The Portland Art Museum announced a major endowment from the late Arlene Schnitzer and the Schnitzer family on Friday evening that includes the naming of its Director position, currently held by Brian Ferriso, as the Arlene & Harold Schnitzer Director.

The Schnitzer family, led by Arlene Schnitzer, contributed $13.5 million to the Museum’s Connection Campaign—the largest ever from an individual donor in the Museum’s 132-year history.

“I am pleased to be the first Arlene and Harold Schnitzer Director at the Portland Art Museum,” said Portland Art Museum Director Brian Ferriso. “The Schnitzer family has made extraordinary contributions as leaders and donors to this institution as well as arts organizations throughout Oregon and across the country.”

Long known for their leadership in sustaining and growing Portland’s cultural sphere, the Schnitzers have earned recognition as the city’s “First Family of the Arts.” The late Arlene Schnitzer (1929 – 2020) began her relationship with the Portland Art Museum as a young woman when she enrolled as a student at the Museum Art School. She and her husband, Harold Schnitzer (1923–2011), along with their son, Jordan, have been close partners of the Museum for almost half a century.

“I know that my mother and father are both looking down, so proud of the effort that Brian, the talented staff at the Portland Art Museum, the Board of Trustees, and everyone in the community have done to help position the Portland Art Museum as one of the most important regional art museums in the country,” said Jordan Schnitzer.

The Schnitzers’ passion for art and Portland led to leadership roles at the Museum. The Schnitzers have provided financial support for important acquisitions, exhibitions, and capital campaigns; donated their Chinese Han Dynasty collection and other works to the Museum’s collection; and made significant investments in furthering the scholarship of the curatorial team through endowments of Northwest and Asian art, whose curatorial positions are named in their honor. Arlene Schnitzer also established an endowment for early Chinese art and an endowment for special exhibitions. The Schnitzers’ vision and generosity led to the creation of the Museum’s Arlene and Harold Schnitzer Center for Northwest Art, celebrating the creative vitality of the region. The spacious Arlene and Harold Schnitzer Sculpture Court in the Museum’s main building will continue to be a key area of art connection in the Museum’s transformed campus, opening November 20, which the Schnitzers played a major role in bringing to reality with historic leadership gifts to the Connection Campaign.

In recognition of their incredible commitment and contributions, in 2007, Harold and Arlene Schnitzer were named the first-ever Life Trustees of the Museum. In 2014, the Museum showcased Arlene and Harold’s distinguished collection with the exhibition and publication In Passionate Pursuit: The Harold and Arlene Schnitzer Collection and Legacy. That exhibition displayed artwork by many of the Northwest artists whose careers Mrs. Schnitzer nurtured through her Fountain Gallery, including Robert Colescott, the focus of the 2020 special exhibition Art and Race Matters: The Career of Robert Colescott.

Arlene and Harold Schnitzer’s son, ARTNews Top 200 Art Collector Jordan Schnitzer, continues his family’s legendary support of the Museum and other arts and culture organizations across the world. He shares works from his world-renowned contemporary art collection with Portland Art Museum visitors through exhibitions like Global Icons, Local Spotlight: Contemporary Art from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer, which debuted Saturday, September 6, and David Hockney: Works from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation opening in February 2026.

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Portland 

Oregon

The Museum offers dynamic school and community programs for audiences of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities, designed to deepen engagement with its permanent collection and temporary exhibitions. K-12 school group visits and tours are completely free, and of the more than 380,000 visitors a year, 20,000 are students and youth. In 2024, nearly half of school visits were Title 1 schools, which are designated by the percentage of students from low-income families. PAM works with more than 50 community and education organizations throughout Oregon, and over 900 educators participate in learning programs and partnerships. 

PAM’s education programs also reach beyond the walls of our Museum. The Poster Project brings art into classrooms across the region, especially for educators in rural communities, with more than 26,000 posters distributed since the project began in 2015, and we celebrate a century-plus relationship with the largest public school district in the region.   

With school and community initiatives and a recommitment to existing programs, PAM continues to center learning at the heart of its work as it enters the next phase of its future. Following the opening of PAM’s transformed campus, the Museum will expand its offerings with new, dedicated spaces that provide increased flexibility for and access to community-based programming. We can’t wait to welcome students, educators, and the entire community into the newly transformed Museum this November.

