Upcoming events.
3rd Saturday at Karshner Center - Mysteries and Disguises
Mysteries and Disguises
The past is full of so many mysteries, can you help us solve them? We’ll have historic hands-on artifacts that you get to solve the mystery of its purpose (and learn how it relates to today!) There will also be hands-on artifacts from different continents. Use the "Around the World in 80 Days” exhibit to solve the mystery of where they come from. We’ll have an arts and crafts activity where you can make and take your own disguise. Just in time for Halloween!
This event will be held from 12-5 p.m. on Saturday, October 19th at the Karshner Museum, 309 4th St. NE.
Just like all Karshner Museum events, admission is FREE for all!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS - No 3rd Saturday at Karshner Center this month!
Usually we’re always here on a 3rd Saturday, but the school district is on winter vacation. Stay cozy at home and we’ll see you next month!
3rd Saturday at Karshner Center - Life in Puyallup in 1865
What was Life Like In Puyallup in 1865?
160 years ago there was no electricity, no running water, and definitely no internet. What did folks do for fun? How did they live?
Get a look at what life would have been like for native people and white settlers. We’ll have hands on activities that replicate the era whether living a transient lifestyle like a trapper, or a stationary lifestyle like a homesteader. You’ll even get to see what life like a kid was like! We’ll have crafts and toys like kids played with in 1865. And in the Pioneer Room you can see what school was like way back then!
Buy your own copy of Bearkiller the true story of Dr Karshner’s youth growing up as a pioneer!
This event will be held from 12-5 p.m. on Saturday, January 18th at the Karshner Museum, 309 4th St. NE.
Just like all Karshner Museum events, admission is FREE for all!
MID-WINTER BREAK - No 3rd Saturday at Karshner Center this month!
Usually we’re always here on a 3rd Saturday, but the school district is on mid-winter break. Stay cozy at home and we’ll see you next month!
3rd Saturday at Karshner Center
Join our mailing list to get updated on the specifics we’ve cooked up for this weekend!
SCHOOL’S OUT - No 3rd Saturday at Karshner Center this month!
Usually we’re always here on a 3rd Saturday, but school is out! Have fun this summer and we’ll see you next year!
3rd Saturday at Karshner Center - Rocks, Fossils, Insects, and Spiders!
Rocks, Fossils, Insects, and Spiders!
Join us for hands-on fun with rocks, fossils, insects and spiders! In addition to the museum’s exhibits, we’ll have 3 stations set up to interact with REAL samples. Try your hand at being a geologist, paleontologist, entomologist or arachnologist! We’ll also have a scavenger hunt around the museum, and an arts and craft activity. The mess stays with us, but the final craft product can come home with you!
Planes, Trains, Automobiles And Boats!
A STEM collaboration between the Karshner Museum, America’s Car Museum, Foss Waterway Seaport Museum, and Snoqualmie Train Museum.
All four museums will have make & take projects, and fun interactive displays.
Send a telegraph, learn Morse code, and build a trestle bridge in a challenge to see who can build the biggest!
Make and take a derby car model, a Native canoe, a train, and more.
Experiment with the technology and make motors start, fans blow, and lights come on.
See cars, trains, tractors and model boats, and the history of transportation!
There will be Exhibits to see, Projects to make, Inventions to invent!
The event will be held from 12-5 p.m. on Saturday, May 18 at the Karshner Museum, 309 4th St. NE.
Just like all Karshner Museum events, admission is FREE for all!
Dan Vesey/Deb Munson Art Show Reception & Awards
Artwork from Puyallup School District secondary students.
Free and open to the public!
Saturday at the Museum! - Earth Day
Join us to celebrate the earth with some fun activities! We’ll be filling the main hall with a variety of activities. Make new friends or spend more time with the ones you brought. Join a scavenger hunt and find secrets hiding within the exhibits.
As always this event is free and family-friendly.
This is also a chance to see the other exhibits at the museum. This includes Dr. Karshner’s Wonderful World of Science exhibit in Gallery Two with biological specimens from the Karshner Collection. Gallery three has the winners of the Vessey-Munson art show from 2022 and 2023.
The event will be held from 12-5 p.m. on Saturday, January 20 at the Karshner Museum, 309 4th St. NE. Just like all Karshner Museum events, admission is FREE for all!
Celebrate The World! Music, Dance And Arts From Around The Globe
Join us for the “Celebrate the World” Culture and Arts Festival at the Karshner Museum on Saturday, March 16 from 12-5 p.m. The festival will celebrate Indigenous cultures, music, dance and storytelling from round the world.
Featured performances include:
Raven Clan Singers – A song group of four generations from the Haida Raven Clan, Double Fin Killer Whale Crest and Brown Bear House descending from Hydaburg, Alaska will share the songs and stories of their elders and ancestors.
