Best Museum: Frye Art Museum
By Seattle Mag November 10, 2025
This article originally appeared in the November/December 2025 issue of Seattle magazine.
Opened in 1952 on first hill, the Frye Art Museum has long been a free institution for the public to enjoy art. Named for Charles and Emma Frye, who lived in Seattle at the turn of the century, the museum was founded to house the couple’s collection of paintings by American and European artists. Styled after a salon in the Fryes’ home, the museum is designed to be a space for gathering and discussion, with a dedicated room, the Frye Salon, featuring work from their collection, hung floor-to-ceiling as they originally were when the couple was alive. The Frye has evolved over the years, and frequently exhibits work from local and regional artists, often giving emerging creatives their first solo museum shows (see page 70 for a profile on Camille Trautman’s current exhibition). A beloved institution that throws a great party and has one of the best gift shops in town (focused on pieces from local designers), the Frye is welcoming, willing to take risks, and encouraging of discourse from artists and patrons, carrying on the spirit of its founders.
704 Terry Ave., Seattle | fryemuseum.org
About Best of the Best
Everyone loves a winner. And when it comes to Seattle favorites, there’s no shortage of opinions on which places, spaces, and bites deserve top honors. This year, we did things a little differently—our staff weighed in, debating and voting to determine the best of the best across the city. We also ran our annual Readers’ Choice poll for comparison (and yes, there was overlap in just one category). Here’s to celebrating all the winners, no matter who cast the vote.
Follow Us
Rearview Mirror: An Oyster Party, Money for Art, and Mac & Cheese at 30,000 Feet
Things I did, saw, ate, learned, or read in the past week (or so).
We Partied for Art I love a party, and I love art, so when the Henry Art Gallery invited me to its annual fundraising gala, it was paddle’s up from the get-go. Held on the floor of Pioneer Square’s Railspur building in a space managed by Rally, Angela Dunleavy’s latest venture (read all about it…
Urban Grit Meets Wild Beauty: Inside Seattle Art Museum’s Beyond Mysticism
Seattle’s history is rooted in its fascinating juxtaposition of industry and nature, inspired by the region’s dramatic landscapes and rapidly changing cityscape. Seattle Art Museum’s current exhibition, Beyond Mysticism: The Modern Northwest, invites you to meet the artists who captured that tension and transformed it into a bold new vision of Modernism. Modernism, Made in…
Our March/April Issue Has Arrived!
Inside you’ll find Best Places to Live, a packed spring arts guide, and more stories from across the region.
The future’s bright, and so is the cover of Seattle magazine’s March/April issue! Featuring a mural by local artist (and 2023 Most Influential pick) Stevie Shao, the colorful cover is a snap from Woodinville, one of the six “Best Places to Live” featured inside. While we usually focus on Seattle neighborhoods, this year we expanded…
Supporting Roles
Three women in the Northwest are helping local artists through newly launched residencies outside of Seattle. Here, we take a look inside these thoughtfully designed spaces, and learn what drove their founders to become cornerstones in the creative community.
Iolair Artist Residency Eastsound, WA Years ago, after studying photography and earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the University of Washington, Pacific Northwest native Linda Lewis realized that she didn’t want to spend the rest of her life behind a camera. “The minute I graduated from school, I was far more inspired by the…