Public Tour: Journeys Through Time and Space

Journeys Through Time and Space is a public tour at the Seattle Asian Art Museum in Volunteer Park, and it runs every weekend throughout the fall. The next one is Saturday, November 7, at 1:30 PM, and it's led by trained docents who walk you through the museum's collection of art from across Asia. The tour lasts about an hour.

Rather than a chronological walk-through, the tour is organized around themes: worship and celebration, clothing and identity, nature and power, and birth and death. It's a way to see how these ideas play out across different cultures and time periods, and the museum frames Asia as a place of distinct cultures, histories, and belief systems that help shape the world today. If you're into art history, it's a good way to get a guided look at the collection without having to figure out the connections on your own.

The museum itself is an Art Deco building in Volunteer Park where the Seattle Art Museum first began. It now houses the Gardner Center for Asian Art & Ideas, the McCaw Library (by appointment only), and the Chen Community Meeting Room. If you want to keep exploring after the tour, there are free smartphone tours at visitsam.org/explore, and you're welcome to sketch in the galleries.

Admission is $14.99 for adults, $12.99 for seniors 65 and over, and $12.99 for military and students with ID. Teens 15 to 19 are $9.99, and children 14 and under are free. Admission is free on First Thursdays and Third Saturdays. The tour meets in the Garden Court at 1400 East Prospect Street, and the upcoming sessions are Saturday, Nov 7, Sunday, Nov 8, Saturday, Nov 14, Sunday, Nov 15, Saturday, Nov 21, and Sunday, Nov 22, all from 1:30 to 2:30 PM, with a First Thursday session on Dec 3 at 11:30 AM and 1:30 PM.