I love this place. We got the first Friday a couple times a year whenever they change out the exhibits. They always have a diverse select of art from pop culture as well as more traditional stuff. Its a little small, bit that allows you to take your time and not feel like you need to rush to see everything. Great for an afternoon date.

Love, love, love this museum. Was recently there to install Nicole Gordon’s fantastic show “Altered States” and could not have had a more delightful experience. The staff and docents are great; friendly, knowledgeable and enthusiastic. Am returning soon (from Chicago no less) and very much looking forward to my next visit. This museum is a 10 out of 10 all the way round; really interesting exhibits and great staff, what more could you ask for?

First Friday free. 11 am - 8 pm.The arts collection changes once or twice in a year.Last time Artist Robert Williams was simply amazing.

I visited the museum with my cousin, we wanted to view the Burning Man exhibition. They had a small collection of gifts handed out on the playa, plus a few portraits of scenes of various moments throughout the time Burning Man has been held at Black Rock. I meandered through some of the other art exhibits which where very cool to see and some even interact with. I had an enjoyable day.

You must experience the daily 1pm art docent tour! No additional cost and really expands the museum experience. The building is an exhibit in and of itself. Delightful way to spend an afternoon. Did I mention the free parking?

I drag my kid to art museums and this one wasnt so boring for her. She wanted to go within the first hour, unlike others. Great artists and powerful pieces that move the human soul.

This place has very good Art if you really love it. For people like me who dont know what it is still can enjoy as you will learn something about Art! I would say go for it if you have some time to spend. Most of the Art is good for everyone but there are few of them which is only for Adults (Only if you look closely!)

Great staff. Excellent layout!

As far as Im concerned, BAM is consistently one of the most interesting museums in the region. Their exhibitions are well-conceived, well-executed, and quite compelling.

Time for art! First Fridays are free admission and open until 8pm and I added an extra star for free dedicated parking underground. Its three floors but the exhibits are well spread out so it doesnt feel too clustered. A neat way to spend 30-60 minutes in downtown Bellevue, the building and permanent installations are quite nice, and from what I read the non-permanent exhibits rotate quite often. Not your museum if you want to spend more than an hour.

We went there at first Friday in July and it was admission free. It’s nice small museum. We understand that this is not huge museum. We didn’t expect much. They have pretty interesting exhibits. Lovely art. They have a cute little area for children. I think it’s worth it to come visit this museum. Will definitely come here again.

Awesome exposition, really well curated pieces. Very friendly staff, they approached us a couple of times and explained a bunch of cool stuff about the artists and made the hole experience a million times better!!!

Smaller then the Seattle art museum of course, but a great place to view art - they have something for everyone! They also hold interesting talks / events and a yearly art auction. The museum is across the street from the Bellevue Square Mall and there are numerous fabulous places to eat nearby. And to top it off, the first Friday of every month is free!

Interesting experience.Staff show pride in what they are presenting. A lot of interesting annotations to read and to think deeper

Really neat exhibits. Love the Free First Fridays. Its great for families and I very much enjoyed going with my kiddo. Only criticism is that it is very difficult to navigate the bathrooms with a stroller - Im able-bodied and cant imagine trying to get in and out if I werent.

Simple but good. Park is free for three hours and free every month first Friday

Wonderful experience. Always interesting and very well curated. A definite must-see for visitors to the Seattle area.

Love their support for local artists

Wish it was larger, but it was full of wonderful, interesting installations. The glasswork was phenominal, and the space was very clean and bright. Worth a visit

The museum has great pieces of art and is definitely interesting. But, it is only 2 small floors, so it should probably cost 5$ max. You can spend about an hour there maybe reading all the notes, no more. Overall it is good, but tiny.

Great for kids on special event days !

Smaller than SAM, lesser exhibit. Parking was a bit confusing, so had to go park elsewhere. Came during the day on the weekend, so it wasnt so crowded.

The location was easy to find and parking was free. I went on the first Friday and Admission was also free! The exhibits were spread among 3 floors and the art was amazing. I spent about an hour exploring. I especially loved the Femail and Alex Katz exhibits.

The STAIRS are a NIGHTMARE. Listen, there was a guy (I read about him) who found the perfect pitch/depth ratio which the BAM blatantly violates. I have tripped every time I use them. However the cashier tho ..... very cute. Applauded me on my dramatic inability to enter a revolving door, and suggestively stroked a felted rainbow. The art had its moments, but would return for more salacious encounters with my cashier.

