In this category, you graciously bestowed honors upon two beloved art institutions. The Seattle Art Museum is currently riding high on a wave of expansion that includes a snazzy new waterfront sculpture park, the addition of some 118,000 square feet of downtown gallery space and an unprecedented influx of donations to its permanent collection. The end result is a proper big-city museum -- a cultural center that is certain to make Seattle an art-tourism destination. The Frye Art Museum may be much smaller in size, but its collection is scarcely less impressive -- and besides, the Frye offers one thing the larger museum doesn't: free admission.
