Seattle’s arts and culture venues have been abuzz with drills and hammers, as several new moves and remodels are in the works this fall. A recurring theme among these spruce-ups is a desire to create more “gathering spaces” — meaning more dedicated places where people can hang out, look at art, maybe snack or scroll, regardless of whether they’re going to see a ticketed show or take a class.
You’re reading Art x NW, the weekly arts and culture newsletter from Cascade PBS. Read past issues and subscribe for more.
Seattle Symphony spent $20 million on its recent makeover of Benaroya Hall (the first since it opened in 1998), with the stated goal of creating “more room to settle in and stay awhile.” The result is some 500 new seats outside the performance halls, an expanded street-level cafe (with a menu curated by Ethan Stowell), as well as a new Community Room. This last is a public space for classes, talks, performances and art exhibits — starting with a group show of contemporary Black artists curated by Arte Noir.
According to a Seattle Symphony press release, the intention is to create “a place where everyone in our community can find belonging.”
You can get a sense of the new Benaroya during Seattle Symphony’s free, daylong Open House event this weekend (Oct. 18), which features a packed slate of performances across the venue’s auditoriums and lobbies. That includes a concert by Seattle-born band The Head and The Heart, which will perform a free show with symphony members at 4 p.m. (the catch: you can only get tickets for this concert in person at the box office, starting at 9 a.m. on Oct. 18; no tickets are required for any other Open House activities).
Earlier this week another legacy Seattle arts institution announced big plans for transforming its downtown venue. Seattle Art Museum (with ZGF Architects) is kicking off a series of interior-space shifts designed to increase “community and connection.”
Promising a 50% increase in free public spaces, according to a press release, the intent is to create “new ways for people to gather, connect, work, dine and spend time together — with or without a visit to the galleries.”
The SAM changes include re-opening two entrances along University Street, new installations outside the ticketed paywall, and a new “public commons” in the Brotman Forum lobby (where the ticketing desks currently stand), featuring comfortable seating and shared worktables. The changes will take place in stages, starting this weekend (with SAM’s newly designed Bar Dojo restaurant, opening Oct. 17 with a signature “Hammering Man” cocktail) and running through April 2027.
Also welcoming the public to new and improved digs is Pottery Northwest. The longtime arts organization was born at Seattle Center in 1966, occupied a beloved lower Queen Anne space from 1975-2022, and when that lease came up, moved to a windowless basement facility in Pioneer Square. That last space was difficult to find and had no street presence, but that won’t be a problem with Pottery Northwest’s new home in South Lake Union, at Seventh Avenue and Bell Street.
In addition to lots of big windows, the 10,000 square-foot space offers state-of-the art facilities for ceramics classes of all kinds. A street-level gallery will encourage foot traffic to stop, drop in and stick around to learn more. Pottery Northwest calls the new facility “an inclusive, welcoming third space.” You can check it out at the free grand opening (Nov. 1, 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.), which will include a dedication ceremony featuring sculptor Aisha Harrison, who was recently profiled in Art by Northwest.
Here too the emphasis is on welcoming the public — no arts experience needed — as reflected by the organization’s re-opening theme: “built for belonging.”
Let’s continue catching up on arts venue news, including some rare wins for old movie theaters.
In case you missed it, travel guru Rick Steves bought the historic Edmonds Theater movie house for just over $2 million in late August. The single-screen, 100-year-old venue was struggling to stay afloat, so Steves (who remembers going there since the 1970s) stepped in to save it. Echoing the gathering space trend, he envisions it as a place for more than movies, telling the Seattle Times he intends to welcome nonprofit and other community groups when the movies aren’t rolling.
In late September we learned that the historic Grand Illusion Cinema — which has been searching for a new home since losing its lease in 2025 — will take over the University District theater formerly known as The Varsity. This is exciting on several fronts, as both theaters have deep roots in the Seattle film landscape. After a variety of upgrades, reopening is scheduled for late fall. (Meanwhile, the Grand Illusion lives on in a nomadic form, screening at SIFF Film Center at Seattle Center.)
One last bit of welcoming venue news: This past weekend, the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial held its grand opening (Oct. 11), revealing a new visitor’s center and plaza some 20 years in the making. Shepherded by survivors and descendents of Japanese-American incarceration during WWII, the dockside location — where the first West Coast residents were forcibly removed from their homes under Executive Order 9066 — now includes a shelter highlighting historic documents, photography and local stories.
Upcoming fall festivals serve a remarkable diversity of interests, from glass addicts to puppet enthusiasts.
< Returning for its eighth edition, Refract: The Seattle Glass Experience (Oct. 15-18) is hosted by Chihuly Garden and Glass but sprawls across the greater Seattle area with gallery exhibits, glass blowing lessons, hot shop demos, film screenings, a walking tour and a “hot glass party” featuring Dan Friday, Preston Singletary and a live DJ.
< Fussy Cloud Puppet Slam at Theater Off Jackson (Oct. 16-17) is leaning into Halloween season, drawing on the pulpy, highly stylized horror of Italian Giallo cinema in this collection of short-form cabaret puppet performances. (Note: for adult puppet fans!)
< Several indie film festivals are on deck, including: Seattle Art Museum’s Excellent Adventures series. This celebration of Keanu Reeves’ oeuvre includes Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Point Break, Bram Stoker’s Dracula and The Matrix. Also already in progress is the Seattle Latino Film Festival (through Oct. 17), which continues at various locations including The Beacon and Central Cinema.
Up north, the Friday Harbor Film Festival (Oct. 22-25) screens dozens of features and shorts, all documenting true stories about intergenerational relationships, interstellar exploration and everything in between. And coming up next weekend, the 20th annual Tacoma Film Festival (Oct. 22-25) kicks off with an opening night party that features Time Warp, a documentary about a 25-year-old performer’s fight to put on a Rocky Horror Picture Show production in a rural Wyoming town.
All eight new episodes of Art by Northwest Season 3 are now out in the world! Have you seen each and every one? Catch up on Art by Northwest, nominated for two Northwest Regional Emmy Awards.
