Mount St. Helens exhibit opens today

SPOKANE — The Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture marks the 40th anniversary of the May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens eruption with “Mount St. Helens: Critical Memory,” opening today and running through July 2020.

The MAC has curated an exhibition with material artifacts, film, photography, recordings, first-hand accounts and virtual experiences to examine how the 1980 eruption has advanced our understanding and perceptions of volcanoes more than any other eruption in history.

Visitors will encounter a variety of analog and digital technologies that tell the story of the Cascade Range’s most active volcano. From time-tested oral traditions, to digitally crowd-sourced accounts of the 1980 blast, “Critical Memory” explores how knowledge is passed down through generations. Scientific data, communications and tribal culture merge to present a useable history, because the question isn’t if Mount St. Helens will erupt again, it’s when.

The Mount St. Helens eruption was the first of its kind to be extensively photographed and videotaped, creating a wealth of visible and audible records. On the morning of May 18, 1980, at 8:32 a.m., Mount St. Helens erupted with terrible violence. The initial blast decimated almost everything, natural or manmade, in an 8-mile radius. A massive ash plume rained 520 million tons of ash over Central and Eastern Washington, disrupting everyday life for weeks.

Mount St. Helens remains the most destructive volcanic eruption in United States history. The eruption killed 57 people, destroyed 200 homes and eight bridges, damaged or destroyed 39 railcars and flattened almost 4.7 billion board feet of timber. The ash fall plunged downwind communities as far away as Spokane into darkness and smothered crops and transportation routes.

“Mount St. Helens: Critical Memory” will run concurrently with “Pompeii: The Immortal City,” which will open Feb. 7, 2020, bringing to life the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in August 79 AD.

Museum and Store Hours

Monday, Closed

Tuesday – Sunday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Third Thursday, 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.

Admission Prices

$10 Adults (18+)

$8 Seniors (65+)

$8 College Students w/valid ID

$5 Children/Students (6-17)

Members and children 5 and younger are free.