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Portland Art Museum
Major exhibitions complement the museum’s strong Native American and Northwest collections.
Know Before You Go
The museum is open with timed-entry tickets available online or in-person. Current exhibits include Mesh, featuring artists whose work touches on current social issues including the ongoing fight against racial injustice and conflicts over Indigenous land rights.
Masks are required for all visitors age 5 and older. For more information, please visit the Portland Art Museum website.
The Portland Art Museum is the largest art museum in Oregon and one of the oldest in the country. Located in two historic buildings on Portland’s South Park Blocks, the museum is central to the city’s cultural district and houses a large and wide-ranging collection of art.
#reopeningpdx Video Tour
Portland Art Museum Campus and History
First organized in 1892, the museum’s first exhibition was a set of magnificent plaster casts of Greek and Roman sculpture, now displayed in the upper hall of the city’s library. In 1932, the museum moved into the primary building, designed by Pietro Belluschi: a gracious contemporary update of the Georgian style, sleek-lined and advanced in its ideas. The museum’s renovation of the Masonic temple to its immediate north added more exhibition and office space to the campus in 2005.
Belluschi’s original design was ahead of its time. It was airy and admitted natural light into the museum’s galleries, especially the court beyond the entryway, and the visitor today experiences that grand space as a sort of surprise, given the museum’s relative scale. More wings were added, first to house the Pacific Northwest College of Art then known as the Museum Art School and ultimately separated into its own institution) and then a warren of smaller galleries. The old Masonic temple has become the Jubitz Center of Modern and Contemporary Art, though its old, ornate meeting rooms have been retained.
Northwest art is a primary attraction, cataloging the developments in Western art traditions in Oregon and Washington since the 19th century.
Portland Art Museum Collections
The museum has strong collections of prints and drawings, photography, Asian art, Native American (especially Pacific Coast) art, and Northwest art, and its European and American collections contain some extraordinary individual pieces, especially from the 19th and 20th centuries. The huge prints and drawings collection was built largely by the late Gordon Gilkey and includes Old Masters printmakers (Dürer, Rembrandt) and the most recent examples of the art forms. And under chief curator Bruce Guenther, the museum’s modern art holdings have increased dramatically, in part because of the addition of the collection of the great modernist critic Clement Greenberg, which gives the museum a unique window into the development of advanced art in the mid-20th century.
Native American Art
The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Center was sourced from two primary collectors: the Rasmussen Collection of Northwest Coast art, with its fabulous masks and whaling canoes, and the encyclopedic collection of Elizabeth Cole, which brings the exquisite work of Southwest, Plains, Plateau and Woodlands tribes into focus. The collection is dedicated to all the Native American tribes of Oregon.
Northwest Art
Northwest art is a primary attraction, cataloging the developments in Western art traditions in Oregon and Washington since the 19th century. The museum’s curators have wisely spread this work throughout the galleries, placing the best work of Northwest abstractionists alongside their more celebrated New York peers, for example, but a gallery specifically dedicated to Northwest art supplies a good introduction to the fine artists who have worked here (C.S. Price, Mark Tobey, Morris Graves, Hilda and Carl Morris, Sally Haley and Michele Russo).
Tips for Visiting the Portland Art Museum
How do I get to the Portland Art Museum?
Is there parking available?
The closest private lot is Central City Parking at SW 10th and Main.
Do I need to reserve tickets in advance?
How much does the Portland Art Museum cost?
– $20 for adults (18 and over)
– $17 for seniors 62+ and college students
– Free for children 17 and under
Special exhibition and program fees may apply.
Details are subject to change; please check the Portland Art Museum website for current information.
Visual Art Events
APEX: Sharita Towne & A Black Art Ecology of Portland
A “true grandchild of the Great Migration,” Sharita Towne creates installations that are multi-voiced, poetic, and informative. As a transdisciplinary artist, Towne has built a practice steeped in the work of collaboration, cultural organizing, and arts infrastructure building. Towne’s exhibition for the APEX series is a culmination of this work that takes her to the…
Isaka Shamsud-Din: Rock of Ages
“Portland Art Museum honors a local legend with its presentation of Isaka Shamsud-Din’s vivid narrative paintings, including the recent acquisition that gives this exhibit its title. Shamsud-Din uses his painterly brushstrokes and glowing colors to depict his own personal experiences and scenes of local culture and history, and his murals (also featured in the show)…
Mesh
Mesh features the bold work of four emerging and early career artists whose multidisciplinary work touches on current social issues including the ongoing fight against racial injustice and conflicts over Indigenous land rights. At the same time, through photography, painting, sculpture and mixed media they celebrate the ongoing presence of Native American art and culture…
Fertile Ground Festival
See Portland’s newest theater and dance works every January at Portland’s Fertile Ground Festival.
Last Thursday
Art Walk on Alberta This boisterous street fair attracts independent artists, performers, local bands, troupes of acrobats, buskers, makers and more to celebrate their art on Northeast Alberta Street. Held year-round, the event is biggest from June through August, when the street is closed to traffic during the festivities from 15th Avenue to 30th Avenue….
