1 through September 8, 2024
Did you know that the Frye Art Museum always offers free admission? It’s a small but well-curated art museum centrally located in First Hill. They often have free events and programs happening, and their temporary exhibitions are regularly rotated out for new ones so you can visit often to see something fresh. This summer we look forward to viewing Stephanie Syjuco: After/Images, in which Syjuco “rephotographs and reconstructs archival photographs” featuring Filipino subjects in order to “reveal the instability of images and the violence of the colonial gaze.”
6. Poke in the Eye: Art of the West Coast Counterculture
Where: Seattle Art Museum
When: June 21 through September 2, 2024
Poke in the Eye: Art of the West Coast Counterculture is a temporary exhibition this summer that looks at the alternative “aesthetic practices that emerged in the West Coast in the 1960s and ‘70s as counter to the New York-centric avant-garde.” It is being shown at the Seattle Art Museum which is conveniently located in downtown Seattle. Get tickets and info on the Seattle Art Museum website.
7. Hidden Worlds: the Films of LAIKA
Where: Museum of Pop Culture
When: Now through summer 2024
Did you love the 2009 stop-motion movie Coraline? If so, this extremely thorough exhibition at Seattle’s Museum of Pop Culture (known as MoPOP) is for you. You’ll get to see artifacts from the LAIKA production studios, immersive set displays, and more. Get more info on the MoPOP website.
8. Chloë Bass: Soft Services
Where: Volunteer Park
When: Now through August 2024
This free exhibition in Seattle is entirely outdoors, which makes it a perfect budget-friendly activity this spring and summer. Stroll through Volunteer Park in Capitol Hill to read messages on the inscribed stones that make up Soft Services. You can read more details about this exhibit before you go.