Culture Bellevue, Washington

1 culture

1.1 recurring cultural events
1.2 places of interest
1.3 sports , recreation
1.4 city nicknames

culture
recurring cultural events

bellevue site of popular annual bellevue arts , crafts fair (originally pacific northwest arts , crafts fair), held since 1947 @ end of july. biennial bellevue sculpture exhibition draws thousands of visitors downtown park view 46 three-dimensional artworks artists around country. bellevue 24-hour relay has been hosted every july in bellevue downtown park. in celebration of strawberry farming history, bellevue holds annual strawberry festival on fourth weekend in june. festival began in 1925, , continued 1942 when many bellevue s strawberry farmers incarcerated part of japanese internment. in 1987 festival resumed 1 evening event, , in 2003 expanded multi-day festival.

places of interest

bellevue arts museum

the bellevue arts museum first opened in 1975, moved bellevue square in 1983. in 2001, museum moved own building, designed steven holl. museum subsequently ran financial difficulties , forced close public in 2003. after lengthy fundraising campaign, remodel, , new mission become national center fine art of craft , design, museum reopened on june 18, 2005 exhibition of teapots. rosalie whyel museum of doll art - closed - contained 1 of largest doll collections in world—more thousand dolls—displayed on 2 floors of victorian-style building. kidsquest children s museum located in downtown bellevue. museum s primary visitors mothers , care givers children pre-crawlers 12 years of age. 10,000-square-foot (930 m) space houses play , discovery areas, exhibits, offices, educational activities , classroom space. near interstate 405 meydenbauer center, convention center brings corporate meetings , charity events downtown area. meydenbauer includes 410-seat theater attracts operas, ballets, , orchestral performances.

sports , recreation

since 1970s, city has taken active role in ensuring commercial development not overwhelm natural land , water resources. today, bellevue parks , community services department manages more 2,500 acres (10 km) of parks , open spaces, including downtown park , bellevue botanical garden, several playgrounds, beach parks, , trails. more 5,500 bellevue residents participate in volunteer activities through department annually.

bellevue home american basketball association team, bellevue blackhawks. blackhawks in 2005, despite being ranked 13th in league, made championship game in front of 15,000 fans in little rock, arkansas. team has been inactive since 2006.

city nicknames

being relatively young city, bellevue has not had many nicknames. however, recent construction , city development, large number of modern, glass skyscrapers have cropped in city skyline, , many citizens refer bellevue glass city or city of glass .