13. The Wing Luke Museum: Imperial Textiles of the Young Family Collection

Thirteen down. Forty two to go. 

The museum's dragon reminded me of
 Bon Odori festival parades in Seattle as a child.
The dancing dragon was always a bit scary. 

After the opening reception for the Imperial Textiles exhibit at The Wing Luke Museum I found myself drawn into the museum's galleries. Before I knew it an hour had passed and they were ushering me out and literally closing the doors behind me. An hour wasn't long enough to take in this wonderful museum.

The Young family, who spoke at the reception, clearly have a deep emotional connection to these works, which were acquired by their parents, Colonel John and Mary Young. The exhibit's centuries-old Qing Dynasty robes are especially exquisite and utterly fascinating.

Founded in1967, The Wing Luke Museum presents dynamic exhibitions and programs featuring everything from stories of early Asian pioneers to works by outstanding Asian Pacific American artists. The museum is also a National Park Service Affiliate and the first Smithsonian affiliate in the Pacific Northwest.

The museum takes particular pride in its community-based programs, one of which is telling the story of Seattle's International-Chinatown neighborhood. Current programs include an excellent Bruce Lee exhibit, exploring how he became one of the most influential people of the 20th Century and how his local experiences shaped his life. The museum also offers several tours that sound like great fun, such as Bruce Lee's Chinatown; an International Dumpling Crawl to local restaurants; and the Official Tour of the Bestselling Novel, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. They all include museum admission and sound like wonderful weekend outings and great options for out-of-town guests.  http://www.wingluke.org/tours/ 

The Imperial Textiles exhibit received support from the
ArtsFund Foundation's Gwendolyn Plestcheeff Fund
 for the Decorative and Design Arts.