I like that this museum has a hands-on exploration area for kids. Very engaging displays and super friendly curators.

Despite being small we spent about 2 hours and had had enough by the time wed viewed all art pieces. $15 seems a little steep for the size, but still worth doing once. There could have been more artist variety, most of the top floor was by the same artist.

Amazing exhibitions and they change frequently. Great for taking a date out in Bellevue. 1st Fridays are free! Highly recommend!

This place has a decent collection of art although given its location and the fact that it spans over three floors, I expected much more.Its a one time visit.

Excellent array of traveling exhibits. Fun collection. Free to the public on the first Friday of every month. Fun little gift shop full of things if youre looking for a reasonable gift to take home if youre in the area for a conference or something. excellent way to spend an afternoon with or without the kids. They also have a great little area for children that is fun educational and art Centric I love how in each of the moving Collections and in the standard collection they have a Hands-On area for the kids so that they can enjoy and participate in the art too.

Its not a very large museum, id actually call it a gallery. there are also numerous details like exposed power strips and outlets, various bits of discolored floor and ceiling tile, as well as a sort of unfinished feeling to the upper floor. but still, the exhibitions that were present when i visited were recent, which makes me think that theres a frequent rotation. the exhibitions were varied in format, medium, and context. i was pleased with the variety of artists in this space. the building itself encourages the patron to explore. there are sweeping curved stairways and broad rooms as well as small corridors to guide patrons. i felt the space was used very well. the curators were actively engaging patrons and were very knowledgeable about the exhibitions and the artists, i was very impressed with this as well as the overall demeanor of the curators.i get the impression that the exhibitions rotate frequently. if so, this is a unique offering to the area. i have only visited once so i cant really say, but if so, the museum offers something unique. i intend on visiting again, but i had a good birthday of it, and i can also vouch for several worthwhile bars and restaurants in the vicinity.

Fun place! Fair prices. Kids friendly. Friendly staff! Convenient parking!

Beautiful cultural experience

Beautiful facility with some really interesting exhibits, I was a little sad there wasnt more to see for the price but what was there didnt disappoint ️

The details in this place are well attended to, lights are set and wall paint contrasts and offsets the art to its best effect. The rotation is provocative and always a pleasure to walk through, even if I dont always enjoy the pieces.

Awesome place to go! They are super interactive during fairs which is so cool to see them do!

When you are forced to go to the Bellevue mall and want to appreciate the finer things, hop across the street. This gem is inspiring.

BAM!Small but beautiful.

Quite small for the price the entire second fl showing Polaroid arts? Each photo were really small no for me nothing interesting for the whole flr. Third flr having glass exhibition quite nice

BAM is small but mighty. I dont come here often, but I do really like the location and the art installations. Theyve really tried coming out of their shell more and showing off more different art lately.

It had very interesting exhibits to do with glass, but unfortunately one floor was closed, so theyGave us a ticket for 2 for 1 entrance next time. My nephew and his girlfriend will be able to use that as they live there.

Filles with great artifacts and history

Nice small museum with changing exhibitions of a high quality. (what I have seen) the artists are all of a different discipline. What seems to bind them is their personal view on the world that they display through their artworks.

All modern art, the kind anybody could produce. Not worth the price. You have to pretend to appreciate it. I told the director I would like to see some real classical art and he became hostile.

Was kinda pricey for the small exhibits. It was smaller than I expected. J was surprised you get in free if you have a bank of America card (but I dont support that bank so it didnt help us). Nice and friendly. They dont allow food or drinks (they made my mother in law dump her water). But overall a great experience.

Its a wonderful venue to hold gatherings. Unsure on actual placed art. Only been their for rented gatherings of space.

We went there today and I wasnt too impressed with it. Friendly staff but I didnt particularly care for any of the exhibits. Like other reviews stated this is art any one could have produced. Most of the exhibits were not all that attractive and I only saw about 10 pieces of art that really caught my eye. They placed in some large junk pieces that take up an entire room and they were nothing but literally cleaned up garbage. That were neatly arranged and put on display. For an art museum it didnt really catch my attention. Its not all that great and I am wondering how the heck did some of these pieces end up here? Id recommend the Tacoma Glass Museum over this museum. Nisqually living history museum is also a thousand times better than Bellevue Arts Museum.

Bellevue Arts Museum has been awesome and I have been a fan since it’s opening in 2001 at its current location. I still have the pamphlet from the opening day! I saw this demonstration by Piotr Szyhalski on Facebook recently and went seeing it. I like what Bellevue Arts Museum curates and collects. My family also went to the kids event during the Bellevue art fair. We had fun with high school robotic teams and activities local community organizations put out.

