Museum Without Walls, conceived by the University District Arts & Heritage Committee, is currently developing an interdisciplinary project that draws together the history and cultural life of Seattle’s University District with temporary exhibitions, walking tours, physical markers, community events, and oral histories.

Phase 1:
Initiated in 2006 and generously supported by the City of Seattle Department of Neighborhoods, the Rotary Club of the University District, and the Greater University Chamber of Commerce, Museum Without Walls seeks to strengthen the fabric of this unique Seattle neighborhood by celebrating its important legacy and bringing neighbors, merchants, students and cultural entities together to build an even more dynamic future.

Last October, the University District Arts & Heritage Committee held a public meeting to gather input from a wide cross-section of citizens about how best to capture and convey this shared history.  Murals? Tours? Exhibitions? Storytelling?  A book? A map? A website? Could there really be one way to synthesize so many stories, so much history, into a single monument, guide or “happening”? How could we build upon resources that already exist, leverage the work of other entities like the Great University Chamber of Commerce, cultivate new partnerships in the neighborhood, broaden the number of participants in the district’s civic life, and still maintain a strong and exciting focus for the project?

In June, University District Arts & Heritage Committee asked me to help determine the answer to that question, and to bring more concise definition to the project.  There was clearly a need to refine and synthesize lots of great ideas, and it became apparent that, in order to reflect so many varied interests, we’d need a kind of “system” of interwoven activities and events to be of greatest value to the community.  To that end, we’ve begun to develop a framework for collecting and sharing information, constructing a “kit of parts,” a series of varied showcases through which to celebrate past highlights (both obvious and obscure), and encourage more civic involvement in building the community’s future.

Over the last two months, we’ve been working together to create that kit, a “package” of ideas that will capture and interpret the big, legendary people and events that have shaped and defined the University District from its earliest days, as well as the smaller, personal stories of those who experience life in the University District on a less-than-mythic scale. Through a series of public events, activities and ephemera, we hope to reflect not only monumental milestones, such as the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition of 1909 and the founding of the University, which have clearly informed the neighborhood’s development in major ways, but also to highlight the contributions of the scholars, artists, leaders and everyday people, past and present, who continue to give fascinating and sometimes quirky dimension to the community. Ultimately, we hope this “kit” will encourage ongoing engagement in the civic, cultural, and physical life of the University District, so that its mysteries can continue to unfold for its residents and visitors in intriguing and surprising ways.

Phase 2:
Planning for the Museum Without Walls initiative will continue through October 2007, with a second, implementation phase planned for 2008. Early consensus has formed around an exhibition component (one element of the “kit”) that recognizes and represents the District’s unique history of tolerance, and the accommodation of dissenting views that has characterized the neighborhood over the decades, during sometimes very turbulent times. From anti-war protests and riots in the 1970s to the inclusion and embrace of street youth in the ‘80s and ‘90s, to the celebration of alternative lifestyles that continues today, the University District is a place where pluralism is fiercely defended, a place where every voice can be heard.

Using the working title “Open to Question: a Survey of Dissent in Seattle’s University District,” we are beginning to build the exhibition, which will be installed in late 2008 in one or more centrally located, accessible public spaces near the Ave. At the opening of that exhibition, a year-long roster of scheduled events, activities, programs and commemorative materials will be unveiled.

We are currently working to engage the broadest possible spectrum of neighbors in the development of the exhibition and in the many varied elements of the overall Museum Without Walls project. We need volunteers, writers, researchers, sponsors, and people with stories to tell to help us as we build this substantial community initiative.

How can you help?
You can use this blog to share your perspective; you can contribute photos, archives, and relevant ephemera which may be used in a publication or exhibition; and you can join us during public meetings and presentations to give us the feedback we need to ensure that the project remains fresh and meaningful.

The next public meeting is scheduled for August 16, 2007 at 7pm, at the Watertown at 4242 Roosevelt Avenue NE.  The meeting is free and open to the public, and all are invited to attend. Thanks for your interest in Museum Without Walls!

Peggy Weiss
Museum Without Walls Project Advisor, August 1, 2007