Emilly Prado

Emilly Prado

Emilly Prado is a writer, award-winning journalist and consultant living in Portland. Read More

People look at art, including a large, floor-to-ceiling installation featuring many faces, from several different angles: from outside a window, from a ground floor view, and looking over a balcony. People look at art, including a large, floor-to-ceiling installation featuring many faces, from several different angles: from outside a window, from a ground floor view, and looking over a balcony.
i
Visitors explore views of Tenderheaded by Lisa Jarrett in the Black Art and Experiences Gallery at the Portland Art Museum.
Credit: Jeremy Bittermann

Portland Art Museum

The oldest art museum in the Northwest delights visitors with its permanent collection, sculpture garden and frequent major exhibitions.

4 min read Downtown
Emilly Prado

Emilly Prado

Emilly Prado is a writer, award-winning journalist and consultant living in Portland. Read More

Jump To

About the Museum

The Portland Art Museum (PAM), founded in 1892, has long been a hub for artistic celebration and culture in the Pacific Northwest. As one of the largest museums on the West Coast, spanning more than 2.5 city blocks, it welcomes over 350,000 visitors each year. In 2025, the museum unveiled a major expansion that added 100,000 square feet of new or upgraded public and gallery space and improved access to exhibitions and programs.

The Portland Art Museum is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, and visitors of all ages can wander through the innovative gallery displays, stock up on artsy goods at the gift shop and rest on sleek benches with sketchbooks in hand. Patrons can also visit the Coquelico café, a partnership with well-known Portland culinary marketplace Providore Fine Foods.

1 of 6
Credit: Jeremy Bittermann
a visitor looks at a large modern art painting in the Portland Art Museum
2 of 6
A visitor looks at Open Country (1968) by Larry Poons at the Portland Art Museum.
a person is highlighted in a darkened gallery as they look at a sculpture of suspended stones
3 of 6
A visitor examines a sculpture at the Portland Art Museum.
native American artworks in a brightly-lit museum gallery, including traditional and contemporary robes and art
4 of 6
The Joe and Shelley Voboril Gallery highlights Plains regional works from the Portland Art Museum's collection of Native American art.
in a gallery at the Portland Art Museum, a facilitator tosses scarves into the air for children to play with
5 of 6
The Portland Art Museum offers events for families and children.
a crowded gallery exhibition labeled Crafting Pinnochio
6 of 6
Visitors explore the Guillermo del Toro: Crafting Pinocchio exhibition at the Portland Art Museum.

The museum’s collection of more than 50,000 objects reflects the history of art from ancient times to today, and is distinguished for its holdings of arts of the native peoples of North America, English silver and graphic arts.

PAM also operates the Tomorrow Theater, a creative hub offering programming including film screenings, interactive artworks and other participatory experiences.

Upcoming Events at the Portland Art Museum

Visitors walk along a large open plaza toward a glass building between two brick buildings.
The Portland Art Museum, located in Portland’s South Park Blocks, is central to the city’s cultural district and houses a large and wide-ranging art collection.

Credit: Jeremy Bittermann

Frequently Asked Questions

When can I visit the Portland Art Museum?

The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The museum is closed on Monday. On the first Thursday of each month, the museum offers free admission and extended hours from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Holiday closures include Jan. 1, Jul. 4, Thanksgiving (Nov. 27, 2025), and Dec. 25.

How much are tickets to the Portland Art Museum?

Admission is $27.50 for adults, $24.50 for seniors and $22.50 for college students (with student ID). Entry is free for children 17 and under and for Portland Art Museum members. The museum also hosts Free First Thursdays and other special days offering free admission and discounts.

Special exhibition and program fees may apply.

Details are subject to change; please check the Portland Art Museum website for current information.

Is there parking available?

On-street metered parking (90-minute, 2-hour and 5-hour) is available at $3 per hour Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sundays from 1 to 7 p.m., unless otherwise posted. On Sundays before 1 p.m. and on designated holidays, on-street parking is free. 

The closest private lot is Central City Parking at SW 10th and Main.

Learn more about parking options with our guide to parking in Portland.

Where is the Portland Art Museum?

The Portland Art Museum is a two-block campus at 1219 SW Park Ave. Portland, Oregon 97205. It is in the South Park Blocks in downtown Portland’s cultural district.

Is the Portland Art Museum accessible for people who use wheelchairs?