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Portland Art Museum (PAM) today announced that it will create a dedicated gallery space with exhibition programming focused on Black art and experiences, thanks to a generous multi-year grant from 1803 Fund. The award establishes a five-year partnership between PAM and 1803 Fund, a nonprofit committed to rebuilding and strengthening the historically Black community in North and Northeast Portland.

Situated on the first floor of PAM’s Jubitz Center for Modern and Contemporary Art in the Mark Building, the new gallery space will be visible through the Museum’s transparent façade as visitors traverse a public community passageway, expanding the reach of these installations and contributing to the integration of cultural and public life in downtown Portland. The Black Art and Experiences gallery will open in late 2025 in tandem with the unveiling of PAM’s broader campus expansion and renovation project, which will completely transform the existing Museum and create a vital “cultural commons” in the heart of downtown Portland.

“We are deeply grateful to 1803 Fund for the support and recognition of PAM as a beacon for all of Portland’s diverse audiences and are thrilled for the opportunity to provide a platform for voices that have often been marginalized in the broader art world,” said Brian Ferriso, Director of the Portland Art Museum. “Through this partnership, we want to continue to spotlight the ongoing growth and vitality of Portland’s Black artistic community, as well as nationally and internationally recognized Black artists, to create an inclusive and welcoming space that resonates with generations of visitors to come.”

Through this partnership, PAM will continue to build upon efforts to diversify its collection and exhibition programming and uplift historically underrepresented artists. With the creation of the Black Art and Experiences gallery, the Museum will have a dedicated space to showcase works by local, regional, and global Black artists and present exhibitions, performances, and programs that reflect the multitude of Black experiences. At inception, PAM is organizing exhibitions and programs of new work as well as collection presentations with the ultimate goal of securing funding to establish an endowment to hire a dedicated curatorial position. The new gallery is the latest initiative in PAM’s ongoing commitment to center Black voices, most recently reflected in the 2023 exhibition Black Artists of Oregon, curated by Intisar Abioto, which explored the Black diasporic experiences particular to the Pacific Northwest from the 1880s to the present day.

The inaugural presentation in PAM’s new Black Art and Experiences Gallery, opening in late 2025, will encompass four exhibitions. This will include Tenderhead, a solo exhibition featuring new works and a site-specific installation by Portland artist Lisa Jarrett; an exhibition of prints by Black artists drawn from PAM’s collection, including recent acquisitions of works by Derrick Adams, Robert Pruitt, Alison Saar, Gary Simmons, and others;  Do I Look Like a Lady? (Comedians and Singers) (2016), a video installation by  Mickalene Thomas; and Conductions: Black Imaginings, a series of performances with artists Noah Beckham, Miles Greenberg, and Bridgette Hickey. The exhibitions are organized by Portland Art Museum curatorial staff: Sara Krajewski, Jaleesa Johnston, and Mary Weaver Chapin.

1803 Fund seeks to nurture collaboration, autonomy, and power in Black Portland, through social and financial investment. Launched in 2020 with funding provided by Phil and Penny Knight, the Fund centers culture as one of three key program areas, and supports projects that celebrate creativity and sustain the communal element of Black artistic life in the city. The partnership between 1803 and PAM serves to amplify the Museum’s role as an important source of inspiration for those who live and work in Oregon, and an essential cultural lifeline for the region’s diverse communities.

“1803 Fund is excited to partner with the Portland Art Museum for Black Art and Experiences,” said Rukaiyah Adams, Chief Executive Officer of 1803 Fund. “This partnership is a meaningful evolution—moving from Black artists and audiences petitioning for admission into hushed, venerated spaces, and moving toward working in collaboration on dynamic places that uplift our collective creativity and highest aspirations. We are excited to become strategic partners to PAM.”

The new gallery space is a key component of PAM’s broader campus transformation. Adding nearly 100,000 square feet of new or upgraded public and gallery space, the project provides increased access to the Museum’s exhibitions and programs, new ways to experience its robust collection and new amenities that address the needs of more diverse audiences. Upon the project’s completion, visitors will encounter an entirely new Museum experience with completely reinstalled galleries and new, more intuitive pathways to encounter art.

