Vision
The Museum is a point destination for the Pacific Northwest.
The Museum is aregional walk-in magnet that is viewed as the history and art center for the region because of quality of programs, exhibitions and staff.
We have the financial stability to be fully funded from annual receipts and endowments.
We are recognized as the community’s cultural leader because of the abilities and activities of our staff, board, and volunteers.
The Museum’s educational programs will create new opportunities for community learning.
The Museum will increasingly sustain new programs and expanded collections through private sector support.
Financial support will focus on an endowment sufficient enough to provide sustained growth that meets the steadily increasing cultural needs of our growing community.
Facilities
The Museum campus is composed of four buildings: the main Museum building (Old City Hall), the Syre Education Center, the Whatcom Children's Museum and the Arco Exhibition Gallery.
The Old City Hall is on the National Register of Historic Places since 1971. Designed by architect Alfred Lee in 1892, the late Victorian-style building originally served as New Whatcom's (later Bellingham's) City Hall until 1939. The Bellingham Public Museum moved into the old city hall in 1940.
Collections
The Museum preserves six distinct collections: ethnology, history, art, photo archives, education (contains ornithology), and the Whatcom Museum Society Archives.
The Northwest First Nations Ethnoology Collection includes carvings, masks, tools, garments and basketry. The History Collection is comprised of over 10,000 examples of garments, textiles, decorative arts, tools and Victorian furniture. The Art Collection emphasizes the work of contemporary Northwest artists and includes nearly 1,600 examples of painting, sculpture, photography and crafts.
Education
The Museum has one of the highest per capita usage of education programs of any museum in the State of Washington.
Nearly 25,000 student contacts are made each year and nearly 100 percent of grades two through six in the Bellingham school system participate in one or more Museum programs a year.
Photo Archives
The Photo Archives preserves and makes available to the public historic photograph collections of over 180,000 images. Individual photographers' collections include images by Darius Kinsey, famous for his documentation of old growth trees and early logging practices; J. Wilbur Sandison, focusing on a variety of local businesses, groups and panoramic views; plus others.
Also widely recognized is the H.C. Hanson Naval Architecture Collection which documents the region's maritime industry development.
Exhibitions
The Museum features both permanent and changing exhibitions that attract an audience of all ages and interests. Permanent exhibitions feature birds of the Northwest, the logging industry, Northwest Coast and Alaskan First Nations, and Early Settlement and Victorian lifestyles.
The Museum offers several changing history exhibitions throughout the year that illustrate and interpret Northwest subjects. Temporary exhibitions also highlight a broad range of American and contemporary art, with an emphasis on contemporary regional art. Many of the Museum's exhibitions have traveled nationally.
The Whatcom Children's Museum features permanent and changing hands-on exhibitions, as well as education and enrichment programs.
Administration
The Museum Director works closely with a 17-member Board of Directors, which establishes long-range goals, sets policies, oversees finances and attends monthly meetings. The Museum employs 30 full and part time staff.
Volunteers and Internships
Volunteers donate their time as members of the Board, building exhibitions, giving tours, fund raising, working in the Museum Store, processing collections and other specialized tasks.
Internships are available in the Education, Exhibitions, and Photo Archives departments and at the Whatcom Children's Museum. Please click on the link to each department for internship information specific to each area.
Hours
The Whatcom Museum is open Tuesday through Sunday from noon to 5:00 p.m. The Museum is closed on Mondays and most major holidays.Photo Archive research hours are Wednesday through Friday from 1:00 to 5 p.m.; appointments are recommended.
The Whatcom Children's Museum is open Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday from noon to 5:00 p.m., and Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The Children's Museum is closed on Mondays and most major holidays.