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Hello ARLIS/NA and VRA Members,

The Tour Committee of the ARLIS/NA + VRA Joint Conference (Seattle, March 8-12, 2016) is pleased to announce general information about tours, to help you prepare for registration opening, December 1, 2015, on the conference web site. Visit the conference blog posting on tours to find related links.

This year, we will have 3 tour types to offer conference attendees.

Walking tours, usually 1 hour in length, will be held periodically throughout the conference. Many will be held in the morning (with 1 at lunch time and 2 in the afternoon) exploring nearby districts and sites close to the Westin in Downtown Seattle. These sites include:

The Pioneer Square neighborhood (a 2-hour excursion into the historic heart of the city)
Freeway Park (a remarkable design by landscape architect Lawrence Halprin)
South Lake Union (a booming area very close to the Westin, energized by the expansion of Amazon.com)
Pike Place Market (a leading, fish-lobbing, visitor destination) Seattle Art Museum's Olympic Sculpture Park.

Longer tours, between 1.5 and 4 hours, will feature neighborhoods and sites farther from the Westin. These include:

A walking tour of the Capitol Hill neighborhood, featuring the Bullitt Center, the world's greenest office building, and the renowned Chapel of Saint Ignatius by WA-born architect Steven Holl
2 distinct tours of the Seattle Public Library featuring its flamboyant architecture or notable special collections
Half-day excursion viewing earthworks produced by Herbert Bayer and Robert Morris in Kent, WA, and the remarkable Gas Works Park by landscape architect Richard Haag
Thursday evening tour of the UW Libraries' Book Arts Collection facilitated by Rare Books Curator, Sandra Kroupa
Saturday morning tours either surveying the architecture of the University of Washington Campus or attending a current exhibit at the Henry Art Gallery
Saturday afternoon tour experiencing the Seattle Asian Art Museum and sites close to it in Volunteer Park
Another Saturday afternoon trip to Seattle's International District focusing on the Asian-American experience in Pacific Northwest history.

Finally, we will be offering 1 all-day excursion planned by University of Puget Sound Library Director, Jane Carlin, of book arts collections on Bainbridge Island. This tour will take a 30-minute ferry ride to Bainbridge, view the book arts collection at the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art and a nearby private collection and will feature a catered lunch.

Consistent with our Natural Connections theme, many of these tours are planned to take advantage of public transportation. So, when considering which tour to take, remember that most will require some walking and riding on streetcars or buses. Also, remember to bring raingear, umbrellas and waterproof jackets for these events.

We're excited to show off our fantastic home city to VRA and ARLIS/NA members!

Alan Michelson
Joint Conference Co-Chair Seattle 2016

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