Seattle’s Frye Art Museum has announced one of its most ambitious undertakings yet: Everyday Utopias: Visions of Painting Now, a major international exhibition opening in fall 2027 on First Hill. Bringing together more than 50 artists from around the world, the group survey will fill the museum with contemporary painting that asks a hopeful question — how can art reimagine what it means to live together?
The exhibition assembles a sweeping generation-spanning roster, crossing continents and practices. Seattle will be represented by painter Margie Livingston, joining an international lineup drawn from across North America, Europe, and beyond. The Frye will admit visitors free, as it has since 1892.
Everyday Utopias is designed to be as much a gathering place as a gallery show. Lounges, stages, and gathering spaces will be built directly into the exhibition, hosting free public programming meant to spark conversation — and to celebrate painting not just as something to look at, but as a living, communal practice.
The show was first presented at Copenhagen Contemporary in Denmark and is organized by the Frye’s Chief Curator Amanda Donnan in collaboration with Director and CEO Jamilee Lacy and curator Line Clausen Pedersen. For Seattle art lovers, fall 2027 now has a headline act — and, true to the Frye’s founding promise, it will be free for everyone.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