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As we enter a new year, I am pleased to share that the second half of 2024 was filled with powerful works of art, major accomplishments, community connections, and much more. We kept our doors open during our ongoing campus transformation project with exhibitions offering a wide range of art and experiences for visitors. Future Now: From Virtual Sneakers to Cutting Edge Kicks and Monet to Matisse offered a delightful juxtaposition of art forms, while Paul McCartney Photographs 1963-64: Eyes of the Storm and Psychedelic Rock Posters and Fashion of the 1960s highlight pivotal cultural moments. Across town, we celebrated one year of PAM CUT’s Tomorrow Theater on Portland’s east side, and across the globe, we closed our historic exhibition representing the United States at the Venice Biennale in Italy, known as the Olympics of the art world. 

We also continued our free access days—Free First Thursdays, supported by the Art Bridges Foundation’s Access for All Program, and quarterly Miller Family Community Free Days—serving more than 20,000 visitors since July 2024. Thank you for your continued support, and cheers to 2025.

Sincerely, 

Brian Ferriso, Director, Portland Art Museum

Program highlights & news

Campus Transformation

In October 2024, the Museum shared more details about what visitors will experience in the reinstalled galleries later this year. The project to transform the existing museum will add almost 100,000 square feet of new or upgraded public and gallery space. Expanded and renovated galleries will feature a complete reinstallation of the Museum’s wide-ranging collection, highlighting nearly 300 major new acquisitions including works by Jeffrey Gibson, Simone Leigh, Ugo Rondinone, Wendy Red Star, Pedro Reyes, Marie Watt, and Carrie Mae Weems, alongside works that are rarely or have never before been on view, revealing new perspectives that emphasize key themes of place, community, and identity.

• July 2024 marked the topping-out construction milestone for the final steel beam placement on the Mark Rothko Pavilion. 
• Travel + Leisure: The 50 Best Places to Travel in 2025
• The Observer, a well-respected British publication, included the Portland Art Museum in its list of the “most anticipated art museum openings and expansions of 2025.”

Venice Biennale

Jeffrey Gibson’s exhibition, the space in which to place me, closed on November 24 after an incredible seven months. The Portland Art Museum and SITE Santa Fe, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, presented Jeffrey Gibson as the representative for the United States at the 60th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. Nearly 570,000 people from around the world visited the exhibition in Venice, Italy, providing unparalleled visibility for the Museum and the city of Portland. 

The exhibition also included an educational component so that its impact could be shared broadly for years to come. A convening organized by Bard College’s Center for Indigenous Studies (Annandale-on-Hudson, NY) in collaboration with the Portland Art Museum and SITE Santa Fe, brought together practitioners, academics, artists, and theorists for a symposium to explore the relationship between Indigenous North American cultures and global histories. Five Oregon educators from public schools and universities traveled to Venice to participate and their work will live on as part of the Smithsonian’s Native Knowledge 360°.  

• Hyperallergic – A Swell of Native Pride at Jeffrey Gibson’s Venice Symposium
• Miller Family Free Day celebrates the space in which to place me

Monet’s Waterlilies

In May, the Museum received Bank of America funding for the restoration of Monet’s Waterlilies, a visitor favorite. The conservation project, led by PAM conservator Charlotte Ameringer, is focused on returning Waterlilies to Monet’s intended appearance by removing a non-original varnish to bring back the soft, subtle colors and variations of texture and luminosity.

• OPB – Portland Art Museum begins painstaking Claude Monet restoration
• Portland Monthly – Getting Handsy with Monet’s Water Lilies at PAM

The conservation process has been documented through a series of videos and culminates in just a few months when Waterlilies will be on view as part of the new exhibition Monet’s Floating Worlds at Giverny: Portland’s Waterlilies Resurfaces.

