The Special Exhibition Galleries feature changing exhibits based on objects from our own collection, private collections, or other museums. This area can all be used for just one exhibition or subdivided into as many as three distinct areas, each dealing with a separate topic. At least one special exhibition is available in addition to the core exhibition in the rest of the museum.

New Exhibitions:

Cowboys on the Silver Screen
February 8, 2008 - July 30, 2008
Western movie posters and artifacts from the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. This exhibit will also feature local stories connected with Hollywood westerns such as The Hanging Tree, Yakima Canutt and Nipo Strongheart.

Treasures from the Vaults of the Yakima Valley Museum
February 9, 2007 Ongoing
The Yakima Valley Museum has an extensive collection of American Indian beadwork and baskets. While some of these items are currently on view, many more are carefully packed away in the collection storage rooms. For this exhibit, the museum curators have selected some of our choice pieces to be brought out from the vaults and displayed.

Previous Exhibitions:

• Textile Treasures: Quilts from the Khay Norris Collection September 8 - December 30, 2007
• In Memory Of: Expressions of Mourning in Victorian America February 9, 2007 - December 30, 2007
• Washington Stories July 3 - August 26, 2007
• Mexican Artists in the Yakima Valley February 9 - July 1, 2007
• The Ultimate Apple Box Label Exhibition February 10, 2006 - December 26, 2006
• Treasures from Around the World February 14, 2003 - December 31, 2006
• The Yakima Valley as Muse: Yakima Valley Society Artists November 5, 2005 - January 1, 2006
• La Dolce Vitra! A Celebration of Northwest Glass Arts July 30, 2005 - October 28, 2005
• Cedar Spirits: Masks of the Northwest Coast February 11 - May 30, 2005
• Brewer's Gold - A History of the Hop Growing Industry in British Columbia May 20 - October 31, 2004.
• The Traditional Arts of Morelia, Yakima’s Sister City February 3 - December 23, 2004
• Portraits from Eisenhower High School June 17-September 12, 2004
• Treasures from Around the World February 14, 2003
• Captured Time: Photographic Moments of Discovery in the Northwest October 3, 2003 - December 31, 2003
• An American Art Form: Quilts from the Yakima Valley Museum June 17, 2003 - September, 2003
• Treasures from the Collections at the Washington State Historical Society October 11, 2002 - May 1, 2003
• VALENTINES: The Ron Gibeau Collection February 8, 2002 - June 10, 2002
• The Heart Mountain Story July 13, 2001 - November 24, 2001
• Rodin: Maryhill Comes to Yakima- December, 2000
• Bustles to Bikinis: The Care & Preservation of a Diverse Collection February 12, 2000 - November 24, 2000
• Yakima's Love Affair with the Apple  February 1998 - January 1999
• Few and Far Between:Moments in the North American Desert    November 9, 1997 - January 10, 1998
• The Roaring '20s: Yakima's First Decade  February 15 - June 1997
• The Prairie Schoolhouse   September 24 - December 1, 1996
• Quilts That Never Made it West   May 19 - September 15, 1996
• Collecting:The Instinct for Order   February 9 - April 28, 1996
• Mechanical Banks from the Seafirst Collections November 19 - December 31, 1995
• Fiesta: Faces of Mexico  March 27-October 31, 1995
• Tabletop Taste  February 11 - March 19, 1995