Past Exhibits

See images and learn more about past exhibits at the Library.

Past Exhibits Gallery

The exhibit ran from September 28, 2024 to January 25, 2025 in the Central Library Level 8 Gallery.
Artist in Residence Exhibit - Central Interface by Chi Moscou-Jackson.
Seattle Gay News - Celebrating 50 Years!
The Seattle Gay News (SGN), one of the longest-running LGBTQ+ newspapers in the world, is officially 50! It has served the Seattle gay community since March 1974. We celebrated the newspaper by presenting headlines and examples of how it covered the local, national, and international happenings and highlighting how the UW Libraries and the Washington State Library preserve and make it accessible to all.
Stories from the Streets: Up close with Real Change
Commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Real Change Portrait Project, Stories From The Streets invites you to get up close with community members experiencing homelessness, hardship, and poverty, enter a transformative space for cross-class connection and empathy, and gain a deeper understanding of our shared humanity. This rare exhibition of the Real Change Portrait Project features brand-new works alongside past portraits created by Seattle artists between 2014 and 2024.
Winter Visions: An Art Exhibition by Path with Art at The Seattle Public Library
Winter Visions embraced the season’s contemplative demeanor and engaged us as witnesses to the proactive nature of the artistic process. Through self-expression and creative choices, we presented a kaleidoscope of Winter Visions, where art becomes a mirror reflecting the truth and resilience of each Participant Artist. As human beings connect, empathy and understanding blossom, fostering the core qualities of healthy communities.
Image of “The Tower of Light and Creativity” by Bernie
Black Activism in Print: Visual art from the African American Collection.
Framed prints created by prominent Black artists and activists Charles White and Elizabeth Catlett, from the African American Collection, were on display for the first time at the Central Library since their donation in 1967. The Douglass-Truth Branch received these prints through the tenacity and determination of the women of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., who built the African American Collection and saved the branch from closure in the 1960s.
Exhibit photos mounted on wall.
Collage of book covers.
The Seattle Reads 25th Anniversary exhibit was a look back at the authors and books that have featured in the original One Book, One City program.
Meet Me at Higo: An Enduring Story of a Japanese American Family
Higo 10 Cents Store, owned by the Murakami family and a social hub in Seattle’s Japantown, has a long and fascinating community and family history. This exhibit welcomed younger generations to connect with and explore what it means to be Japanese American.
Image of the Japanese American Remembrance Trail map.
Artist Exhibition 2022
The Library collaborates with local artists each year to highlight our programs and services. In 2022, we collaborated with Cyrus Huston Brown, Kellie Kawahara-Niimi, Sloane Miller, Gabby Park, Erin Shigaki, Brandon Thomas, Sharon Tu, Adrian Valencia and Jorge Villavicencio.
Pieces from exhibit mounted on wall.
Image from Our Future Duwamish exhibit.
This was a Virtual Reality exhibit exploring how actions today impact our region’s ecosystem. During this experience, patrons were transported back in time and catapulted into the future to explore how actions today shape the future of our Seattle community, city, and region.
Artwork from an exhibit.
Frame by Frame: Celebrating Northwest Art and Artists
This exhibit showcased art from The Seattle Public Library Northwest Arts Collection. Collected over 100 years, the collection is a testament to the rich tradition of art-making from Northwest Indian arts to contemporary artists in the region.
We're Still Here: An Art Showcase from Members of Chief Seattle Club
This exhibit featured art created by Chief Seattle Club members, including beadwork, woodwork, and two-dimensional pieces. Whether from the city or reservation, Native art continues to thrive and broadcast the message 'We're Still Here."
Kyu-Quot Olebar, Turtle Mountain Chippewa. Louisa (LouAnne) Olebar, Ka:'yu:'k't'h'/Che:k:tles7et'h' First Nation. Donovan Wauneka, Diné. Brenda Joseph, Tsimpsian, Haida, Coast Salish. Lloyd Dalton, Haida/Tsimpsean. Jason Runnels, Lakota. Benjamin E. Wind Spirit Bill, Pit River/Paiute. Ciro Marquez, Cora/Tsalagi/Uto Aztecal.
