One week left to take a peek at SAM

If you've put off visiting the exhibition "Louis Comfort Tiffany: Artist for the Ages" it's time to get moving. The show ends Wednesday. After that, the Seattle Art Museum will close its downtown facility for more than a year to complete construction on its massive expansion project next door.

When the museum expands from the existing Robert Venturi building into the new structure, designed by Portland architectural firm Allied Works, there will be 70 percent more gallery space and an expansive public area, where people can circulate from the street to a new restaurant and gift shop, as well as view some artworks, before paying admission to visit the upstairs exhibitions.

With reconfigured galleries and a fresh installation of the permanent collections the expanded museum will have not only more space but a new personality as well.

Here are the dates to remember:

• "Last Look — Family Celebration" will run from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and will include live music and performances, art activities and specials at the cafe and store.

• On Wednesday, festivities with live music will start at 5 p.m. and continue to midnight for the closing of "Louis Comfort Tiffany."

• Seattle Asian Art Museum, SAM's Volunteer Park museum, which has been closed for reroofing, will reopen Jan. 14. A highlight of the opening exhibitions will be "The Orchid Pavilion Gathering: Chinese Painting from the University of Michigan Museum of Art."

The Volunteer Park museum will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays, with extended hours until 9 p.m. Thursdays. (206-654-3100 or www.seattleartmuseum.org).

• SAM's Olympic Sculpture Park, now under construction at the downtown Seattle waterfront, is slated to open in the fall of 2006.

Also, the Frye Art Museum in Seattle's First Hill neighborhood is closing for renovations Jan. 6 though 16. "Candida Höfer: Architecture of Absence" opens Jan. 21 at the Frye, 704 Terry Ave. (206-622-9250 or www.fryemuseum.org).

Sheila Farr:

sfarr@seattletimes.com