Frye Art Museum

Frye Art Museum is the first and only free museum in Seattle. It features representational paintings and sculptures from past and present. Over 230 of those paintings are from the owners, Charles and Emma Frye. Most of their collection is of German and Austrian art. The museum opened to the public in 1952.

The permanent collection in the museum shows Frye’s conservative artistic taste. Today, the museum continues to display representational arts. The Frye galleries are painted a dark color to emphasize “the dark, the dramatic and the psychological” that the paintings represent.

Some of the exhibits in the past include “Wondertoonel,” an exhibit by Mark Ryden, “The Retrofuturistic Universe of NSK,” and “Henry Darger: Highlights from the American Folk Art Museum.”

The current exhibition is: Dreaming the Emerald City: The Collections of Charles and Emma Frye and Horace C. Henry. Both collections are from the 1890’s to the 1920’s. It’s very nice.

Guided tours of the permanent and special exhibitions are available from Wednesday – Sunday at 1:30 p.m. and private group tours at 12:30 p.m. or 1:30 p.m. For group tours reservation call (206) 622-9250 ext.223.

Other programs offered at the museum include The Adult Workshop, The Youth and Outreach Programs, and Student and Teacher Programs.