The Space Needle: A 21st Century View
The exhibit highlighted the history, impact and symbolism of an iconic structure that shaped the identity of Seattle during the 1962 World’s Fair and beyond, through images, artifacts, memorabilia and interactive displays.
Experience the Evolution of the Duwamish River in Virtual Reality
This exhibit explored the Duwamish River as a place of importance for the Duwamish people and for the people of Seattle through photographs, maps, and documents. Through Virtual Reality scenes, the viewer participated in the evolution of the river through a series of activities from the time where the river remained in its original state to the rerouted river of today. 
Photo of houses next to water.
From the Archives of ZAPP
Showcasing highlights from the ZAPP zine collection this exhibit explored zines as tools of personal expression, engagement and representation for voices often excluded from mainstream media.
Zines arranged on a table.
Experience The Great Seattle Fire in Virtual Reality
We presented a Virtual Reality (VR) experience of what it might have been like to fight the Great Seattle Fire of 1889 as a volunteer firefighter. The exhibit included displays of pieces from our collections related to the Great Seattle Fire, including images, reports and information.
Photo of exhibit items.
Sketches from Outside the Margins: Stories from the Seattle/King County Clinic
At Seattle/King County Clinic--a giant, free pop-up clinic held at KeyArena--a dozen local cartoonists gathered stories from patients about the reasons they sought healthcare there. The comics they created from these stories offer intimate and often touching accounts of what it’s like to negotiate the healthcare system as a person in need. This exhibit showcased a selection of these stories.
Artwork by E.T Russian.
This Is Our Home, Where We Belong: Coast Salish Female Artists on Identity, Spirituality, and Environment
We partnered with yəhaw (pronunciation: yahowt), an Indigenous-led arts project, to celebrate Indigenous creativity and environmental equity. This exhibit featured the original artwork of Coast Salish women exploring environmental justice, identity, and place.
Caroline Edwards (Swinomish), Denise Emerson (Dine/Twana), Karen Engel (Shoalwater Bay), Kimberly Miller (Skokomish), Abbey Pierson (Cowlitz), Curated by Denise Emerson (Dine/Twana)
Indigenous Stewardship of the Salish Sea
This exhibit explored how the sea and the rivers, and the wealth of resources in them--the salmon, whales, tule, and shellfish--are important to the region’s tribes and the work they are doing to protect those resources for future generations.
Graphic Medicine: Ill-Conceived & Well-Drawn!
This traveling banner exhibit explored how the increasingly popular field of graphic medicine uses comics to tell personal stories of illness and health. Curated by cartoon artist Ellen Forney, the exhibit drew from important texts, newly acquired by the National Library of Medicine.
Photo of the exhibit in the Living Room on level 3.
Living Cultures Part I: Celebrating the Resilient Indigenous Cultures of the Pacific Northwest
These exhibits were part of the regional initative 'Beyond the Frame: To Be Native' that used the photography of Edward S.Curtis to spark conversations on Native identity, race and resilience, art and culture. This photography exhibit explored contemporary Native American/First Nations life of the Haida, Lummi, Tlingit, and the Kwakw ak a’w akw nations by Sharon Eva Grainger with narratives by tribal elders.
Artwork mounted on wall.
Living Cultures Part II: Beyond The Frame
This exhibit included images from Edward S. Curtis’s North American Indian series and contemporary photos by Sharon Eva Grainger, as well as selected regalia from the four tribes to show the continuity of Native American and First Nations culture.
Photo of exhibit.

Sign up for our email newsletters

Get the latest about Library events, new programs and services and other Library news delivered to your inbox.

Sign up now

Ask Us

If you need help or have a question or suggestion, we want to hear from you. You can reach Library staff by chat, email or phone during open hours.

Support your Library

Find out how you can support your Library by donating money, books or your time as a volunteer.