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Two Seattle museums named among the best in US

May 17, 2023, 5:34 PM | Updated: 5:54 pm

Chihuly glass...

Chihuly Garden is one of two Seattle museums named in the top 15 of the nation. (Getty Images)

(Getty Images)

Two Seattle museums were named among the top 15 in the United States.

Trips to Discover gave the Museum of Pop Culture, and Chihuly Garden and Glass in Seattle as being in the top tier of museums in the country.

Both are located on Seattle Center grounds and are highly popular, especially in the summer tourist season.

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The Museum of Pop Culture, or MoPOP as it is known locally, changes exhibits regularly. The website states anyone who loves pop culture should visit the museum.

It’s dedicated to the history and culture of pop music and science fiction, set within a shimmering building made of sheet metal that resembles a smashed electric guitar. The exhibits are diverse, focused on video games, fantasy, fashion, sports, horror, and of course, sci-fi and music. With the city considered to be the birthplace of grunge, it offers a special tribute to Nirvana, with a permanent exhibit featuring 200 rare photographs, artifacts, and oral history.

The MoPOP’s most well-known exhibit tributes Seattle as the birthplace of grunge. Nirvana has a permanent exhibit and the most recent exhibit features Laika, the company known for its stop-animation films.

About the Chihuly Garden, Trips to Discover wrote:

(It) includes 45,000 square feet of galleries displaying incredible soft-glass works and fine chandeliers created by Washingtonian Dale Chihuly, a world-renowned glass sculptor. A place where color, creativity, and curiosity come to life, you’ll wander through the surreal landscape of colorful glass sculptures that interact with the natural environment. The Glasshouse is a highlight with the towering 40-foot tall work of art the result of Chihuly’s fondness for conservatories.

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Some other West Coast museums made the list.

In Los Angeles, there is The J. Paul Getty Museum, or “The Getty,” is an art museum housed in two different locations: Getty Villa, which features a vast collection of Greek and Roman art, modeled after a Roman seaside villa, and the Getty Center which includes an extensive collection of Western art from medieval times to the present.

Also in LA, The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is spread over multiple buildings and includes a permanent collection of more than 142,000 works from across the globe, dating as far back as 4,000 BC.

In the Bay Area, The California Academy of Sciences is located in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. It includes the world’s largest planetarium, an aquarium, a four-story rainforest with a coral reef ecosystem, and a natural history museum.

And in San Jose, The Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum is home to the most extensive collection of Egyptian treasures in the western United States. Its grounds are vast and include a peace garden, temple, planetarium, and research library.

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