PAM CUT // Center for an Untold Tomorrow

In June PAM CUT held the 5th annual Cinema Unbound Awards. The awards honor artistic innovators working at the intersection of art and cinematic storytelling and celebrate multidisciplinary artists who push the boundaries of what’s possible in media arts. 
November marked the first anniversary of the opening of PAM CUT’s Tomorrow Theater in SE Portland. Since opening its doors the theater has welcomed nearly 40,000 guests for hundreds of unique, one-night-only events that combine two or more art forms that celebrate storytelling in all its forms. From internationally known artists like David Byrne, Ani DiFranco, Ruth E. Carter, and Julio Torres to free events and $5 family movies to bingo nights, crafternoons, and more. It has been a resounding success.

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This spring brought historic recognition for the Portland Art Museum locally, nationally, and internationally. Most notable is our leadership at the Venice Biennale – the most prestigious art events in the world and commonly referred to as the Olympics of art. The Portland Art Museum and SITE Santa Fe were selected as co-commissioners by the U.S. State Department to present interdisciplinary artist Jeffrey Gibson. Gibson’s solo exhibition the space in which to place me was curated by Kathleen Ash-Milby, PAM Curator of Native American Art and Abigail Winograd, independent curator. This historic occasion marks the first time a Native American artist has represented the U.S. with a solo exhibition at the Biennale.

Kathleen and several members of the PAM team, including myself, traveled to Venice to facilitate this important opening on April 20. The Museum has already begun to bring the sights and sounds back to Portland, and we are pleased to be leading a trip to Venice for Oregon and New Mexico educators in June that will result in classroom resources so the exhibition can be shared with students across the state. The New York Times, BBC, and other outlets have published multiple stories about Gibson and the Biennale, and have noted Kathleen’s work as well as celebrated the Portland Art Museum’s role. We could not be more proud to represent our city and our country. I encourage you to watch this incredible video featuring a jingle dance performance at the Biennale.

The New York Times also recently featured the Portland Art Museum and our annual Power Up! program, which invites LGBTQ youth to create art and make personal connections, and our campus transformation project was covered in The Art Newspaper International. Meanwhile, this spring the Museum continued its long-standing partnership with Portland Public Schools hosting the HeART of Portland: A Portland Schools K-12 Arts Showcase. I invite you to learn more below.

Sincerely, 

Brian Ferriso, Portland Art Museum Director

Program highlights & news

Venice Biennale

The Portland Art Museum and SITE Santa Fe, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, present Jeffrey Gibson as the representative for the United States at the 60th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. Gibson is a member of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and of Cherokee descent. The United States Pavilion exhibition is titled “the space in which to place me,” and remains on view through November 24. A selection of coverage is offered below.

• Representing the U.S. and Critiquing It in a Psychedelic Rainbow – The New York Times
• On the Ground at the Venice Biennale. Scenes from the pivotal art event. (Thursday section) – The New York Times
• For Native American artist Jeffrey Gibson, representing the United States at the Venice Biennale is complicated – BBC

Campus transformation

The Museum announced a late 2025 completion date for the campus transformation project that includes the new Rothko Pavilion reimagined art experiences for visitors. A number of news outlets reported on this update, including a front-page feature in The Oregonian.

• Rothko Pavilion will connect buildings and open Portland Art Museum to downtown – The Oregonian
• Portland Art Museum sets opening date for $111M expansion – Portland Business Journal

Youth programming

HeART of Portland

This annual event celebrates the extraordinary work of local student artists with dance, music, and theater performances and a visual arts exhibition. This year was particularly notable because it marked the 10th year of the Portland City Arts Tax, which supports art teachers in our schools. It was a packed house and a genuine tribute to Portland’s next generation of artists. Several news outlets covered the event

• Exhibit, showcase spotlight Portland schools’ student artists – The Oregonian
• Portland commemorates decade-long Arts Tax with student art exhibit – KATU

Power Up!

Power Up! is the Museum’s annual event that celebrates LGBTQ2SIA+ youth and allies. It’s an opportunity for making friends, making art, and having fun with a thematic focus aligned to exhibitions and artists on view. The New York Times featured this program in their recent Museums Special Edition.

• Children and Museums: You Can’t Start Early Enough – New York Times

Sneakers and summer camps

The current special exhibition Future Now: Virtual Sneakers to Cutting-Edge Kicks has been treating visitors to nearly 60 futuristic footwear designs pushing the boundaries of what footwear can be. The New York Times selected it as top pick for West Coast exhibitions.

