"Portland Art Museum" Top 5 Page for this destination Museums Tip by glabah

There are a number of permanent exhibits and artifacts in the Portland art museum that are worthy of note, including a fine set of Native American works - some of which predate the concept of art museums. There are also several halls that feature traveling exhibits. In the past this has included treasures of ancient Egypt, rare collections from Russia, and ancient Chinese works.

As there are several halls (and indeed several buildings) that contain the traveling exhibit space, several of these traveling shows can visit at the same time.

Therefore, it always pays to check the web site to see what happens to be at the museum. If you are paying to enter the museum to see just one show, you might as well wander around a bit and see some of the other shows and/or some of the permanent items.

PLEASE NOTE: The museum is always closed on Mondays.

Photography within the museum is specifically prohibited. Therefore, all of my photos are of the exterior features and artwork of the building.

In fairly recent times, the museum purchased the huge Masonic Temple next door, and expanded into the new space, which is now called the Mark Building. Between the two structures is now a courtyard referred to as the Fred Meyer Plaza. The plaza has a number of art objects in it, mostly fairly modern sculptures.

The Portland Streetcar operates northbound on the street directly west of the museum (southbound cars use the next street to the west from there), and there is even a Portland Streetcar station called Art Museum. While it is somewhat convenient, the museum is designed to face the South Park Blocks, and therefore the back of the museum faces the streetcar stop. This leads to a fairly unattractive station, as can be seen in the photo.

If you are interested in art, and the rain isn't too heavy, pay a visit to the several sculptures outside the museum, as well as those on the South Park Blocks which are located right outside the museum's front door. The Giant Salmon through the Building sculpture, across the street from the northwest corner of the South Park Blocks, is particularly unusual.

Address: 1219 SW Park Avenue, Portland, OR 97205
Directions: There is little parking nearby (only streetside, which is usually occupied during museum hours) but the Portland Streetcar is only blocks away. See details in description.
Phone: (503) 226-2811
Website: http://portlandartmuseum.org/