Indigenous author and illustrator Sondra Segundo will share Kúndlaan, the first of three children’s books in a series that celebrates Haida culture and language. Kúndlaan tells the story of a wolf pup who takes an exciting trip to the moon! Inspired by ancient Haida stories, each original tale in the series weaves in Haida language and song to help encourage the revitalization of her Indigenous culture.
Huehca Omeyocan is a music and dance group dedicated to promoting cultural practices of the Pre-Hispanic (Aztec) Mesoamerican peoples. Huehca Omeyocan is an organization dedicated to promoting cultural practices of the Anahuac (Mesoamerican) people, primarily focused on Anahuaca (Ancestral Meshica Chichimeca Aztec) dance, music, art, and cultural education base on ancestral values. They will perform and have a cultural display.
Awal Alhassan and Sohoyini - Awal Alhassan is a master drummer, dancer, choreographer, and teacher from Ghana, West Africa. Awal has worked throughout Africa with some of Ghana's best traditional groups such as the Ghana Dance Ensemble, the National Theatre of Ghana, and the Center for National Culture Dance Troupe. Since moving to Seattle in 2005, he has led his own African drum and dance group Sohoyini. They will perform and lead a drum circle and dance audience participation session.
Student marimba groups - Maplewood Elementary and Zeiger Elementary student marimba groups will both perform.
Just like all Karshner Museum events, admission is FREE for all!
We hope to see you there!
No Saturday at the Museum this month
Due the President’s Day school holiday there will not be a Saturday at the Museum! Event this month.
Join us next month for our big Celebrate the World! festival.
Saturday at the Museum! - Games & Puzzles
Are your board games at home feeling a little stale? Love puzzles but no one in your house is into them? Come to the Museum for fresh puzzles, fun games, and good times!
We’ll be filling the main hall with a variety of options. Make new friends or spend more time with the ones you brought. Join a scavenger hunt and find secrets hiding within the exhibits.
As always this event is free and family-friendly.
This is also your last chance to see the Browsing the Stacks exhibit by Legacy Washington and the Washington Secretary of State (main hall), as well as the Karshner Museum’s parallel exhibit of our favorite things (gallery 1). Gallery two features Dr. Karshner’s Wonderful World of Science exhibit with biological specimens from the Karshner Collection. Gallery three has the winners of the Vessey-Munson art show from 2022 and 2023.
The event will be held from 12-5 p.m. on Saturday, January 20 at the Karshner Museum, 309 4th St. NE. Just like all Karshner Museum events, admission is FREE for all!
Saturday at the Museum - Winter-themed Arts and Crafts!
Join us for an afternoon of fun-filled with scavenger hunts and winter-themed arts and crafts making. We will have supplies on hand.
This is a free, family-friendly event. Grab grandma and grandpa, cousins, neighbors, everyone and come on down.
The event will be held from 12-5 p.m. on Saturday, December 16 at the Karshner Museum, 309 4th St. NE. Just like all Karshner Museum events, admission is FREE for all!
Celebrate America! Music, Dance and Arts Festival
From bluegrass to country and rock, music honoring our veterans, and country line and square dancing.
Secretary of State's Legacy Washington Browsing the Stacks Exhibit Opening and Reception
The Browsing the Stacks exhibit is on loan to the Karshner Museum from the Legacy Washington through January 2024.
We invite you to join us for a reception of the exhibit opening. Musical entertainment will be provided by Puyallup School District student performers. Deputy Secretary of State Randy Bolerjack and staff from Legacy Washington and the Washington State Archives will also join to share information about the exhibit. Cookies and punch will be provided courtesy of the Friends of the Karshner Museum.
We also created a companion exhibit, Karshner Museum’s Browsing the Stack: Our Favorite Things, that highlights local artifacts and memories from the community, school district and Dr. Karshner’s collection. There are over 300 pieces in the exhibit!
This is a free event.
Pacific Islands and Oceana Culture & Arts Festival
The Karshner Museum, in collaboration with the Asia Pacific Cultural Center, will host the Pacific Islands and Oceania Culture and Arts Festival on Saturday, October 21.
The event will be held from 12-5 p.m. at the Karshner Museum, 309 4th St. NE. Just like all Karshner Museum events, admission is FREE for all!
What to Expect
The "Take Me to the Islands" theme of the event and special exhibit will feature performances, art projects, demonstrations and foods inspired by Samoa and the South Seas. A special exhibit of artifacts from the South Pacific collected by Dr. Karshner and others in the early 1900s will also be on display.
Annual Membership Meeting
The board cordially invites all active members to join us at 4pm on October 10th at the Karshner Museum, 309 4th St. NE. We’ll discuss the organization’s efforts in the past and coming years. We’ll vote on new board members and board positions.
