Museums with Maddie // I — some saltwater

Last week, Maddie invited me to tag along with her to the Burke Museum for a an Art History assignment about Northwest Native Art. Museums are kind of our thing since we went to 10+ museums and galleries together when we studied abroad in London!

She's the perfect museum buddy. Also, a great thing about the Burke is that it is free for UW students and free to the public on the first Thursday of the month!

The Burke has a diverse collection; I would classify it into native/cultural art and biological artifacts. We decided to wander around in the permanent areas then hit the special native exhibition.

This prompted memories of BIO 180...bad, bad memories of phylogenetic trees.

Cute little pet fossil

A little sample from the Mount St. Helens eruption...

This just looks so cool...

For me, this was a lot of biology review. I've only recently realized how much I have learned and how much is left.

Quartz is my FAVORITE.

All these fossils are cool and all, but the best piece in the whole place was the random parrot with the dinos.

After perusing the biological section, we sauntered over to the Natives area.

The Burke does a great job of curating, honoring and recognizing the Natives that were displaced while preserving the culture. The aim of the exhibit was to take traditional artifacts in the culture and make modern interpretations to pair with them.

This was a rad octopus bag.

And the modern rendition.

Sneaky picture of Maddie checking out the sign.

The crème de la crème was the mask that inspired the logo for the Seattle Seahawks. The best for last!

We decided to venture downstairs to see more cultural scenes from all over the world.

I made some new friends while we were looking around.

After a successful museum trip we settled down Burke Cafe for coffee and pastries. We spent a little time to admire the quaintness of the space, some to embarrass ourselves standing over our food and take pictures and a chance to catch-up!

As we were leaving, we stumbled upon these blooming flowers (it was only February!) and had to take photos. If you don't know Maddie, just know that these flowers perfectly represent her.

Thanks for the fun museum outing, Maddie. Also, I anticipate Museums with Maddie to be regular series, so stay tuned for more adventures!