Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture
2316 W 1st Ave
Spokane, WA
The Inland Northwest's flagship museum, holding the largest Plateau Indian collection in the world and a grand 1898 mansion next door.
The Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture, known to everyone in Spokane as the MAC, is the largest cultural institution in the Inland Northwest, weaving together fine art, regional history, and the deep story of the Plateau peoples who have always called this country home. Its underground galleries hold changing exhibitions, and next door stands a grand turn-of-the-century mansion open for tours.
What sets the MAC apart is the heart of its collection. It cares for the largest gathering of Plateau Indian art and material culture in the world, more than a million objects in all, and it has made a point of telling that story in partnership with the tribes themselves rather than about them from the outside.
What Guests Love
- The world's largest collection of Plateau Indian art and material culture, interpreted with tribal voices
- Touring the Campbell House, a beautifully preserved 1898 mansion, right next door
- Underground galleries with rotating art, regional history, and cultural exhibitions
- A leafy, historic Browne's Addition setting near the river
Worth Knowing
- The Campbell House is shown by guided tour, so check tour times when you plan your visit
- Exhibitions rotate, so what is on view changes through the year
- It is in a residential historic district, so mind neighborhood parking
- Allow a couple of hours to do the galleries and the house justice
Details
Spokane, WA
Learn about Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture
The Plateau collection
The MAC's Plateau Indian holdings are its crown jewel and are described as the largest such collection anywhere. They span fine art, regalia, tools, documents, and photographs from the peoples of the Columbia Plateau, whose homelands stretch across eastern Washington and the wider Inland Northwest. The museum's Center for Plateau Cultural Studies anchors this work.
Just as important as the objects is how they are shown. The MAC has prioritized collaboration with Plateau tribes, inviting tribal members to help shape how their heritage is interpreted and displayed. Exhibitions like recent shows celebrating the enduring artistry and continuity of Plateau cultures reflect that living partnership, presenting these communities in the present tense, not as history.
The Campbell House
Next to the galleries stands the Campbell House, an elegant 1898 mansion designed by the noted architect Kirtland Cutter for a family that made its fortune in the mining boom of the Coeur d'Alene region. Preserved with much of its original furnishing, it offers a vivid look at how Spokane's wealthy lived at the height of the city's early prosperity.
The house is more than a period piece for the museum, it is its foundation. Helen Campbell left the mansion and its contents to the museum's predecessor institution in the 1920s, giving the fledgling organization its first permanent home. From that gift grew the museum that stands today.
Art, history, and the building
Beyond the Plateau collection and the house, the MAC mounts rotating exhibitions of regional and national art and dives into the history of the Inland Northwest, from its Native roots through the mining, railroad, and timber eras that built Spokane. The museum's own architecture, with much of its gallery space set below ground, is part of the experience.
Founded in 1916, originally under a different name, the institution has broadened steadily over the decades into the region's cultural cornerstone, a place that holds both fine art and the deep human story of this corner of the country.
Closest Boutels
The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.
Things to Do Near Spokane
Browne's Addition
Surrounding the museum
One of Spokane's oldest neighborhoods, lined with grand Victorian and early-twentieth-century homes, leafy Coeur d'Alene Park, and a handful of cafes and restaurants.
Riverfront Park and Spokane Falls
About 2 miles east
The city's downtown park along the Spokane River, with the falls, the Looff Carrousel, and a gondola ride over the water.
Manito Park
About 3 miles southeast
A beloved Spokane park on the South Hill, famous for its formal gardens, conservatory, duck pond, and the Japanese garden.