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    Frye Art Museum

    4.4 (235 reviews)
    Closed 11:00 am - 8:00 pm

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    Samuel M.

    Free museum that is well run. There are some rotating exhibits and currently there is one involving masks. The museum contains all the paintings owned by the fryes who died in like 1940 or so. I read on Wikipedia that the Fryes hated abstract art and specified in their will that they didn't want any of their paintings to be displayed near abstract art. However, there is currently a display that features Jonathan Lasker paintings(which are abstract) interspersed with their paintings. That seems sad for them, but that's ok because we get to see more paintings now.

    Lily L.

    I had a great time at Frye! What's not to love about a free art museum. Their gift shop is full of really beautiful stuff too, my best friend got herself a ring there as a gift for making a really hard decision. So treat yourself at the Frye museum!

    Meg T.

    Frye Art Museum is free thankfully. We made a special trip over after it was recommended to us, but beyond a few of the woven Amazon pieces, it wasn't worth the trip. Designing a museum is an art unto itself. Take the Seattle Art Museum, their curation and styling of the porcelain room makes you care about the pieces. It's so well designed that it makes you more interested in what they're showcasing. Frye Art Museum was not well designed. There were poor choices made for where to place each piece - which when added to the under utilized wall space created an extremely minimalistic room that came across as empty. Even the placards were placed far apart from the art in an attempt to fill up the eggshell walls. Which weren't painted brown to match Amazon packaging or black to evoke the emptiness of space. Very much a missed opportunity for the installation, especially since 'Rising Temperature Casualty' would have been much more evocative against a brown, red, or black wall. All in all, I didn't like the curator's style or editing choices and we don't plan to return.

    Gallery
    Abbey O.

    Frye Art Museum is a small art museum located in the pill hill area of Seattle. It is FREE and truly, who can complain about the ability to share the arts with anyone at no cost? So wonderful they are able to do this. Things to know: it's small, so don't go expecting something like the metropolitan. Just keep in mind that the price is right. There is a cute little cafe there if you get hungry (bistro type bites), and it's also close to the international district for other food options. There is a standing historic display, which is seen in my pictures. When you enter the room, head to the back left corner to get a guide with all the painting captions/info. There are also several areas for local art, unfortunately this time I didn't care for these displays (art is subjective so you can take or leave that), but the main gallery room made the trip worth it. The gift shop is cute too and features local art for purchase as well. In all, it's a great way to burn a few hours, especially with the kiddos for no cost.

    Art piece
    Pooja S.

    I was in the area and I had time to kill, so I decided to stop by this art museum that I often walk part. As I walked in, I was excitedly greeted by a front desk worker who let me know the museum was free, and said I didn't need to check in my small drawstring bag as long as I wore it in front. And off I went! There were two major exhibits on display, and both were really well put together and done well. There was also a permanent collection that largely appeared to be closed. They also have a cute gift shop, and a cafe that was open but I didn't stop by. Overall, small and cute museum! I wouldn't go out of my way to visit at this time (maybe once some of the spaces open up again!) but if you're around, it's a good way to spend 45-90 minutes!

    Kai C.

    Highly recommend The Frye. It's a semi-kept secret in the heart of First Hill and really should be more well-known. For one thing, it's free to visit. Which cannot be said about other, larger museums in Seattle (except for one day a week). Their talks are also free, so far as I can tell. Thus, the diversity of those who visit The Frye is much vaster, imo. They present a multitude of different artists, recently, on the contemporary spectrum, and the works of people of color are becoming more prominent there. You can become a member and support them but you don't have to in order to visit. It's also a relatively peaceful spot. I love the water feature in the front. Enjoy and Learn!

    Painting gallery
    Diana C.

    For a free art museum, this place is really pretty cool and very much worth a paid entry - I highly suggest donating. There was a pretty diverse range of mediums and artists on display. The building itself is also really interesting architecture. All the exhibits flowed well and were accessible. My favorite room was almost easy to miss because it's all the way in back and is the historical collection that's pretty much always on display. They have free bag check and lockers and the bathrooms were super clean. The signage for the exhibits is also helpful and they have free tours occasionally too for more context. My only critical feedback is that it would have been more helpful to have more visible signage indicating which areas were ok for photos or videos. Generally I don't think video of any kind is allowed in most exhibits (again I didn't see any signs indicating either way), but I was not sure until I asked the docents in each area. Would definitely come back to see more exhibits.

    Art work
    Grace A.

    My daughter and I visited the Frye Museum in Seattle in a recent trip. There was no street parking available so we had to pay for parking. The museum is free ! If it's free, it's for me. It's a small museum, but worth a visit ! We went on a weekday, so there were a only a few visitors. It's a hidden treasure. There were German artists as were as local artists

    Exterior
    Terri N.

    Small, lovely museum. Definitely suggest stopping by if you are in the area. Admission is free and lots of metered parking nearby. Can easily see everything in an hour. We stopped by the café and found it lovely, but disappointing. Coffee tasted like instant and $8 churros & chocolate were tiny.

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    Review Highlights - Frye Art Museum

    This museum has such a unique set of galleries and for being a free museum to visit, it was AWESOME.

