March 31, 2025

Seattle U unveils renderings for new art museum designed by Tom Kundig

Renderings courtesy of Seattle University [enlarge]

SUMA is anticipated to open in 2028.

The DJC reported last March on plans for a new art museum at Seattle University's 50-acre campus near Capitol Hill.

Since then, Tom Kundig, co-founder, principal and owner of celebrated local architecture firm Olson Kundig, has been named as the designer for the project, and on Friday the university unveiled the first design renderings for the new museum.

The museum will be called the Seattle University Museum of Art (SUMA) and will be built at the front entrance of the campus at the corner of 12th Avenue and East Marion Street.

The Seattle Times reported Friday that the Lee Center for the Arts will be razed to make way for the new building. As of Friday afternoon, Seattle U had not applied for a demolition permit for the project. The Lee Center for the Arts debuted in 2006 and is located in a 1930s building overhauled by LMN Architects.

SUMA is described as a “teaching museum.” It will house a diverse and extensive art collection, valued at $300 million, donated to the university last year by local philanthropist and real estate developer Richard Hedreen. Hedreen also gifted $25 million in seed funding to develop the museum. The Seattle Times reports that SUMA is estimated to cost $60 million in total to build.

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The museum will display a robust art collection and have flexible space for performance art, music and theater productions.

In addition to showcasing Hedreen's robust collection, which includes 200 works of art dating from the 15th century to today, the museum will have flexible gallery space designed to accommodate performance art, music and select theater productions.

Seattle U will use the new building as “a core curricular tool,” providing students with new experiences through their encounters with art and an atypical space for group meetings and discussions.

“This museum will not only house an extraordinary collection of art but also serve as a welcoming gateway to our campus and a dynamic space for learning, reflection and community engagement,” SU President Eduardo Peñalver shared in a news release.

Groundbreaking for the new building is anticipated for August 2026, and the museum should open prior to the start of classes in fall 2028. Sellen Construction will be the general contractor.

Kundig has designed an organic-feeling structure with what appears to be distinctive wood-panel cladding. Swathes of glass and a covered front patio/plaza create a sense of transparency and open the building up to the surrounding community and campus. Interiors will feature wood flooring.

Once completed, SUMA will frame a new flexible gathering space between itself and the Jesuit school's Chapel of St. Ignatius. Kundig says that space could be a future campus green.

The Hedreen Collection will be transferred to the university once the museum is built and ready to receive it.

Tom Kundig has designed several museums including the Burke Museum at the University of Washington and two wings of the Tacoma Art Museum.

In December Seattle U announced an agreement to establish Cornish College of the Arts at Seattle University. Cornish's creative and performance spaces at its South Lake Union campus will be part of the new college.