Free Museum Day: Less than a dime for a dozen

If you've fallen behind on your rounds of the region's museums, here's a chance to catch up. Saturday, a dozen major institutions in Seattle, Bellevue, Bainbridge and Tacoma are throwing open their doors as part of Smithsonian Magazine's Museum Day. Admission is free with a pass you can download from the publication's Web site.

At the University of Washington's Burke Museum, you can soar with the migratory birds of "Arctic Wings" — a collection of Arctic Refuge images by master photographers such as Subhankar Banerjee and Arthur Morris.

Nearby, at the Henry Art Gallery, the work of Vancouver, B.C., artist Liz Magor is on view. In her cast sculptures, small, furry animals meet piles of domestic detritus, signaling something disturbing about waste and death, culture and nature.

Seattle Art Museum features a couple of video exhibitions, plus an installation called "Kodiak" by in-demand Northwest artists Eli Hansen and Oscar Tuazon. And at Seattle Asian Art Museum you'll find contemporary Korean art and a fresh display of the museum's renowned collection of Chinese art.

If you haven't yet visited the Wing Luke Asian Museum in its new home on South King Street, Museum Day offers a good opportunity. One current exhibition pays tribute to Seattle's pioneering sculptor George Tsutakawa; another looks at identity from an Asian Pacific Islander-American perspective.

Don't overlook the Frye Art Museum, now exploring the concept of empire-building with two shows, "Empire" and "Napoleon on the Nile." Yes, the Frye is free every day, but it is still celebrating Museum Day by offering all visitors a "members discount" in the gift shop.

Other participating institutions include Bellevue Arts Museum, the Log House Museum, Bainbridge Island Historical Museum, Experience Music Project|Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame, the Museum of History & Industry and Museum of Flight. In Tacoma, the Museum of Glass, Tacoma Art Museum and Washington State History Museum are also joining in. Check listings for hours and exhibits, and call ahead to confirm.

To find your free pass, which admits two, go to microsite.smithsonianmag.com/museumday.

If you don't have access to a computer, you can find a pass inside the September edition of Smithsonian Magazine.

Lynn Jacobson: ljacobson@seattletimes.com