Winter Makers Mercado
Join the Portland Mercado for the Winter Makers Market which will happen EVERY SATURDAY at the Portland Mercado’s food and events plaza between November 13th to February 26th, (Every Saturday, EXCEPT 12/25 and 1/1)
Lunar New Year Celebration
Oregon 2022 Lunar New Year Celebration Plus Visual Art Exhibit, Craft Workshop & Performances Chinese Friendship Association of Portland (CFAP) is a non-profit organization, serving the local community. CFAP organizes multiple education and culture-focused events all year long, with their most popular event being the annual Lunar New Year (LNY) Celebration Gala. This year will…
First Thursday in the Pearl District
Started in 1986, First Thursday in the Pearl is a district-wide celebration that occurs on the first Thursday of each month. Originally a gathering of art collectors and dealers, the celebration has grown to a monthly event of over ten thousand people that includes art enthusiasts, wine aficionados, and scenesters looking to see and be…
Portland Winter Light Festival
Brighten your February with glowing sculptures and thousands of twinkling lights at the annual Winter Lights Festival.
Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, and Mexican Modernism
Internationally beloved artists Frida Kahlo (1907–1954) and Diego Rivera (1886–1957) played a crucial role in defining and establishing the Avant-Garde cultural movement in Mexico in the early 20th century. Their famously stormy marriage reflected their diverging artistic styles: While Rivera’s art projected itself outward, often in vast murals and concerned itself with the construction of…
Quilt, Craft & Sewing Festival
At the Quilt, Craft & Sewing Festival, you will find a wide variety of sewing, quilting, needle-art and craft supply exhibits from many quality companies, along with make ‘n’ takes, free demos, daily door prize drawings and more.
Mt. Tabor Art Walk
The Mt. Tabor Art Walk is a Portland tradition. This juried show and sale is a great opportunity to see quality visual art and meet artists in their studios and homes. Diverse media are represented including photography, painting, ceramics, sculpture, prints, metal arts, photography, glass, jewelry, book arts and mosaics. The Mt. Tabor Art Walk…
Rose Festival Grand Floral Parade
A cherished highlight of the Portland Rose Festival, this popular procession is more than a spectacular floral-filled parade; it’s a beloved annual tradition. For more than 100 years, Portland families, visitors and community groups have been making memories at the Rose Festival Grand Floral Parade. A colorful reflection of local, regional and international communities, the…
Portland Fashion Week
Portland Fashion Week, the Sundance™ of Fashion Weeks, is the 3rd oldest fashion week series in the United States, TIME ™ Magazine’s “BEST Indie Fashion Week in the USA since 2012, and the only carbon-negative fashion week in the world as outlined by The Huffington Post. From top-of-the-line eco-chic fashion experiences to our support for…
Rose City Comic Con
Portland’s premier pop-culture event, Rose City Comic Con is produced locally with a focus on creating a fun and friendly event for everyone. While its primary focus is that of comics, comic creators and the creative process, Rose City Comic Con also provides its attendees with access to gaming, sci-fi, cosplay, anime, fantasy and everything…
OSA and PAM Docents Group Show
The Oregon Society of Artists (OSA) and the Portland Art Museum (PAM) Docents are proud to present the Oregon Society of Artists and Portland Art Museum Docents’ Group Show. This exhibition features the diverse artwork and creativity of the individuals that compose two of the most established institutions in the region. Including painting, digital art,…
Power Positions: A Dismantling of Phallacies
This exhibition explores themes of misogyny, intersectional feminism, body politics, sex and sexuality, power/empowerment, and systems of oppression. It includes the work of five woman-identifying artists: Jen LaMastra, Natalie Kelton, Juvana Soliven, Essie Somma, and Sarah Stolar. This show is free and open to the public. Opening Reception on January 6th from 5–8pm Several of…
Modern Folk
Modern Folk features five artists who express distinct cultural identity through folk art traditions. Artists include Brianna Spencer, Deedee Cheriel, Gina M. Contreras, Kellen Chasuk, and Lisa Congdon.
Hallie Ford Fellows in the Visual Arts 2017-19
Curated by Jenelle Porter January 28 – March 20, 2022 This exhibition includes artworks by the fifteen artists honored with Hallie Ford Fellowships in the Visual Arts in 2017, 2018 and 2019: Corey Arnold, Avantika Bawa, Pat Boas, Bruce Burris, Julie Green, James Lavadour, Niraja Cheryl Lorenz, Elizabeth Malaska, Demian DinéYazhí, Harrell Fletcher, Jessica Jackson…
1989, Part II
1989, Part II At MinEastry of Postcollapse Art and Culture Curated by: Ilknur Demirkoparan and Vuslat D. Katsanis Artists: Silvia Amancei & Bogdan Armanu, Nikola Dabić, Frank Lahera O’Callaghan, Music X Habitat X Art (Amelie Jiang, Yaoyue Huang, Scott Lowell Sherman), Hamed Shafie, Maciek Stępniewski, Marta Stražičić, Tea Stražičić & Peter Christenson, Igor Vaganov, Kate…
Drags @ Zags – Brunch Painting Party
Put a little SPICE in your weekend. Hotel Zags will be serving up brunch on the patio while we guide you through a step-by-step painting party. Syra St. James and Valerie Deville will be assisting…and providing hilarious critiques along the way. Your ticket price includes brunch and all painting materials, instruction, aprons and an 11×14…
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