Artworks by contemporary Oregon Native artists on view in Thlatwa Thlatwa: Indigenous Currents.

Credit: Courtesy Portland Art Museum

Center for Native American Art

Discover creative works by proud Pacific Northwest artists at the Portland Art Museum.

Updated Mar. 26, 2020 1 min read

Molly Woodstock

Molly Woodstock has been writing and editing content for Travel Portland since 2014. Read More

The Portland Art Museum safeguards treasures of all kinds, from impressionist paintings to Chinese ceramics dating back two millennia. But one collection runs especially deep: The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Center for Native American Art houses 3,500 artifacts from tribes across what is now the United States, making it one of the most comprehensive assemblages of historic Native culture in the country.

The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Center for Native American Art is one of the most comprehensive assemblages of historic Native culture in the country.

Native art isn’t a thing of the past, however. In October 2015, the Portland Art Museum launched the Center for Contemporary Native Art, dedicated to presenting perspectives from modern-day Native cultures. With more than 5 million Native Americans alive today, there’s a diverse well of talent to draw from. (Portland alone boasts the ninth-largest Native American population in the country, and took root on land that belonged to tribes like the Multnomah, Clackamas and Chinook.) The innovative gallery will host two exhibitions each year, along with a range of related talks and activities co-created by the artists.

Arts, Cultural Communities, Museums & History