• A Guide of American Museums to Visit This Year – New York Times

Alongside the exhibition, the Museum and PAM CUT // Center for an Untold Tomorrow are continuing the sneaker celebration all summer through a partnership with Sneaker Week PDX, design summer camps for kids, and more.

• Sneaker and design summer camps for all ages at PAM CUT

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In this role, DeWitt will be responsible for the care, research, exhibition, and growth of the Museum’s collection of nearly 2,000 paintings, drawings, and sculpture up to 1930 in European and American Art. This will include organizing scholarly exhibitions and related programs, while also spearheading strategic acquisitions to expand the collection in this area. Additionally, he will oversee the presentation of all traveling exhibitions of European and American art pre-1930. 

“We are delighted to welcome Lloyd DeWitt to Portland as our new Richard and Janet Geary Curator of European & American Art Pre-1930,” said Brian Ferriso, Director and Chief Curator, PAM. “Lloyd’s deep experience as a curator, as a scholar of European Art, and as a museum administrator, all made him uniquely qualified to steward our collections and partner with me and the curatorial team as we plan for the Museum’s future as an expanded hub for the community to engage and connect through the art.”

“I’m thrilled to be joining the Portland Art Museum in this new expanded role,” said DeWitt. “I believe a curator’s job is to harness the creativity of the whole organization in order to develop impactful exhibitions and programs that will resonate within the Portland community and the broader art world,” said DeWitt.

The Museum is in the midst of a campus transformation project, which includes 95,000 square feet of expanded space and gallery renovations set for completion in 2025. This project will improve accessibility, reorient the visitor experience by greatly enhancing connectivity among the buildings, and set the stage for a comprehensive reinstallation of the permanent collection in the years following completion, including European and American art.

DeWitt has worked in major art museums across North America for more than two decades. Notable highlights from seven years at the Chrysler Museum include organizing exhibitions such as the touring Triumph of Nature (2023), Farm to Table (2024), and Thomas Jefferson, Architect (2019). As Chief Curator he was also instrumental in revising the Chrysler’s collection management policy, streamlining the deaccessioning process, and initiating foundational work on developing a Works on Paper Study Center, which is now under construction. He also worked closely with community partner organizations to bring multiple perspectives to exhibitions and programs, including leading engagement with the local Native American community in Norfolk. 

At the Art Gallery of Ontario in Canada, where DeWitt served as Curator of European Art from 2011 to 2016,  he organized exhibitions on Michelangelo, J. M. W. Turner, and Wilhelm Hammershøi, while also acquiring two of the most significant works of European art in the history of Canadian museums. DeWitt also previously held curatorial positions at the Philadelphia Museum of Art from 2003 to 2011. 

DeWitt is also a visiting adjunct professor at Old Dominion University. He holds a Ph.D. in Art History from the University of Maryland, College Park, an MA in Art History from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a BA in Fine Art from the University of Guelph, Guelph, Canada.

About PAM’s Collections of European and American Art

The European and American art holdings have been pivotal to the Museum’s collection since the Museum’s founding in 1892 when PAM founder Henry Corbett gave funds to purchase the first European art acquisitions. Today the Museum’s European art collection of 320 works occupies over 13,500 square feet in a sequence of galleries on the Main Building’s second floor, allowing visitors to follow the works from the 17th century back to Classical Antiquity or forward to the 19th century. A gallery of classical antiquities displays a selection of Greek, Roman, and Etruscan objects, including red- and black-figure vases, small bronzes, and glass. (The galleries are currently de-installed during construction of the Museum’s Rothko Pavilion.)

The Museum has also amassed a significant collection of American paintings and sculptures. The collection has grown primarily through gifts and purchases of works by artists of national acclaim. Early portraits by Gilbert Stuart and Erastus Salisbury Field join acknowledged late 19th-century masterworks such as the magnificent Mount Hood by Albert Bierstadt, The Sculptor and the King by George de Forest Brush, and Thomas Moran’s The Grand Canal, Venice. The collection also features paintings by the great 19th-century landscape painter George Inness.

