It seems that Seattle may finally get the museum it deserves.

According to the Seattle Times, major collectors have given the Seattle Art Museum nearly 1,000 pieces of art — valued at more than $1 billion — in anticipation of its reopening May 5.

"About 200 of the recently acquired artworks — including Constantin Brancusi's 1926 sculpture 'Bird in Space,' Georgia O'Keeffe's 1918 painting 'Music — Pink and Blue No. 1,' Mark Rothko's 1956 'Orange on Red' and Morris Graves' 1943 'Bird in the Night' — will be on display when the museum's new downtown expansion opens," according to the article.

I think I speak for all Seattleites when I say, "Thank God. It's been a long time coming."

SAM has long been a bit of an embarrassment for Seattle — frequently viewed as a place to take older, out-of-town guests, yet never worth visiting on a regular basis.

French poet Alphonse de Lamartine once wrote, "Museums are the cemeteries of the arts."

At SAM, however, this could be said without a tinge of irony.

The permanent collections frequently ran stale, the rotation of artwork was deathly slow and high-profile exhibitions such as the Frida Kahlo in 2002 and From Van Gogh to Mondrian in 2004 were few and far between.

Tragically, despite the vibrant nature of Seattle's art community, many Seattleites have realized that viewing great art — modern or otherwise — warrants a trip to San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago or New York and decidedly outside of Washington.

This is why announcements such as the recent one SAM made, although they are surely shrewd public relations moves to create buzz for the reopening, give me hope.

Why? Because I remember how I felt at the age of 7 when I first visited SAM for its grand opening on University Street. The "Hammering Man" had never seemed more gigantic, and as I stared at vivid canvases much bigger than myself, a part of my reverence for the arts was solidified.

Unfortunately, trips to the Getty Museum, SFMOMA, MOMA, the Guggenheim and eventually the Centre Pompidou in Paris made SAM seem smaller and smaller and made Seattle appear all the more provincial.

Where were our stunning photography exhibits ranging from Stieglitz to Arbus to Sherman? Where were our Warhols, DeKoonigs and Rauschenbergs? In fact, where was any art that had been made in the last ten years?

Soon, bus rides down First Avenue past SAM issued frequent occasions to sigh, and when the museum closed last January for renovation, I was relieved.

Though some of the donations were expected within SAM's $1 billion trust, including the extensive Virginia and Bagley Wright's collection of post-World War II and contemporary art, with major works by Rothko, Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Anselm Kiefer, Helen Frankenthaler and Donald Judd, one also hopes that the museum will tap into its newfound weight to attract exhibitions and donors of even greater clout.

For instance, wouldn't it be nice if Paul Allen would open up this rumored-legendary collection to the public for less than the $20 a head he charged for "Double-Take" at the EMP?

Or if SAM were able to maintain a scheduled exhibition space for newer artists on par with those featured in the MOMA?

Maybe then, we wouldn't have to leave the state to see great art and Seattle might finally be known for something other than coffee and the Space Needle.

Reach columnist Maureen Trantham at opinion@thedaily.washington.edu.