The Nordic Museum’s Grand Opening is Coming Soon
After a decade’s worth of planning, one of the city’s most beloved cultural institutions has a new HQ
By Gwendolyn Elliott February 27, 2018
This article appears in print in the March 2018 issue, as part of the Spring Arts Preview. Click here to subscribe.
It’s been nearly ten years since the leaders of Seattle’s Nordic Heritage Museum, long housed in a brick schoolhouse on loan from Seattle Schools, began the effort to locate, finance and construct a permanent home for the city’s—and nation’s—only museum that celebrates all the Nordic cultures (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden).
Prepare to be dazzled—albeit in understated Scandinavian style—when the brand-new 57,000-square-foot, Mithun-designed facility, rebranded simply as The Nordic Museum, officially opens the doors to its new home, about a mile south of its former location, in May.
A showpiece for forward-thinking Nordic design (according to Architectural Digest and the New York Times, it’s one of the most anticipated international museums opening this year), the ground-level corridor resembles a fjord; overhead, second-story walkways act as bridges, stitching together a core collection of permanent, historical exhibits, with temporary installations that explore contemporary Nordic culture.
The Nordic regard for purposeful, multiuse spaces is on view everywhere, from new classrooms, a craft studio and a state-of-the-art auditorium to the practical, quiet and efficient Kone elevators, made by a Finnish company. Grand opening 5/5–5/6.
Grand opening times and prices unannounced at press time. Regular museum hours and prices vary. Nordic Museum, Ballard, 2655 NW Market St., 206.789.5707; nordicmuseum.org
Follow Us
Holiday Hunt in Pioneer Square
A daily ornament drop turns December into a neighborhood-wide scavenger hunt.
The holidays tend to bring out the kid in all of us. And if opening presents and eating too many treats weren’t enough, there’s also a scavenger hunt in Seattle’s oldest neighborhood. Pioneer Square’s Holiday Ornament Scavenger Hunt has returned for its third year. Twenty-five handblown glass ornaments—all made at Glasshouse Studio—are hidden across 25…
Chit-Chat Kids
Phone a friend.
Twenty years ago, before everyone walked around with a device in their pocket, kids used to call each other on a landline—often tethered to the kitchen in their home. It was a simpler time, when parents didn’t have to worry (nearly as much) about a potential predator contacting their child. Nowadays, things are different, which…
A Plate for Pickleball
The design celebrates the state’s official sport. Additional plates are on the way.
Washington served up a new license plate last week, honoring the state sport of pickleball. In the works for three years, it’s the second of seven specialty plates to hit the market since getting approved by lawmakers earlier this year. “We’re thrilled to see our efforts become reality,” says Kate Van Gent, vice president of…
Seattle-Based Agency Brings Real Voices to NBC’s New Campaign
DNA&STONE built the project around candid conversations to understand what audiences want from reporting.
“I turned off news altogether. I want to be able to form my own opinions. Just tell the truth.” These lines open NBC News’ new national campaign, a 60-second ad that drifts over forests, farms, neighborhoods, and cityscapes while Americans talk about how worn out they feel by the news. The landscape carries the conversation…