Went with my girlfriend to see the Posada lithographs and early art pieces! Museum was very clean and the staff was SUPER knowledgeable on the exhibits :)

Good location as it is near shopping and a park, friendly staff, great price. The size is both a plus and a downside. If you want a quick trip or they are featuring an exhibit yiu really want to see then it is a great place to visit. However it is only three floors with the bottom one also being the lobby so it is fairly small compared to other museums in the puget sound area. The parking garage I would not recommend, it is small and if you have a larger sized car it can get a tad tricky.Overall worth visiting!

So much love for BAM! The curators do an excellent job of bringing quality artists and their artwork to Bellevue.

Like other reviewers said, first free Friday is a great time if you work normal 1st shift hours (open until 8pm). Overall, it was OK.Staff was great but there were a number of lackluster areas of the museum. If you’re short on time I’d definitely recommend the third floor in particular as that’s where the majority of the really interesting art (in my personal opinion) was located.

The Robert Williams exhibit was great (shocking a dull town like Bellevue would have it) but what is that loud and grating humming sound everywhere in this museum? I could barely concentrate on the exhibit. Please fix it BAM.

In this museum, you find art from the very entrance. It is a lovely place to come and visit. I would recommend it for visits with your whole family. I want to give special thanks to the staff who was so kind and knowledgeable about everything we asked. It is worth the time.

Every first Friday of the month is free. Always find surprises.

Usually the level of exhibitions is quite low there. There are a lot of great museums on Westside of lake Washington, on Seattle side. But this particular BAM museum - I am not a fan...

A great place for dates. New art is rotated in every season~.

We visited for Nicole Gordons expo and it was amazing, highly recommended.

Family Day Great if you have children with you but very crowded and limited parking in the area

I appreciate the museum. Most of the exhibits at this time werent my cup of tea, but I will go back.

Was there for work so I didnt get to see much but what I did see was rather impressive.

There are lots of Interesting stuffs at BAM.The price is fair (student 12$Took around 1.5-2.5 hrs to explore.

This museum is always worth a visit especially for the great architecture by Steven Holl. One of the hidden architectural gems of the Seattle area.

The art is really interesting and the staff is polite and entertaining. I have been twice, and will go again since the exhibits are always changing. The best time to go if you work normal business hours is the 1st Friday of every month. Not only is it free, but it stays open until 8 pm instead of 5 pm. You can check their website for events and changes as Google is not always accurate about that change.

Like weird modern art? This is your place...

Screen isolation of the store and on most days you can see the pictures inside the frames hung on the walls quite level and very well spaced out and very well-placed so has to be so pleasing to the eye and then to the mind, which I guess is the point. But often times I find myself asking still, what is the point? I go here sometimes when I feel lost, and I asked the lost and found if they found what I lost, but they dont seem to have found it yet. Im sorry Diane.

One of the floors was closed on the day we went but we were informed of that before we purchased our tickets. We had to go then for my sons school project.There was still plenty to see and the lady up there was fun to talk too. She knew a bunch about the pieces. She really got my son engaged in the art concepts.It was a good time.

She had a good time and even enjoyed browsing the gift shop and first floor. Great location, nice friendly staff and volunteers.

The BAM art fair in Bellevue was fantastic. So many great artists including my favorite pastelist, Marla Baggetta. Food stalls were great too. An afternoon stroll through so many brilliant pieces - a wonderful day.

Awesome exhibitions of kiln glass and Robert Williams

We went to the Saturday kids craft for $4. My five year old used cut veggies as stamps to make art. She had a good time and even enjoyed browsing the gift shop and first floor. She really wanted to go upstairs, but we didn’t have time.

It is nice a nice museum with interesting exhibits. I really enjoyed my visit and they have free first Friday of every month. They even have an area for kids to do craft on that first Friday. My friends and family enjoyed their visit.My niece also got a scholarship to attend their summer art camp and it was a wonderful experience for her. From being too afraid that other kids have more art skills and not wanting to attend (she is 9 year old and the age group is 8-10 year old) to can’t wait to come back every day of art camp and for years to come after her first day. Her teacher Natalie was wonderful and so was Julia Miller,Director of Learning & Public Programming, for providing scholarships for kids. The hours were 9 am - 3 pm and with extended care till 5:30 pm. I was able arrange my schedule to take her and I am so glad we got the opportunity to attend. We just felt incredibly blessed she gets to be surrounded by her peers and to be creative. I just love the opportunity that this place provides for kids.

