Anatomy of a Collection: Recent Acquisitions and Promised Gifts
Sept. 19, 2020 - March 21, 2021; Lightcatcher building
To mark ten years since the Lightcatcher building’s construction, the Whatcom Museum celebrates the works of art welcomed into the permanent collection during this time. We also acknowledge the long-standing relationships with area artists and patrons who have helped to shape and expand the collection through gifts of art. Their generous contributions support the Museum’s […]
Geometry and Color: Sonia Delaunay and Bellingham Public School Students
Virtual Exhibit; Ongoing
As part of their distance learning materials, local students were asked to make artwork in the style of influential, Paris-based artists Robert and Sonia Delaunay. While the Delaunays’ works have been displayed in exhibitions at museums around the world, it turns out that Sonia Delaunay’s work can be found closer to home. The Whatcom Museum […]
Conversations Between Collections: The Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Whatcom Museum
February 1, 2020 - March 7, 2021; Lightcatcher building
The Whatcom Museum is pleased to kick off a five-year exhibition partnership with the Smithsonian American Art Museum, as we present three masterworks from one of the nation’s most treasured collections of American art. Made possible through the support of Art Bridges and the Terra Foundation for American Art, two exhibitions titled Conversations Between Collections highlight […]
Story Dome Project
Conversations Between Collections aims to get people thinking about their connection to place through art. We’re interested in hearing personal stories and have launched a digital storytelling initiative called the Story Dome project, made possible through generous support from Art Bridges.
We invite you to record a short story about meaningful places or experiences, and to reflect on how they have inspired or shaped you.
Click below to participate!
Two Views: Photographs by Ansel Adams and Leonard Frank
February 15 – December 6, 2020; Old City Hall
Two countries – two photographers. This compelling collection of photographs presents two views of internment and incarceration in the early 1940s. The 1942 incarceration of people of Japanese descent in the United States and Canada following the bombing of Pearl Harbor is portrayed through this stunning collection of black and white photographs. Ansel Adams and Leonard […]
Righting a Wrong: Japanese Americans and World War II
Through December 6, 2020; Old City Hall
Righting a Wrong poster exhibition traces the story of Japanese national and Japanese American incarceration during World War II and the people who survived it. Young and old lived crowded together in hastily built camps, endured poor living conditions, and were under the constant watch of military guards for two and a half years. Meanwhile, […]
Vintage Vaudevillians
September 19, 2020 - January 17, 2021; Old City Hall
Vintage Vaudevillians is a photographic exhibition in Old City Hall’s first floor main gallery highlighting a dozen vaudeville acts that performed in Bellingham in the early 20th century. Originally used to promote the acts, these publicity photos were saved by James Warwick, stage manager at downtown theaters during vaudeville’s heyday. Image credit: Arnold’s Performing Felines, […]
People of the Sea and Cedar: A Journey Through the Tribal Cultures and History of the Northwest Coast
Ongoing, Lightcatcher People of the Sea and Cedar, in the second floor gallery of the Lightcatcher building, shares the history and art of the Northwest Coast people, blending both historical and contemporary perspectives. This exhibit features artifacts from the Museum’s collection, such as Coast Salish artwork and carvings, woven blankets, hand-made tools, cedar hats, clothing, […]
The Whatcom Museum has been making connections with linguistics and Native speakers throughout the Pacific Northwest to expand the Native language component of People of the Sea and Cedar. We will continue to develop our Lummi language translations and recordings together with Lummi Nation instructor Smak i’ya’, Matt Warbus, tribal elders, and Lummi Nation students. We look forward to sharing more.
John M. Edson Hall of Birds
Opened March 16, 2017; Ongoing; Old City Hall This new exhibit in Old City Hall provides a glimpse into the local history and culture of the Victorian Era, when taxidermy flourished and mounted animals often decorated interior spaces. For the Museum, this collection of birds is also important to the building’s history. If it hadn’t […]
partners
Join volunteers from the North Cascades Audubon Society in the John M. Edson Hall of Birds on the fourth Sundays of each month. Drop-in between 1:30-3:30pm to learn more about birds of the Pacific Northwest, as well as about migration, conservation, birds in peril, and the importance of studying bird specimens today.
History Exhibits at Old City Hall
Ongoing; Old City Hall The Museum’s 1892 Old City Hall building features a variety of exhibits that tell the stories of the building’s architecture, the city’s early days, logging history, and waterfront industry. Green Gold: Logging the Pacific Northwest Relive the history of logging in our corner of the Pacific Northwest through photographs, artifacts, and […]