Yes, all galleries, restrooms and drinking fountains are wheelchair accessible. The museum also offers manual wheelchairs for reservation or request. There are assistive technologies such as magnifiers, flashlights, EnChroma glasses, iPads, tactile representations and audio guides. Additional information and contact info can be found on the museum accessibility page.

Does the Portland Art Museum have a cafe?

Yes, the Portland Art Museum features the Coquelico café, a partnership with well-known Portland culinary marketplace Providore Fine Foods. Nearby food and drink options abound, including the cozy Behind the Museum Café and the seasonal Shemanski Park Farmers Market on Wednesdays in the neighboring South Park Blocks.

What is the Portland Art Museum known for?

The Portland Art Museum (PAM) is the largest museum in Oregon, with robust, diverse permanent collections and large graphic art and silver collections. PAM is also known for hosting many major visiting exhibitions.

What is the most famous piece at the Portland Art Museum?

The Portland Art Museum has several strong collections featuring thousands of talented artists. Vincent Van Gogh’s Ox-Cart painting (1884) — one of Van Gogh’s earliest works — is one of the museum’s most valuable and well-known artworks. Other notable pieces include Claude Monet’s Waterlilies (1914), Kehinde Wiley’s Likunt Daniel Ailin (2013), and work by famous artists such as Ansel Adams, Pierre Renoir, and Diego Rivera. The museum will also display at least one piece by Mark Rothko through 2045.

How big is the Portland Art Museum collection?

The Portland Art Museum’s permanent collection has over 42,000 objects. Additional rotating artworks are showcased during special and touring exhibitions.

What kind of art is in the Portland Art Museum?

The Portland Art Museum’s collections span ancient and contemporary times across many media. Visitors can browse Native American, Asian, African, European, Pre-Columbian, and American collections in numerous galleries and even enjoy the arts outdoors in the public sculpture garden.

Planning Your Visit

Exhibitions

The Portland Art Museum is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The museum is closed on Mondays. Please confirm hours and closures on the Portland Art Museum website before visiting.

bronze sculpture in front of classical paintings
1 of 6
Classical art on display at Portland Art Museum.
In a large dark room, people lay on beds looking up at projections on screens on the ceiling of a museum
2 of 6
People take in a view of 4th Floor To Mildness by Pipilotti Rist in the Crumpacker Center of the Portland Art Museum.
Credit: Jeremy Bittermann. © Pipilotti Rist, Courtesy the artist, Hauser & Wirth and Luhring Augustine / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ProLitteris, Zurich.
a display of native american art at portland art museum
3 of 6
Explore the Portland Art Museum’s collection of Native American art in the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Center for Native American Art.
Credit: Catalina Gaitan
a circular metallic outdoor sculpture
4 of 6
Public art abounds in the city, like this steel sculpture outside of the Portland Art Museum.
Credit: Jamie Francis
sculpture of woman outside Portland Art Museum
5 of 6
Basking in the grounds at Portland Art Museum, you'll come upon sculpture on display.
stained glass boxes with neon sign text in background
6 of 6
Explore new art at the Jubitz Center for Modern and Contemporary Arts at Portland Art Museum.

Mark Rothko Pavilion

People stand on several levels of a large, airy gallery displaying several ornate abstract sculptures.
Visitors explore the Whitsell Family Gallery in the Mark Rothko Pavilion of the Portland Art Museum.

Named for the abstract artist Mark Rothko, who grew up in Portland, the Rothko Pavilion opened in 2025. It connects the two buildings of the Portland Art Museum and provides a welcoming new entrance and focal point for the museum.

Permanent Collection

Visitors view an installation at the Portland Art Museum
The renowned Portland Art Museum is the oldest museum in the Pacific Northwest. Located in the heart of downtown’s Cultural District, the museum’s campus includes an outdoor sculpture court, permanent galleries and special exhibitions.

The Portland Art Museum’s permanent collections are shaped by several geographic areas, mediums and communities spanning two millennia and include paintings, sculptures, ceramics, prints, drawings, objects, and more. The permanent collections, browseable online, are categorized into American art, Asian art, European art, graphic arts, modern and contemporary art, Native American art, Northwest art, photography, silver and new media.

