Seattle's Wing Luke Museum

The Wing Luke Asian Pacific American Museum states their mission as, "a desire to connect everyone to the art and culture of the Asian Pacific Americans". The museum houses the record of how struggle and hope combine to effect survival in a new culture, where the story of cultural mixing and adaptation is blended with the traditional and sacred traditions from many places; a new story springing up from the meeting and merging of many peoples.

On the first floor of the museum you will find a community hall and reception area, an area of "new dialogues" where contemporary topics are provocatively explored, a special exhibitions gallery, a multimedia theater and a marketplace.

In the light-well above stairs there is a fluttering of carefully written and folded letters hanging from thin threads that are the communications of immigrants with their families. If you sit for a while on the bench against the wall at the end of the upper landing you will hear the letters read. A cloud of letters with words softly falling like tears or rain; the experience of Filipino, Vietnamese, Asian Indian, Asian Pacific Island, Cambodian, Chinese and Japanese immigrants. A softly falling murmuring of loss and longing, of hope and desire, of loneliness and nostalgia that illustrates the sacrifice these immigrants made to find a better life for their families.

On the second floor you will find the community portrait galleries, which includes cultural exhibits from Filipino, Vietnamese, and Asian Indian communities, and a memorial of the Cambodian Killing Fields. There is a display hall honoring the immigration, employment and traditions or the Asian Pacific Islander peoples, and an artworks room and kid friendly spaces.

The top floor is accessed by guided tours only and features the Governor Gary Locke Library and Community Heritage Center .

The museum visit includes timed guided tours of the historic 1910 hotel that immigrants lived in when they first arrived and the Yick Fung Company. The Yick Fung Company is a wonderful Chinese store that opened in 1910 and still has the fixtures and shelves and jars with mysterious ingredients that you can ask your tour guide to tell you about.

The Wing Luke Asian Museum is located at 719 South King St . Call (206) 623-5124 for tour information and to arrange for large groups of visitors.

The Wing Luke Asian Museum is an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution. The displays are world class and culturally significant. The museum has been equipped with elevators and is fully handicapped accessible.

This is a must see when you are visiting Seattle . The museum is located at 719 South King St , Seattle , WA . 98104. You can call (206) 623-5124 for more information and to arrange for tours and large groups. Access the Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience at their web page: http://wingluke.org/home.htm for upcoming events and current tours and admission fees.