Not a member yet? Join now!
1st Tuesdays Family Nights @ Karshner Center - Jun 2023
Join us at Karshner Center the 1st Tuesday of each month for Family Night.
In addition to rotating displays and exhibits, 1st Tuesdays will offer the following staring at 4 pm:
Stranger Things - The weirdest artifacts!
Scavenger Hunts
Artifact Detective Games - Win prizes!
Pop Up Exhibits -You bring the artifacts!
Art Projects!
And more!
These are free events! Grab the family and on down! There will be fun for kids of all ages.
Vesey/Munson Art Show & Awards Reception
This reception culminates the Vesey/Munson Art Show. Art on display since May 19th has been evaluated by judges and visitors to the Museum. Join us to take in the art and see who wins! The Vesey/Munson Art Show features secondary students’ work demonstrating a variety of different styles and mediums.
This event includes an Empty Bowls fundraiser. Revenue from the ceramic bowls created by students and teachers will benefit the Puyallup Foodbank.
open to the public
art created by students and teachers
awards - did your favorite piece win an award?
Don’t miss your last chance to see this year’s art!
Vesey/Munson Art Show
The Vesey/Munson Art Show features secondary students’ work demonstrating a variety of different styles and mediums. Come check out the art and cast your vote for the People’s Choice!
The art show includes an Empty Bowls fundraiser. Revenue from the ceramic bowls created by students and teachers will benefit the Puyallup Foodbank.
open to the public
art created by students and teachers
awards, judged and people’s choice
art projects to channel creative inspiration from the art!
The art will be on display May 19 - 24th.
1st Tuesdays Family Nights @ Karshner Center - May 2023
Join us at Karshner Center the 1st Tuesday of each month for Family Night.
In addition to rotating displays and exhibits, 1st Tuesdays will offer the following staring at 4 pm:
Stranger Things - The weirdest artifacts!
Scavenger Hunts
Artifact Detective Games - Win prizes!
Pop Up Exhibits -You bring the artifacts!
Art Projects!
And more!
These are free events! Grab the family and on down! There will be fun for kids of all ages.
Earth Day Science & Arts Festival
Invest in Our Planet!
Nature's Networks, Endangered Species, Clean Water, Ecology, and Our World!
Burke Museum's Traveling Museum - Nature's Networks - Interactive displays to show how all life is connected through ecosystems and biodiversity.
Puyallup Hatchery - "Salmon Life Cycle" and display.
Puyallup Tribe - Native stories about salmon and Native Art, environmental work by the tribe to save the Salmon, other endangered animals, restore our rivers, and Salish Sea.
Endangered Animals - Multiple activities and projects to explore and learn about why animals are going extinct. About habitat, adaptations of animals and plants. Enter the Endangered Species Art Contest!
Art Exhibit- US Artist Collective handmade prints about clean water and our natural resources. "Wellspring" and "Resourced"
Art Projects, science experiments, and our own exhibit of our natural world artifacts - There will be multiple hands-on ways you can learn how to keep our animals, water, resources, forests and climate healthy to Save Our Earth!!
CANCELLED 1st Tuesdays Family Night - Apr 2023
Sorry folks! I’m afraid the museum has a prior commitment so you’ll have to join us next time!
Open to the Public
Art projects - Kente cloth, adinkra cloth, Maasai necklaces and African masks
Artifact Detective Scavenger hunts regarding exhibit and artifacts and bingo cards
Video of top 15 Civil rights protest and march songs
Martin Luther King JR. Poor Peoples campaign revisited - posters
Other highlights of Black American artists, musicians, leaders, and activities to go with them
some endangered species pieces for those who want to come and explore species for creating art piece for the Art Contest
Find this event on the Karshner Museum and Center for Culture and Arts Facebook page.
1st Tuesdays Family Nights @ Karshner Center - Mar 2023
Join us at Karshner Center the 1st Tuesday of each month for Family Night.
In addition to rotating displays and exhibits, 1st Tuesday will offer the following starting at 4 pm:
Continuation of activities during and for Black History month
Art projects - Kente cloth, adinkra cloth, Maasai necklaces and African masks
Artifact Detective Scavenger hunts regarding exhibit and artifacts and bingo cards
Video of top 15 Civil rights protest and march songs
Martin Luther King JR. Poor Peoples campaign revisited - posters
Other highlights of Black American artists, musicians, leaders, and activities to go with them
These are free events! Grab the family and on down! There will be fun for kids of all ages.
1st Tuesdays Family Nights @ Karshner Center - Feb 2023
Join us at Karshner Center the 1st Tuesday of each month for Family Night.
