Don’t miss these temporary 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 every day or on free admission days.
Make sure to save this post and check back regularly as we 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 this fall and winter:
1. Spiders: From Fear to Fascination at Pacific Science Center
After a recent closure, Pacific Science Center reopened on October 23 with a new exhibition. They’ve removed their decades-old animatronic dinosaurs and will now have a temporary exhibition about spiders! If you hate spiders you should consider going, since the exhibition is geared towards helping people of all ages and comfort levels develop an appreciation of spiders. You get to choose your level of participation, so you don’t have to get anywhere near actual live spiders unless you want to!
📍Where: Pacific Science Center
📅When: now through April 2026
🎟️ Get info here!
2. Farm to Table at Seattle Art Museum
Farm to Table: Art, Food, and Identity in the Age of Impressionism opened at Seattle Art Museum downtown on October 23. This temporary exhibition “looks back at the Age of Impressionism through the lens of French culinary tradition” with over 50 artworks on display. It’s a must-see for lovers of Impressionism and French food. You have until January 18 to feast your eyes on this exhibition!
📍Where: Seattle Art Museum
📅When: now through January 18, 2026
🎟️ Get info here!
3. New Nordic: Cuisine, Aesthetics and Place at National Nordic Museum
This temporary exhibition opening on November 15 at the National Nordic Museum in Ballard is also food-focused! It invites you to “discover how a new Nordic food movement has sparked interest in local ingredients and natural materials across borders and artistic disciplines.” While you’re there, be sure to check out one of the Northwest Trolls who lives outside of the museum (keep reading to learn more about them!).
📍Where: National Nordic Museum
📅When: November 15, 2025 through March 8, 2026
🎟️ Get info here!
4. Insatiable Beings at Frye Art Museum (free!)
On a budget? This free art museum in Seattle is small but worth a visit. Located in First Hill, Frye Art Museum opened the exhibition Beau Dick: Insatiable Beings on October 25. Beau Dick was a master indigenous Canadian carver and quite a few of his works will be on display.
📍Where: Frye Art Museum
📅When: now through January 18, 2026
ℹ️ Get more info here!
5. Geometry of Light at SAM
Anila Quayyum Agha: Geometry of Light opened at Seattle Art Museum on August 27, 2025. This is the museum’s first solo exhibition of a Pakistani-American artist. Agha projects light from her large-scale, intricately laser-cut installations—ultimately making you part of her art. SAM describes the experience as “immersive and illuminating.”
📍Where: Seattle Art Museum
📅When: Now through April 19, 2026
🎟️ Get info here!
6. Toxic Beauty at Cannonball Arts
The newly-opened Cannonball Arts center in downtown Seattle wants you to get hands-on with the exhibits. Case in point: Toxic Beauty by Stephanie Metz is a giant pink sea slug on a mechanical bull that visitors are invited to ride. Have some fun riding the nudibranch and then engage with the artist’s exploration of climate change, natural wonders, and the oft-misleading nature of beauty.
📍Where: Cannonball Arts
📅 When: Now through 2026
🎟️ Get info here!
7. Mirror Mirror at Cannonball Arts
There are a lot of interactive exhibits at the new Cannonball Arts located downtown (including the aforementioned Toxic Beauty) but we’ll limit ourselves to just one more inclusion on this list. Mirror Mirror is part audience-generated exhibit, part photography competition. You can take your best photo in the mirror and submit it for inclusion in the exhibit. The exhibit will be refreshed weekly with 12 new visitor-submitted photos, and ultimately one person will win the $17,000 in prize money. Will it be you?
📍Where: Cannonball Arts
📅When: now through 2026
🎟️ Get info here!
8. Venus is Missing at SAM
Don’t miss the new Tariqa Waters solo exhibition at Seattle Art Museum that opened in early May, which is described as “an immersive environment that will take you on a science fiction-inspired journey.” You’ll find it in the third floor galleries now through early January. And while you’re at SAM, be sure to check out the new art installation in the lobby: “Little Cloud Sky.”
📍Where: Seattle Art Museum
📅 When: Now through January 5, 2026
🎟️ Get info here!
9. Spirit House at Henry Art Gallery (free!)
Henry Art Gallery is another museum in Seattle with free admission for all. Check out current multi-artist exhibition Spirit House, which just opened in July and will run through January. The exhibition “investigates how contemporary artists of Asian descent challenge the boundary between life and death through art.”
📍Where: Henry Art Gallery
📅When: Now through January 2026
ℹ️ More info here!
10. Asian Comics at MoPOP
Asian Comics: Evolution of an Art Form just opened at Museum of Pop Culture this spring and will run to the end of the year. This special temporary exhibition about the evolution of Asian comics has multiple fascinating sections such as “Censorship and Sensibility: Freedom and Expression” and “Multimedia: Beyond the Printed Page.” It will even have comic books that you can pick up.
📍Where: Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP)
📅When: now through January 2026
🎟️ Get info here!
11. Ai Weiwei: Water Lilies at Seattle Asian Art Museum
Ai Weiwei’s Water Lilies is an absolutely massive panel of water lilies constructed out of LEGO blocks. Go marvel at it up close at the Seattle Asian Art Museum, located in Volunteer Park in Capitol Hill. You have until March of 2026 to see it!
📍Where: Seattle Asian Art Museum
📅When: now through March 2026
🎟️ Get info here!
12. The MiG-21 Project at The Museum of Flight
Seattle’s Museum of Flight is hosting the world premiere of Ralph Ziman’s The MiG-21 Project. It took Ziman five years to transform a Cold War-era fighter jet with millions of colorful glass beads. This exhibit opened in June and runs through January. Tickets are available now.
📍Where: The Museum of Flight
📅When: Now through January 2026
🎟️ Get tickets here!
13. Selma is Now at NAAM
The Northwest African American Museum in Seattle’s Central District is currently showcasing Selma is Now: The March for Justice Continues. This exhibit features the historic work of Alabama photographer James “Spider” Martin, who documented the entire Selma to Montgomery march with his camera. Find this exhibit in the Northwest Gallery.
📍Where: Northwest African American Museum
📅When: Open now (temporary)
🎟️Get info here!
14. Northwest Trolls at multiple locations (free!)
Northwest Trolls by Thomas Dambo is a long-term but ultimately temporary installation of larger-than-life trolls in the PNW area. The troll sculptures are constructed from recycled materials and will be maintained for at least three years. They can be found outside the National Nordic Museum in Ballard, at Lincoln Park in West Seattle, in nearby Issaquah, and on Bainbridge and Vashon islands. Since they’re all outside, you can visit them for free. Read more about the Northwest Trolls.
📍Where: multiple locations
📅When: now through August 2026 or longer
ℹ️ More info here!
15. Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads (Bronze) at Olympic Sculpture Park (free!)
Coming to Seattle’s Olympic Sculpture Park on November 1, Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads (Bronze) is part of Seattle Art Museum’s multi-location Ai Weiwei exhibition. The 12 bronze sculptures represent the Chinese zodiac heads looted from an 18th-century Qing imperial fountain. You’ll be able to get up close to the sculptures in the park’s Ackerley Meadow just outside of the PACCAR Pavilion. The park is free and open daily.
📍Where: Olympic Sculpture Park
📅When: November 1, 2025 through October 2027
ℹ️ More info here!