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    Chihuly Garden and Glass - Glass artwork in the Macchia Forest exhibit

    Chihuly Garden and Glass

    4.6(3.3k reviews)
    1.5 miLower Queen Anne

    A must visit in Seattle- Stunning blown glass exhibit!…read more If you'd like a vibrant artsy experience in Seattle, drop by here to see Dale Chihuly's masterpieces. The museum houses his exquisite and intricate blown glass with a myriad of colors and designs. There is also an outdoor exhibit with several blown glass art entwined in the garden and the space needle towering overhead as a nice backdrop for photos. Glass blowing demos are shown, which is pretty interesting to see the soup to nuts creation of a glass blown bottle or vase. The tickets are a little expensive (~ $40) but worth for those who are passionate about the arts!

    This is a stunning museum and exhibition center, located right next to the Space Needle. Our…read moretickets were part of the CityPass and we reserved our entry time few minutes before walking into the building. The check-in process was super quick. The first few halls were displaying artworks made out of glass. There were so many different sizes and shapes of colorful glass sculptures. It was so stunning, each photo seemed like a perfect shot for my phone's wallpaper. The hallway continues to a glass ceiling hall of the building with some more glass artwork. There was a cafe located in this area. Outside the building was a beautiful garden, with walkway all around. They were also doing a demo of making colorful vases from scratch using glass mold from furnace. On the other side was the entrance to the second building that had a theater playing a short movie about creating these glass art pieces. The exit was next to the theater that led to the gift shop. The gift shop was fascinating here. There were so products and artwork representing the glass sculptures inside the center. There were also many other souvenir items like stickers, magnets, apparels, cups, mugs, hats, books, stationery and so many more. We bought couple of magnets from here. Prices were decent. Staff members were really friendly here, both inside the exhibition and at the gift shop.

    Photos
    Chihuly Garden and Glass - Glass artwork in the Sealife Room exhibit

    Glass artwork in the Sealife Room exhibit

    Chihuly Garden and Glass - Glass artwork in the Macchia Forest exhibit

    Glass artwork in the Macchia Forest exhibit

    Chihuly Garden and Glass - Glass artwork in the Sealife Room exhibit

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    Glass artwork in the Sealife Room exhibit

    Museum of Illusion

    Museum of Illusion

    4.6(155 reviews)
    0.5 miDowntown
    Kid friendly
    Large group friendly

    We came here on a Saturday night and it was nearly empty. It's $40 per ticket, which is absolutely…read morenot worth it. Fun to swing by after dinner, but too short for it to be a single event. Pros: -helpful staff around to help take photos or answer questions -parking garage close by -plenty of tickets available -kid friendly with step stools to stand on Cons: -very expensive -mostly illusions using mirrors, so it's the same type of exhibit every time (looks like there's five of you in a room, looks like four of you sitting down, looks like a lot of you down a hallway) -doesn't last long

    Was in Downtown Seattle and didn't necessarily have enough time to see some other sights, so I…read morefound Museum of Illusions highly rated on Yelp and decided to book for four people plus infant. Luckily they had tickets available for purchase online on a Valentine's Day Saturday! Initially I thought we can go through b/c we had bought tickets already, but there was a crazy line to enter, even for people who already bought tickets. The lines didn't stop there though, there were also lines to see the exhibits and take photos. I think typically I would have been fine waiting, but with a little one and stroller, it was tough navigating crowds and having to wait and experience an exhibit for a minute. I will say that I did appreciate that there were some Valentine's Day themed exhibits/merch, as well as some cool photo ops that gave off different illusions, but it was all up pretty quickly... Overall, I'm not sure it was worth the $35-40/pp charge, but probably my fault for wanting to visit on a Valentine's Day night with a toddler...

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    Museum of Illusion
    Museum of Illusion
    Museum of Illusion

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    Mourning Market - You can walk past the same vendors several times and see something new each time you pass by at the Mourning Market.

    Mourning Market

    5.0(1 review)
    0.8 miSouth Lake Union

    I have been aware of the Mourning Market for a couple of years now but the dark themed market has…read morebeen around since 2009. The Mourning Market takes place in October and December. I believe each year the address for the market can change. This past year (2018) the address was at El Corazon. The Mourning Market is composed of dark themed... or Gothic styled merchandise that independent vendors and artists make and sell. This can include a variety of things from dolls, clothes, paintings, candy, cards, jewelry boxes, incense burners, necklaces and so much more! Many of the vendors do accept credit or debit cards but if there were any that did not there was an ATM at El Corazon where you could get cash. There is an entry fee to go to the market and the time we went it was only $2 which was very manageable. We bought several things here that we really enjoy! We got homemade chocolates from a vendor with a brilliant and refreshing mint flavor to it. I also got a bullet necklace where the bullet shell was carved in beautiful and elaborate designs. Steve got a David Bowie magnet which was awesome! The merchandise here is one of a kind and if it isn't then if there are duplicates of an item then it is very exclusive to that vendor or the market.In other words the likelihood of finding these items somewhere else are unlikely. Almost all of the vendors have their own business cards and I imagine you could place some orders for what they sell after the Mourning Market is held. The Mourning Market has about two dates out of the year as to when it is held. As I said location is bound to change year to year but it's definitely worth keeping track of. Their website is very straightforward and if you have the interest in becoming a vendor at the market there is even a link for that too at the website. The Mourning Market is a great way to support your local artists in the area!

    Photos
    Mourning Market - Custom made masks made by one vendor.

    Custom made masks made by one vendor.

    Mourning Market - One of the many vendors at Mourning Market!

    One of the many vendors at Mourning Market!

    Mourning Market - Fascinating merchandise at the Mourning Market!

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    Fascinating merchandise at the Mourning Market!

    Frye Art Museum - artmuseums - Updated May 2026

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