The multi-story Native American art collection, housed in the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Center for Native American Art within PAM, has a sizable collection of more than 3,500 artworks created by at least 200 tribal communities from the Americas. In late 2015, the museum also added the Center for Contemporary Native Art gallery to showcase the breadth of art by renowned modern-day Native American artists, including James Lavadour, Allan Houser, Maria Martinez, Wendy Red Star, and Marie Watt.

Rotating Exhibitions

a woman stands in an art museum
Sarah Sabino viewing her art installation in the AUX/MUTE Gallery in Portland Art Museum.

Credit: Jason Hill by better.

At PAM, several special exhibitions are presented to the public, rotating throughout the year. Major touring retrospectives like Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, and Mexican Modernism and Dakota Modern: The Art of Oscar Howe join groundbreaking collaborations with local community artists at the museum. These include Black Artists of Oregon (2024), curated by multi-disciplinary artist and journalist Intisar Abioto and the AUX/MUTE Gallery located at PAM CUT (which is presented by Oregon’s only Black-led radio station, The Numberz FM.)

Chairs and stools with a mix of patterned fabric face multiple screens displaying faces of several Black people
Do I Look Like a Lady? (Comedians and Singers) by Mickalene Thomas on display in the Portland Art Museum’s Black Art and Experiences Gallery.

The Black Art and Experiences Gallery, part of the 2025 expansion, and is a dedicated space showcasing rotating exhibitions, multimedia installations and community-driven programs highlighting regional, national and global artists of the African diaspora.

Situated on the first floor of PAM’s Jubitz Center for Modern and Contemporary Art in the Mark Building, the gallery space is visible through the museum’s transparent façade when visitors pass along the public walkway.

PAM/CUT

The Portland Art Museum’s Center for an Untold Tomorrow (PAM CUT) was unveiled in 2022, but was born from a rich five-decade history as the Northwest Film Center. The new name formally marks the museum’s creative pivot, expanding its scope beyond solely short and feature films to include multimedia arts such as virtual reality and artificial intelligence.

Visitors can enjoy screenings and multimedia experiences at the Portland Art Museum in the New Media gallery and at the Tomorrow Theater, which opened in 2023 in Southeast Portland’s Division neighborhood.

Events at PAM Cut's Tomorrow Theater

Portland Art Museum Events and Activities

a group of children participate in arts and crafts activities at the Portland Art Museum
The Portland Art Museum’s family day events help visitors of all ages connect with the museum’s collections in new ways.

The Portland Art Museum hosts ongoing programming, including tours, in-gallery curator conversations, family- and educator-centered talks, interactive classes and workshops, and more. The free Bloomberg Connects app provides a digital guide to PAM, while the online calendar lists upcoming artist talks and events.

The Portland Art Museum also serves as the primary venue for the annual Portland Book Festival. In addition to panels, signings and author conversations, the pop-up author reading series features writers reading in front of artworks throughout the galleries. Be sure to check the online calendar.

Explore the Arts

Within the Portland Art Museum and beyond, to local institues supporting living artists.

More Visual Arts
two people looking at artwork in a gallery

Oregon Contemporary

In North Portland find visual art installations and performance art to collaborations with bands, chefs and mixologists, with international curators and partnerships with Oregon art makers, Oregon Contemporary is the cutting edge of visual arts.

three people standing near a food cart carrying books

The Portland Book Festival

Portland Book Festival (formerly “Wordstock”) returns every November with an impressive (and extensive) lineup of local and national authors.

a performer on stage

Time-Based Art (TBA) Festival

Portland’s Time-Based Art Festival (TBA) returns every September with boundary-pushing performances, visual art and projects that defy categorization.

white walled interior of an art gallery with 6 paintings hanging on three sides of an open room

Portland Art Gallery Scene

Art enthusiasts will find a dose of inspiration in Portland’s tight-knit independent gallery scene.

A person explores brightly lit, highly textured cave-like structure.

Explore Portland’s Immersive Art Experiences

From a “quantum trampoline” at Hopscotch Portland to a larger-than-life troll, get a taste of the region’s immersive art exhibits.

person walking through a museum exhibition of different trees

Fun and Weird Museums

From the weird to the wonderful, Portland’s specialty museums offer a wide range of exhibits, from educational displays to curious collections and even exhibitions devoted to alternate universes.

Events at the Portland Art Museum

Explore fun and fascinating visual arts and events at the largest art museum in Oregon.

More Portland Events

Visit our events calendar to discover even more things to do in Portland. Search by date, event type and more.

See All Events

Arts, Attractions, Museums