Portland Art Museum

article news schedule Mar 9, 2026

Celebrating Indigenous Vitality: MORE COLORS THAN THE EYE CAN SEE

The Portland Art Museum and SITE Santa Fe have launched "MORE COLORS THAN THE EYE CAN SEE," a national educational initiative based on Jeffrey Gibson’s historic solo exhibition for the U.S. Pavilion at the 60th Venice Biennale. Developed in collaboration with the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian and a cohort of ten educators, the project introduces 14 interdisciplinary K-12 lesson plans. These resources integrate Indigenous contemporary art into subjects ranging from mathematics to social studies, utilizing Gibson’s vibrant aesthetic to explore themes of identity, representation, and creative sovereignty.

museum exhibitions schedule Feb 22, 2026

A Conversation with Visual Artist Nick Cave

Acclaimed visual artist Nick Cave participated in a public lecture and live conversation moderated by Rukaiyah Adams, CEO of the 1803 Fund, as part of the Miller Family Free Day. The event centered on Cave’s multidisciplinary practice, specifically highlighting his work featured in the exhibition "Conductions: Black Imaginings II" and his iconic Soundsuits, which address themes of social justice, identity, and trauma.

museum exhibitions schedule Feb 14, 2026

David Hockney: Works from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation

The Portland Art Museum has opened an exhibition titled "David Hockney: Works from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation." The show features a significant selection of works by the renowned British artist, drawn from the extensive holdings of collector and philanthropist Jordan D. Schnitzer and his foundation.

article local schedule Dec 11, 2025

Renovated Whitsell Auditorium reopens as a destination for PAM CUT programming in film, new media, and visual storytelling

The renovated Whitsell Auditorium at the Portland Art Museum will reopen on January 10, 2026, as PAM CUT @ The Whitsell, marking the final phase of the museum's $116 million campus transformation. The 293-seat auditorium features upgraded seating, cinema projection, sound, and streaming capabilities, and is paired with the new Blair Family Gallery, which opens with Marco Brambilla's exhibition "Maximalist Dreamscapes." The space will host weekly screenings curated by Amy Dotson and Joanna Sokolowski, with guest curators including Carrie Brownstein and Lance Bangs, and partnerships with Criterion.

museum exhibitions schedule Nov 20, 2025

Lisa Jarrett: Tenderhead

Lisa Jarrett's first solo museum exhibition in Oregon, "Tenderhead," opens at an unspecified venue on May 21, 2026. The show features new works and site-responsive installations that explore Beauty Supply stores and salons as critical intersections of Black life, migration, and diaspora. Jarrett uses materials like pink kanekalon hair, pigment prints, foam rollers, and lace, treating the Beauty Supply as her art supply store and a living archive of memory and community.

museum exhibitions schedule Nov 20, 2025

Pipilotti Rist: 4th Floor to Mildness

Pipilotti Rist's major installation *4th Floor to Mildness* has opened at the Portland Art Museum's Crumpacker Center in its West Coast premiere and only second U.S. exhibition. The immersive work features underwater film projected onto two biomorphic screens, a soundtrack by experimental musician Soap&Skin/Anja Plaschg, and raft-like beds for visitors to lie on while experiencing floating imagery and moving light circles. The exhibition was adapted from its original 2022 presentation at the New Museum in New York, with local production partners including Portland Garment Factory and Figure Plant contributing to the installation.

museum exhibitions schedule Oct 15, 2025

Portland Art Museum celebrates opening of major expansion with four days of free admission

The Portland Art Museum will celebrate the opening of its major expansion and renovation with four days of free admission and activities from November 20 to 23, 2025. The centerpiece is the new Mark Rothko Pavilion, a nearly 22,000-square-foot transparent entrance that connects the museum's two campus buildings, adding nearly 100,000 square feet of new or upgraded public and gallery space. The transformed museum features a complete reinstallation of its collection with nearly 300 major new acquisitions by artists including Marie Watt, Simone Leigh, and Carrie Mae Weems, alongside thematic displays that emphasize place, community, and identity. Free tickets are available for reservation starting November 1, and the museum will also expand its regular hours beginning November 25.

museum exhibitions schedule Sep 27, 2025

Yoshida Chizuko

The Portland Art Museum is hosting the first major museum retrospective of Yoshida Chizuko (1924–2017), a pioneering Japanese modernist painter and printmaker. The exhibition features over 100 works, including early oil paintings, monotypes, woodblock prints, lithographs, and mixed media pieces, many never before exhibited. It traces her career from avant-garde abstraction in the 1940s and 1950s through op art and photoetchings in the 1960s and 1970s to nature-inspired late works, and includes a planned major acquisition from the Yoshida family estate.

article policy schedule Sep 10, 2025

Portland Art Museum announces major gift to endow Museum’s top position from Portland’s “First Family of the Arts”

The Portland Art Museum announced a $13.5 million gift from the late Arlene Schnitzer and the Schnitzer family, the largest individual donation in the museum's 132-year history. The endowment names the museum's director position, currently held by Brian Ferriso, as the Arlene & Harold Schnitzer Director. The Schnitzers, known as Portland's 'First Family of the Arts,' have supported the museum for nearly half a century through acquisitions, exhibitions, capital campaigns, and the creation of the Arlene and Harold Schnitzer Center for Northwest Art and the Schnitzer Sculpture Court. The gift is part of the museum's Connection Campaign, which will culminate in a transformed campus opening November 20.

museum exhibitions schedule Sep 6, 2025

Global Icons, Local Spotlight: Contemporary Art from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer

The Portland Art Museum (PAM) will open "Global Icons, Local Spotlight: Contemporary Art from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer" in September 2025, featuring over 75 works from the collections of Oregon collector Jordan D. Schnitzer and his Family Foundation. The exhibition includes pieces by major 20th-century artists like Jasper Johns, Helen Frankenthaler, and Robert Rauschenberg, as well as contemporary figures such as Nick Cave, Mickalene Thomas, and Jeffrey Gibson, many shown publicly for the first time. Highlights include Christopher Myers' installation "Let the Mermaids Flirt with Me," debuting at PAM after its 2022 Art Basel Miami premiere.

museum exhibitions schedule Aug 1, 2025

Meet the Curator: Informal Conversation on Monet’s Floating Worlds

The Portland Art Museum is hosting a series of informal, interactive conversations with curators and a conservator about the exhibition "Monet’s Floating Worlds at Giverny." Participants include Jeannie Kenmotsu, The Arlene and Harold Schnitzer Curator of Asian Art, and Hugo Torii, Garden Curator at Portland Japanese Garden. The free events explore connections between Monet’s waterlilies, Japanese printmaking, and conservation, encouraging open discussion and audience engagement.

person Portland Art Museum