Goodbye, crafted wooden sculptures and large-scale oil paintings. Hello, PACCAR truck, multistory climber, interactive water exhibit and art studio with kiln.

KidsQuest Children’s Museum, a Bellevue-based museum for hands-on play and learning, is purchasing the Bellevue Arts Museum building and the land it sits on. The institutions jointly announced the news Wednesday afternoon.

BAM closed last year following financial collapse and filed for receivership, a court process akin to bankruptcy. A court-appointed receiver, Shelly Crocker, hoped to achieve a merger or purchase to make the museum’s creditors whole and ensure BAM can spin off into a Bellevue Arts Fair-focused nonprofit of its own. With an agreed-upon purchase price of $5 million, that outcome is likely.

KidsQuest president and

See Full Page