Bellevue, WA—Bellevue Arts Museum is excited to announce that Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright will visit Bellevue on March 19, 2015 in celebration of the exhibition Read My Pins: The Madeleine Albright Collection on view at the Museum March 13 – June 7.

Dr. Albright was named the first female Secretary of State in 1997 and became, at the time, the highest ranking woman in the history of the U.S. government. Her visit presents an unmatched opportunity for young people in our community to hear firsthand from this influential figure about her historic career and famous pin collection.

A Student Forum will be held at the Museum on Thursday, March 19, from 10:00 to 11:30am. Two hundred invited students from local high schools will join Dr. Albright at BAM for the event. Local schools include: six schools from Bellevue School District, Eastside Preparatory School, Academy for Precision Learning, and Forest Ridge School of the Sacred Heart. Mona Locke, Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications at Intellectual Ventures and former first lady of Washington State, will introduce Dr. Albright who will participate in a panel discussion with student representatives. Dr. Albright will talk about how she used her pins as a means of personal and diplomatic expression, highlighting examples of brooches in the exhibition, and discuss the current foreign policy challenges facing the United States.

“We’re thrilled to be able to offer this once-in-a-life-time opportunity to students in our community. Having both the exhibition and Secretary Albright at BAM for the event allows for an integrated discussion around history, the arts, and the future, and we are incredibly excited to be able to bring this all together.” said Linda Pawson, Executive Director at BAM.

Read My Pins: The Madeleine Albright Collection has been organized by the Museum of Arts and Design, New York. Generous support for this exhibition was provided by Bren Simon and for the exhibition catalogue by St. John Knits. The local presentation of this exhibition is curated by Stefano Catalani and presented by Fred Meyer Jewelers.

ABOUT BELLEVUE ARTS MUSEUM 
Bellevue Arts Museum is a leading destination in the Pacific Northwest to experience art, craft, and design. BAM engages the community through exhibitions, programs, and publications, featuring regional, national, and international artists. bellevuearts.org.

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