This unique exhibit in Seattle is an incredible blend of natural history museum or science museum with stunningly beautiful art. It creates a true sense of wonder and awe and delight.

What is It?

Artist Christopher Marley collects organisms: minerals, seashells, insects, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. They are preserved to look as naturalistic as possible – these are not taxidermy (which involves skinning a creature, then stuffing that skin) but the whole organism. All of the vertebrates are “reclaimed”. They were not killed for art, but died of natural or incidental causes. Insects are wild-caught by indigenous catchers. (Learn more.)

Marley then arranges those organisms into artistic displays – symmetrical mosaics – framed, beautifully lit mountings of organisms – what he describes as “kaleidoscopic mandalas”. Here are some examples of what you’ll see:

This video from when the exhibit was in Oregon has some great interview clips with Christopher Marley, plus more images from the exhibit.

Biophilia

Marley describes biophilia as “human’s love for the living world.” He says it is an “abiding reverence and appreciation for those with which we share our planet…. The more we grow in understanding and appreciation of the natural world… the greater the peace, satisfaction and joy we receive.”

Spending time in this exhibit will help you fall more deeply in love with all aspects of nature, even finding great beauty in things we normally ignore or even recoil from.

Who Is It For?

For any adult who finds any appeal in the pictures below, I unequivocally recommend it. To learn more, check out these reviews of Exquisite Creatures, and the nearly unanimous raves on TripAdvisor and other review sites.

My teenager also thought it was excellent. Is it good for younger kids? There didn’t happen to be any kids there when we were there on a Monday morning, so I wasn’t able to observe their reaction. My guess (backed up by user reviews): elementary age kids with an interest in nature will likely find lots of things to be fascinated by.

You could increase the chances it would go well by preparing them appropriately. Show them at least a portion of the video above (or this video), and make sure they know it’s a quiet walk around a gallery experience, not a run around and hands on play time. (And, as always, well-rested, well-fed kids who have had plenty of other times to run around in their day will do better.) Talk about some of the types of animals you’ll see there – maybe learn before going about animal classification, or about adaptations, or about bugs. Or talk about a favorite type of creature – maybe butterflies, maybe snakes, maybe fish and plan to keep a look out for all those favorites. Or, from the art perspective, first learn about and explore radial symmetry – letting them build “snowflakes” with loose parts, so they will have greater appreciation for Marley’s artistic arrangements. (This would also be a great follow-up activity to a visit.)

I created a scavenger hunt – you could print this in advance, and have it tucked away. If they’re sufficiently engaged without it, hurray! But if you need a way to help them connect more, pull it out and start the hunt to see how many you can find.

Where / When / How Much?

At the south end of downtown Seattle’s waterfront – 900 Alaskan Way. I imagine parking is quite difficult in the area. You could take a bus into town, or the light rail – it’s just 0.4 miles from the Pioneer Square light rail.

It’s closed Wednesdays, but most other days approximately 10 – 6. It’s $34. You could get a good look at it in one hour, but I would guess 90 minutes is about the right amount of time to allow for adults. (We were there closer to two hours for a very in-depth contemplative walk-through.)