Very small but nice.

The art there is truly amazing. I believe everyone should go there

An unexpected gem! Took my son there and he loved exploring and viewing the art work. We would definitely go back!

The kids have had a good time!

From 1-3 is kids craft time. For a small fee kids participate in a docent lead art project. Today used magazine media. Next week is paper mache. Great for kids 4 up.

Interesting showcase of art all year round! Always changing.

Great for Kids.

First time there--loved it! Very big fan of the Polaroid and glass exhibits I saw when I was there. Great vibe overall.

Small museum showing local history. Friendly staff. 12 dollar entry, first friday free.

We love the Bellevue Arts Museum in downtown Bellevue, such a great place to visit!

Very abstract. Unless you have expertise, may not be able to appreciate.

We attended on the last day of the Bellevue Art Show. The staff were attentive and friendly. We even met some of the artists! My family had a great time.

Just okay. Didnt care for the 2nd floor which had Polaroids. 3rd floor had glass work and an interesting cardboard adult themed art. 1st floor, pencil art and other random stuff.

It’s good to go check it out for one time but no more! They don’t have special! And the gift shop is over rated and expensive!

Great space and art museum in Bellevue town center

Great space near Bellevue Square to explore constantly changing arts exhibits. There is always something new at BAM! Plus the building is beautiful too.

Pretty small. Only really worth it if theres an exhibit you really wanna see.

It is really overpriced for the amount of art that is in here. fun for a little afternoon, but at the end I found myself thinking ‘is this it?’ I know the exhibits change up, but when I went the art just wasn’t that good, I didn’t think, and had some really large, ugly, conceptual pieces that took up 8 different rooms that probably used to showcase a lot more art. I didn’t feel like I got my money’s worth, but that might be because of what exhibit was there at the time. not worth it; I would rather go to the Seattle art museum.

The staff at this small museum are great, but the commitment to always rotating galleries and the floor plan make the space feel both small and under utilized as compared to similar sized galleries in the area. Notably, the third floor was closed for installation while I was there and I am sure this dramatically reduced the feel of the size of the space, but the same was true at the Henry when I visited and the space still seemed full and well utilized.If you enjoy art museums, you will still still enjoy the BAM, and they seem to have a fairly good set of events to supplement their space. Its probably worth planning about 2 hours to see (depending on your read speed), and seems comprable to an average college/university art museum in terms of size and subject matter.

Fabulous installations right now! Well worth the trip!

Its a smaller museum, but worth a visit depending on what is on exhibit. Nice modern building. Appears to be well funded, so often have interesting exhibits.

Great stop when youre in Bellevue. A surpsiing about of eclectic art and they work hard on their rotating exhibits. Right across from Bellevue Square shopping center, definitely worth it. Or look for the Bellevue arts festival, the museum is right in the middle.

Lots of activities for kids

Until the third floor is finished with construction you probably wont spend more than 30 minutes even if youre really taking your time. There are very few exhibits, which too their credit are great, but unless you spend time to read all of the old Spanish newspapers, theres not much to see yet. Once the third floor is finished this review will be outdated and can be disregarded

We love the Bellevue Arts Museum! As the word Arts implies, paintings do not have anywhere close to a monopoly here. Indeed, they are fairly rare. There have been sculptures, pottery, quilts, and mod fashion clothes. Any visual medium is fair game. I always come away invigorated and inspired!

Honestly one of the worst museums Ive been to. I understand it is suppose to be some sort of modern antiestablishment museum pushing the envelope of what is art and what is not. There were very few pieces of art and the ones that were there looked like a fifth grade child could have created them

Took my girls here when we wanted something fun to do at short notice. They had never been to an art museum. I suspect they will never go back after this one. Some of the artwork was disturbing, and we were tailed by a security guard who glared at us like she was certain we were going to foul the artwork. My girls were *very* well behaved, and this was unnecessary. Not a pleasant experience.

I went Bellevue Arts Museum on a free first thursday to catch the new exhibition they were having. It was filled with wonderful modern furniture, housewares and other such knick knacks! i also loved the japanese wooden object exhibition as well. I felt as if I spent a day browsing around tasteful, independent boutiques which was very much to my liking. The museum has a nice layout. its not very big, youll probably finish an an hour.The Museum has a very interactive kids section but I wish the store carried cooler things but i understand its bellevue.

Beautiful art and delicious food!