The Bellevue Arts Museum is a museum of

contemporary visual art Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic co ...

craft A craft or trade is a pastime or an occupation that requires particular skills and knowledge of skilled work. In a historical sense, particularly the Middle Ages and earlier, the term is usually applied to people occupied in small scale prod ...

, and

design A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design'' ...

located in

Bellevue Bellevue means "beautiful view" in French. It may refer to: Placenames Australia * Bellevue, Western Australia * Bellevue Hill, New South Wales * Bellevue, Queensland * Bellevue, Glebe, an historic house in Sydney, New South Wales Canada ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, part of the greater

Seattle metropolitan area The Seattle metropolitan area is an urban conglomeration in the U.S. state of Washington that comprises Seattle, its surrounding satellites and suburbs. It contains the three most populous counties in the state—King, Snohomish, and Pierce� ...

. A nonprofit organization established in 1975, the Bellevue Arts Museum (BAM) provides rotating arts exhibitions to the public. Since 2001, the museum has been located across from

Bellevue Square Bellevue Square is a shopping center in Bellevue, Washington. The mall has over 200 retail stores with anchors Macy's and Nordstrom. Bellevue Square also offers concierge services, valet parking, and a children's play area. It and the connectin ...

in a three-story building designed by architect

Steven Holl Steven Holl (born December 9, 1947) is a New York-based American architect and watercolorist. Among his most recognized works are the 2019 REACH expansion of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the 2019 Hunters Point Library in Q ...

About

History

The museum traces its roots back to

street fair A street fair celebrates the character of a neighborhood. As its name suggests, it is typically held on the main street of a neighborhood. The principal component of street fairs are booths used to sell goods (particularly food) or convey informa ...

art in 1947 as the Pacific Northwest Arts and Crafts Association. The group established itself more formally as a

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

in 1975. After several temporary locations, it moved to the third floor of Bellevue Square, a large shopping center in the center of downtown Bellevue, Washington in 1983. In 2001, the museum began providing programming in its own building. The distinctive new building was designed by noted architect

. It is seen by many residents of Bellevue as playing a role in the transformation of the downtown from series of suburban

strip malls A strip mall, strip center or strip plaza is a type of shopping center common in North America where the stores are arranged in a row, with a sidewalk in front. Strip malls are typically developed as a unit and have large parking lots in front. ...

to a sophisticated city with a variety of cultural attractions. The museum subsequently ran into financial difficulties and was forced to close to the public in September 2003. After a successful $3 million fundraising campaign and extensive interior remodeling, the museum re-opened on June 18, 2005 with a revised mission focused on art, craft and design and with an emphasis on Northwest artists. In contrast to conventional art museums, Bellevue Arts Museum has no permanent collection. Rather, it emphasizes education and hands-on involvement through an extensive selection of classes and workshops. Since the late 2010s BAM has been locally recognized for holding unique and high quality exhibitions by artists from the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

Exhibitions

The Bellevue Arts Museum has offered a broad range of exhibitions across visual design, contemporary craft, and fine art. Exhibitions have included works from architect

Louis Kahn Louis Isadore Kahn (born Itze-Leib Schmuilowsky; – March 17, 1974) was an Estonian-born American architect based in Philadelphia. After working in various capacities for several firms in Philadelphia, he founded his own atelier in 1935. Whi ...

(2016), cartoonist

Simon Hanselmann Simon Hanselmann is an Australian-born cartoonist best known for his ''Megg, Mogg, and Owl'' series. Hanselmann has been nominated four times for an Ignatz Award, four times for an Eisner Award, once for the Harvey Award and won Best Series at ...

(2019), contemporary wood sculptor Humaria Abid (2017), and Tariqa Waters (2020, 2021). Since 2010, the Bellevue Arts Museum has held the BAM Biennial, a survey of artwork in a specific medium such as glass, fiber, wood, or ceramic. The museum has curated solo exhibitions of several contemporary ceramic sculptors including

Tip Toland Tip Toland (born May 9, 1950) is an American ceramic artist and teacher who was born in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. She earned a BFA in Ceramics from the University of Colorado and an MFA in Ceramics from Montana State University. Her works, which are ...

(2008) and

Patti Warashina Patti Warashina (born 1940) is an American artist known for her imaginative ceramic sculptures. Often constructing her sculptures using porcelain, Warashina creates narrative and figurative art. Her works are in the collection of the Museum of ...

(2013).

Management, programs and events

From 2004 until 2008, Michael Monroe served as the Bellevue Arts Museum's director. Stefano Catalani held the role of director of art, craft, and design at BAM starting in 2010. BAM appointed Benedict Heywood the executive director on September 18, 2017. Heywood left the organization in March 2021, and Leigh Ann More was appointed as interim executive director in April 2021. In February 2022, E. Michael Whittington was named the Museum's executive director. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, the Bellevue Arts Museum provided over 7,000 arts and crafts kits to children and community members to use at home.

References

External links

Bellevue Arts Museum
{{authority control Buildings and structures in Bellevue, Washington Art museums and galleries in Washington (state) Contemporary crafts museums in the United States Museums in King County, Washington Art museums established in 1947 1947 establishments in Washington (state) Steven Holl buildings