The Whatcom Museum is honored to have received 14 exhibits from Mindport, a cherished Bellingham institution that closed in November 2024 after 29 years in the downtown Arts District. Many of the pieces – including Mindport’s Allella, Bug Box, Rollentless, and a marimba – have recently been installed in the museum’s Family Interactive Gallery, and plans are being made to install more in the future.
“We are honored to carry on Mindport’s legacy with continued access to some of their most beloved pieces,” said Whatcom Museum Interim Executive Director Maria Coltharp.
After closing, Mindport generously chose to share its iconic, interactive exhibits with local organizations, including the SPARK Museum of Electrical Invention, Make.Shift, Children of the Setting Sun Productions, the Whatcom Museum, and many more.
"Guests who've been to Mindport are thrilled to see familiar pieces when they come in, and those experiencing the exhibits for the first time are captivated,” said Family Interactive Gallery Interim Manager Kimberly Wulfestieg. “We are so glad that visitors can continue to enjoy these unique, handmade, local treasures.”
The Allella, a large musical instrument designed by former Mindport employee John Ito, allows guests to control its tempo with a system of gears that spin guitar strings as they’re plucked by stationary picks. The Allella has a clear casing, which allows the player to see how the instrument functions.
“My kids loved playing with the Allella at Mindport when they were younger. It’s such a joy see little ones discover it and to hear its beautiful sounds drift throughout our space,” Wulfestieg noted.
Added Tallie Jones, Mindport's former director, “It was really important to us that the community continue to have access to as many of Mindport’s exhibits as possible and to support the work of other local institutions. We are so pleased and grateful that the Whatcom Museum welcomed these items, and that people will be able to experience them in a delightful new context.”
About the Whatcom Museum
The Whatcom Museum was founded in 1941 and overlooks Washington State’s Bellingham Bay. Notable projects have included the 2019 retrospective exhibition WANTED: Ed Bereal for Disturbing the Peace, featured in The New York Times; the award-winning, co-curated exhibition Many Wests: Artists Shape an American Idea, which traveled to the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C., in 2023; and Verdant: French Masterworks from the National Gallery of Art. Also on view now are El velo exquisito / The Exquisite Veil: Works by Alfredo Arreguín and Not the Whole Picture, Garth Amundson & Pierre Gour.
Opening this summer are A Pull to the Pacific: West Coast Lithography of the New Deal Era; Mary Ann Peters’ myself inside your story; and Meander by Io Palmer. The Whatcom Museum is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums.
The Whatcom Museum campus in downtown Bellingham includes three buildings: the Lightcatcher, Old City Hall, and Old Fire Station No. 1. For more information about exhibitions and admission, visit whatcommuseum.org.
