Dear Friends of MoM,

We hope you had an art-filled weekend in Seattle and were able to witness some of the great exhibits and events that centered around the Seattle Art Fair. It was great seeing those that made it out to our ‘Official Unofficial Art Fair After Party’ - it was a festive night and great opportunity to showcase our current exhibits at MoM to a host of out of town art enthusiasts, alongside friends, artists and patrons. It was also a chance to see new works at MoM, including a new front door mural by Susan Dory, a new exhibit by Monyee Chau, and our petite Locker #141 by Jessie Weitzel Le Grand.

All of this excitement and new works come at the moment that we have some difficult and sad news to relay, and with a heavy heart, we are announcing the closure of the museum on September 1, 2023. 

From the very beginning, when we set out to restore and re-imagine this mid-century medical building as an art center, we knew that our operations would be tied to the building's capacity to house us. Over the past 4 years, it has become increasingly apparent that maintaining a 77-year-old building comes with significant challenges. These obstacles have come at a high price, both financially and emotionally. Yet, our current issue extends beyond our ability to overcome. 

Late last winter our plumbing issues came to a head with unfortunate closures of our first floor while our team dealt with days of pumping and hauling gallons and buckets of water out of the building. After significant investments from both the museum and our partnership with Swedish Hospital, the plumbing issues have only worsened, demanding an investment that neither MoM nor Swedish can undertake. Unfortunately, our building's roof drains are connected to the main sewer line, which has collapsed and can no longer handle the rainwater efficiently. This impending flooding has left us with no choice but to close our doors. It feels like a ship with a hole in the bow; the deluge of Seattle rain will inevitably sink our ship.

Please know that we have explored all options to repair this coming event, and that our motivation was to chart a much longer voyage in 900 Boylston. Please know that we are grateful to Swedish for their support and enthusiasm for the museum. As much as we knew this project was an experiment and experience that held some last chapter, we couldn’t have guessed that a clay pipe would write that conclusion.

We are so grateful for your investment and support of the museum and know that we could never have made it this far without you. In under 3 years we exhibited countless artists, from elementary school kids to some of the most talented and passionate artists in the Pacific Northwest. It will remain a chapter of our lives filled with great memories, incredible art, and remind us of the wealth of artists that call this region home. 

We have one month and we hope that you can visit us, see our small but mighty museum for the last time, and take some satisfaction that your support helped build it.We will write again when the full magnitude of our closure sinks in, mostly we wanted to thank you, thank our staff and participating artists, and hope that August is a beehive of museum members and first time visitors, because MoM is a rare and unusual space, and designed to inspire the future of independent, artist-run art spaces.

Sincerely,
Greg Lundgren