SAM offers a variety of educational programs at the Olympic Sculpture Park. Planning a trip to the park? Get visitor information.

Art council members get more out of their SAM memberships. Consider joining one or more of these special-interest groups. Learn more about SAM's art councils, or attend a council event.

Attending a benefit is a great way to support the Seattle Art Museum while participating in a fabulous event. Scan a description of our annual and biennial fundraising events or check the calendar for a current listing.

Artist demonstrations at SAAM are held on a regular basis in the Garden Court. They explore the art of Chinese painting, Japanese calligraphy, and Tibetan sand mandalas. Japanese tea ceremony demonstrations are held twice a month in the Teahouse Gallery on the Third Floor of SAM.

Upcoming demonstrations are included in museum admission. Advance registration is required; call the Box Office at (206) 654-3121.

The Seattle Art Museum offers an award-winning film program, which includes a quarterly Thursday Night Film Series, as well as other special-event film programs to complement our art exhibits and collection.

The film series is held at the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) until the Seattle Art Museum opens in spring 2007.

Visit the calendar for a listing of current screenings.

The Seattle Art Museum offers a lively program of lectures and lecture series in conjunction with special exhibitions, the permanent collection, and related topics. These are usually free with museum admission or for a nominal ticket price.

In the past, speakers have included artist William Wegman, author Simon Schama, and other major scholars on topics ranging from ancient Chinese artifacts to Impressionism.

Want to attend a SAM event that defies categorization? Artist slideslams, art parties, and other special public events are a part of this diverse mix. Visit our calendar for a current listing of public events.

The museum offers many programs and classroom resources for teachers who wish to enhance their lessons through the arts.

Docent-led or self-guided tours of the museum collections and special exhibitions are available throughout the year. Docent-led tours are curriculum based, integrating visual art with social studies and language arts, and reinforce the Washington State Essential Academic Learning Requirements.

The museum also offers Outreach Suitcases or classroom-ready Curriculum Resource Units to bring the museum experience to the school. Teachers can find these and other resources, such as videos, posters, and books, online teaching or by joining the Wyckoff Teacher Resource Center (TRC), located in the Seattle Asian Art Museum.

To assist teachers in their planning, the museum also offers teacher programs such as open houses, special exhibition previews, and professional development workshops.

Every Thursday SAM presents live music in the lobby from 5:30 to 7:30 pm Learn more about Thursday After Hours programming or go to the calendar for a current listing.

Docent-led tours are available to enhance a visit to the Seattle Art Museum's permanent collection or special exhibitions.

Public tours of the museum collections downtown and at the Seattle Asian Art Museum are available on the first Thursday of the month; public tours of the African art collection are available on the first Saturday of the month; and public tours of the special exhibitions are usually held on a daily basis. All tours are free with museum admission.

We also offer private tours for groups of ten or more adults.

The museum offers a wide variety of hands-on art instruction workshops taught by artists in conjunction with special exhibitions, the permanent collection, and community partner organizations. This includes are very popular Summer Art FUNdamentals camp for kids.

Many different media are explored throughout the year and classes can range from beginner to experienced and for child to adult.

Check the calendar for a listing of family programs for children, teens, and their families:

Summer ArtFUNdamentals
We are unable to offer Summer Art FUNdamentals art camp this year. Beginning in June the Seattle Asian Art Museum will close for the summer for roof repair and some much needed renovations. We look forward to its reopening in the fall and Summer Art FUNdamentals 2006.