SAM members are invited to celebrate the reopening of SAM and the opening of Jacob Lawrence: The American Struggle at our two-day Member Preview!
Jacob Lawrence: The American Struggle questions the stories we’ve been told by amplifying narratives that have been systematically overlooked from America’s history. This exhibition reunites Lawrence’s revolutionary 30-panel series Struggle . . . from the History of the American People (1954–56) for the first time since 1958, and SAM will be its only West Coast venue. These modernist paintings chronicle pivotal moments from the American Revolution through to Westward expansion featuring Black, female, and Native protagonists as well as the founding fathers. Lawrence interprets the democratic debates that defined early America and echoed into the civil rights movements during which he was painting the Struggle series. Works by Derrick Adams, Bethany Collins, and Hank Willis Thomas engage themes of democracy, justice, truth, and the politics of inclusion to show that the struggle for expansive representation in America continues.
Members will have the chance to reserve their timed tickets to preview The American Struggle before it opens to the public! Log in to your member account to access tickets to this member-exclusive preview. This exhibition has very limited capacity so reserve your tickets early!
All galleries and the SAM Shop will be open. Advance timed tickets are required and available on a first-come, first-served basis. Membership benefits are non-transferrable. Learn more about SAM's new visiting procedures.
Image: . . . . is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? —Patrick Henry, 1775, Panel 1, 1955, Jacob Lawrence, from Struggle: From the History of the American People, 1954–56, Collection of Harvey and Harvey-Ann Ross, © 2019 The Jacob and Gwendolyn Lawrence Foundation, Seattle / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.