A program of the City of Auburn, The Vault Gallery is one of Auburn's newest art exhibition spaces. Artists are selected through an annual application process to create art installations in a small gallery within the Postmark Center for the Arts, dedicated to immersive and/or site-specific installations. The Vault Gallery provides a $1,000 artist stipend to support the creation of new work and site-specific projects for three-month exhibitions. The Vault Gallery is located at 20 Auburn Ave, in Auburn WA 98002, within the main gallery of the Postmark Center for the Arts.

For information on this art opportunity visit our Call To Artists page.

Current Exhibition

The History of the Postmark Center for the Arts

 Roof on Cupola Started c.1938
Image Courtesy of The White River Valley Museum

The first exhibition in the Vault Gallery will tell the intriguing visual story of the Postmark Center for the Arts’ building history, on view from our September 16, 2023 Grand Opening through January 2024. The building, located at 20 Auburn Avenue NE, was built in 1937 as the Auburn Post Office constructed under the national work relief program sponsored by the Public Works Administration. The land for the post office was offered by Levi Ballard, an early Auburn citizen and the town's first postmaster in 1886. In 1964, the building was purchased by the King County Department of Public Health, remodeled and used as a health clinic. Vacant since 2009, the City purchased the building from King County in 2016 with the intent to have this building again be a community asset and transform it into a vibrant arts & culture center. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and much care has been exercised to steward the landmark building with the help of funding from 4Culture and the King County Landmarks Commission.

For more information on the building's history visit our Building History webpage.