An elementary school artist poses with their portrait at the Mother's Day art celebration in the Emergence Room gallery.
Laura Marie Rivera
“All good things must come to an end” or so the saying goes. After three art-filled years, the Museum of Museums (MoM) will be closing its doors on Sept. 1.
Located at 900 Boylston Ave., MoM is a contemporary art center that has been dedicated to increasing the artist population of Seattle and inspiring the local arts ecosystem. They have exhibited thousands of artists, from elementary school kids to some of the most talented and passionate artists in the Pacific Northwest.
“I believe arts programming should be responsible to the space. We exhibit over 1,000 artists a year!” founder Greg Lundgren said.
Museum of Museums was actually designed as several smaller museums wrapped up into one. Each of the spaces showcased a curated exhibition. And The Emergence Room on the main floor offered a space for the youngest “emerging” artists with the goal of nurturing the next generation of artists. “It’s one of my favorite galleries to look at,” Lundgren said. “It’s phenomenal. And brings me great joy to see all of the children and their families dressed in their Sunday best and taking photos of their art in a museum!”
Lundgren is an artist and designer with an eye for historical buildings. When he first noticed the building, it was a humble brick building on the Swedish Hospital campus that had been boarded up and fallen into disrepair. A quick search informed him that it was also a significant building- it is one of the first projects by the local NBBJ architecture firm. They would go on to become a prominent global firm and designed other notable Seattle buildings such as The Gates Foundation and the Amazon Spheres.
The building underwent an extensive rehabilitation and the Museum of Museums officially opened its doors in 2020. But it has not been without challenges.
“From the very beginning, when we set out to restore and re-imagine this mid-century medical building as an art center, we knew that our operations would be tied to the building's capacity to house us,” Lundgren said.
Unfortunately, the 77-year-old building has suffered from significant issues culminating with a flood that has left the museum with no sustainable path forward and will close their doors on Sept. 1.
Museum of Museums is thankful for the support of local artists, community members, visitors, and Swedish Hospital for investing in and appreciating the rare and unusual space and hopes that their inspiration will live on in Seattle’s vibrant art scene.
“It will remain a chapter of our lives filled with great memories, incredible art, and remind us of the wealth of artists that call this region home,” Lundgren said.