Part of the Seattle Art Museum, the SAAM exhibits historic and contemporary artworks from China, Korea, Japan, India, the Himalayas, and other Southeast Asian countries.

[citation needed] The Gould building was designated a Seattle landmark in 1989,[10] and officially added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2016.

[10] The museum underwent a major expansion project, starting in 2017, that was spurred by the need to upgrade the building's HVAC system, freight elevator, and seismic resistance.

[11] The project was funded by a mixture of public and private donations and included preservation of the museum's historic Art Deco facade, infrastructure upgrades, climate control and seismic system improvements, as well as the addition of new gallery and education spaces.

"[17] The collection holds the artwork entitled Some/One by South Korean sculptor Do-Ho Suh in the form of a suit of armor made of thousands of military IDs, or dog-tags.