In addition to rotating displays and exhibits, 1st Tuesdays will offer the following staring at 4 pm:
Stranger Things - The weirdest artifacts!
Scavenger Hunts
Artifact Detective Games - Win prizes!
Pop Up Exhibits -You bring the artifacts!
Art Projects!
And more!
These are free events! Grab the family and on down! There will be fun for kids of all ages.
1st Tuesdays Family Nights @ Karshner Center - Jan 2023
Join us at Karshner Center the 1st Tuesday of each month for Family Night.
In addition to rotating displays and exhibits, 1st Tuesdays will offer the following staring at 4 pm:
Stranger Things - The weirdest artifacts!
Scavenger Hunts
Artifact Detective Games - Win prizes!
Pop Up Exhibits -You bring the artifacts!
Art Projects!
And more!
These are free events! Grab the family and on down! There will be fun for kids of all ages.
1st Tuesdays Family Nights @ Karshner Center - Dec 2022
Join us at Karshner Center the 1st Tuesday of each month for Family Night.
In addition to rotating displays and exhibits, 1st Tuesdays will offer the following staring at 4 pm:
Stranger Things - The weirdest artifacts!
Scavenger Hunts
Artifact Detective Games - Win prizes!
Pop Up Exhibits -You bring the artifacts!
Art Projects!
And more!
These are free events! Grab the family and on down! There will be fun for kids of all ages.
The History of Rock ‘n Roll Culture & Arts Festival
Join us for a fun day of rock ‘n roll music including award winning blues and rock ‘n roll bands, and a special visit from Elvis singing his early tunes.
Families can make instruments out of junk and found objects and other art projects.
Featured entertainers for the day include:
Joe Cook Blues Band
Elvis, aka Danny Vernon
Buddy, Richie, and the Bopper Tribute Band
The Rhapsody Project Songsters “History of the Blues”
This and all our events are FREE-family events.
Día de la Raza
Date Subject to Change
Join us in our first festival of the year as we celebrate the cultures of Mexico, Central America, and South America – the arts, the music, the arts, protest art of the causes and conditions.
More details coming soon!
Opening of “Ahead of the Curve” Exhibit and Reception
Opening of “Ahead of the Curve” Exhibit and Reception for the Secretary of State’s staff and Legacy Washington. Refreshments and entertainment. Docented Tours of Karshner Museum.
About Ahead of the Curve by Legacy Washington
Legacy Washington celebrates the 100th anniversary of American women gaining the right to vote with this exhibit. We at the Karshner Museum and Center for Culture and Arts are so lucky to have a partnership with Legacy Washington. When an exhibit comes down from the Secretary of State’s office, we are able to put it up in the Karshner Museum for six months or longer. We are able to add to it with artifacts from the museum and add stories of local or regional folks to give our own perspective on the theme or time period.
Washington has been Ahead of the Curve since it first granted women the right to vote in 1883. In 1910 our state became the fifth to include women's suffrage in its constitution — a decade ahead of the nation. And Washington women keep blazing trails in fields from science to bridge building. Ahead of the Curve highlights the pioneering spirit of some larger-than-life women and little-known stories with big impacts on Washington, the nation, and beyond.
The exhibits created by the Legacy Washington team are always so rich in content, telling the stories of Washingtonians from all walks of life, from small and large towns, from different cultures and times. Each of these exhibits and individual stories add so much about the history of Washington, about movements, causes, heroes, and courageous folks in so many ways. “Ahead of the Curve” tells stories of women from different time periods who were ahead of the curve in a variety of major contributions from education to science and technology, from Native women warriors to change agents for human rights and the vote for women.
Smithsonian Free Museum Day
The Karshner Museum is proud to be involved again in the Smithsonian Nationwide Museum Day event, September 17, 2022.
Museum Day brings together museums, zoos, and cultural centers from all 50 states to offer free admission to all Museum Day ticket holders. Museum Day represents a national commitment to access, equality, and inclusion.
Museum Day goes beyond getting visitors through museum doors — it acts as a springboard to empower and help advance the hopes and ambitions of the public, particularly school-aged children, and those in underrepresented communities. Museum Day shines a spotlight on incredible arts, culture, sciences, innovation, and history exhibits across the country. Join us as we celebrate the American Experience - the theme of this year's event. Karshner Museum is listed with pictures at:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/museumday/venues/museum/karshner-museum/
Exhibit : Ahead of the Curve: stories of Washington women who were ahead of the curve in their field, endeavors, leadership and more. Native women of leadership, fighting for sovereignty, rights and recovery of economy, and culture.
Special activities including art projects, artifact detective activities, scavenger hunts and more.
New Board Meeting - invite only
This event is only for invited board members. Stay tuned for our next full membership meeting.