MAKE A DIFFERENCE

SAM is dedicated to racial equity and strives to recruit employees, volunteers, and interns alike, who are passionate, qualified, and cognizant of their unique perspectives. SAM’s strategic plan goals address the role art plays in empowering social justice and structural change to promote equity in our communities. We involve hundreds of volunteers who support these efforts through dynamic and engaging roles at all three museum sites.

From advising to visitor engagement, our volunteer roles are designed and continue to evolve to support the museum’s mission to connect art to life. Volunteers provide excellent customer service, support administrative tasks, facilitate art experiences for a wide range of museum visitors, and more, all in accordance with our Core Values. Volunteer programs have an impact in all that we do.

MISSION

SAM connects art to life.

Through art, the Seattle Art Museum fosters creativity and builds community.

As a leading visual art institution in three unique locations, SAM shares its global collections, powerful exhibitions, and dynamic programs to engage, educate, and inspire.

VISION

Seattle Art Museum is a welcoming community where people find inspiration and discover our common humanity. We are committed to equity, exceptional art, and dynamic programs. At our three sites we offer enriching, fun, and rewarding experiences for all.

CORE VALUES

CREATIVITY
We bring art into people’s lives and help them understand its unique power to inspire creative thinking, which is crucial to understanding and solving our world’s complex problems.

EXCELLENCE
We build and create collections, exhibitions, and public programs of the highest quality and excellence.

EQUITY
We are responsive to cultural communities and experiences, and we think critically about the role art plays in empowering social justice and structural change to promote equity in our society. We are dedicated to racial equity in all that we do.

Learn more about SAM's commitment to equity.

ENGAGEMENT
We engage our audiences through dialogue that is mutually beneficial, inclusive, and enlightening in a spirit of mutual respect.

DIVERSITY
We invite and respect many viewpoints and experiences, as we develop and sustain a diverse staff, board, and audience, and showcase art from the world’s diverse cultures.

ACCESSIBILITY
We work to lower economic and physical barriers as well as barriers to understanding, so that art is accessible to everyone. We recognize the importance of excellent customer service in making art accessible to all.

STEWARDSHIP
We are transparent and careful stewards of resources, including collections, staff, volunteers, facilities, investments, and institutional records. We share SAM’s collection, our greatest resource, and legacy to the future, with the public through scholarship and interpretation, creative installation, conservation, and programming.