The collection is rich in works by American Impressionists Childe Hassam and J. Alden Weir, including paintings created during their visits to Portland in the early 1900s and Weir’s portrait of Museum founder C.E.S. Wood. Other works from the first half of the 20th century include paintings by artists ranging from Modernists Milton Avery and Marsden Hartley to John Sloan, George Luks, and other members of the Eight, a group of American artists that united to oppose academism. Read more about the history of PAM and more about the collection.

About the Portland Art Museum

Founded in 1892, the Portland Art Museum (PAM) in Portland, Oregon, is one of the earliest art museums in the United States and the oldest in the Pacific Northwest. PAM is internationally recognized for its special exhibitions and encyclopedic collection, with areas of focus including Native American art, Northwest art, Asian art, graphic arts, and photography. Notable within these areas are the Museum’s holdings of Native Northwest Coast art, Japanese prints, and more than 25,000 prints, drawings, posters, and books spanning 500 years.

PAM’s campus is a cornerstone of the downtown Portland cultural district. Currently, it is undergoing a transformation led by the creation of the new Mark Rothko Pavilion—an expansion and renovation project to connect the Museum’s two buildings and create a more accessible experience for visitors. The Pavilion is named in honor of renowned abstract artist Mark Rothko (1903–1970), who spent his childhood in Portland after his family immigrated from Latvia. The project is among the most significant in the city, and a key part of revitalizing a downtown core that has been slow to recover after the pandemic. When the renovated and expanded campus opens in 2025, 95,000 square feet will have been added or renovated, and many of the permanent galleries will be rehung, introducing fresh perspectives on the Museum’s collection.

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The Portland Art Museum announced today the return of Free First Thursdays, thanks to generous support provided by the Art Bridges Foundation’s Access for All Program. Beginning January 4, 2024, Museum admission will be free on the first Thursday of every month from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and programs at the newly opened PAM CUT Tomorrow Theater in Southeast Portland will also be free. Additionally, the Museum announced new hours starting with the new year—Thursday and Friday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. 

“I am so pleased to be able to bring this free access day back to our community and incredibly grateful for the partnership with the Art Bridges Foundation,” said Brian Ferriso, Portland Art Museum Director. “In addition to the monthly free day, visitors have been asking for extended evening and weekend hours. The Museum is dedicated to doing our part to revive Portland’s downtown, and we look forward to welcoming everyone.” 

The Museum was one of 64 organizations across 36 states and Puerto Rico selected to receive funding from Art Bridges Foundation’s Access for All initiative. The funding underwrites the costs associated with Free First Thursdays for three years, including programming, and audience development. The Access for All Program represents a sweeping effort to get people back to museums after COVID-19 brought declines in revenue, staffing, and attendance. With many museums seeing just 71 percent of their pre-pandemic attendance, the new initiative aims to restore pre-pandemic levels—and open new opportunities for all people to enjoy art by reducing barriers to access and strengthening community relationships. 

Free First Thursdays at the Museum and PAM CUT’s Tomorrow Theater aligns with the revitalization of the long-standing Portland art galleries’ tradition of opening their doors for openings, receptions, and events on the first Thursday of each month. In recent months art and culture organizations have joined to bring back this popular activity, including the Pacific Northwest College of Art and the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education in the North Park Blocks.

Approximately 45,000 visitors visit the Portland Art Museum for free or at reduced cost annually. Free First Thursdays are in addition to the Museum’s existing admissions access programs, including free admission for kids aged 17 and under, veterans and active duty military, and quarterly Miller Family Free Days. Reduced-cost admission is also available for seniors, students, and individuals on supplemental nutrition assistance, and through select Multnomah County Library branches. The Museum and PAM CUT offer free events as part of regular programming, including Art & Conversation, a popular program that is now back on the schedule.  

How to get tickets

Portland Art Museum
1219 SW Park Avenue 

Free First Thursday tickets can be reserved online one week in advance and are also available at the door. 

Tomorrow Theater
PAM CUT // Center for an Untold Tomorrow 
3530 SE Division Street 

Tickets to Free First Thursday programs at the Tomorrow Theater are available online, including BOWIE BIRTHDAY BASH // The Man Who Fell to Earth on January 4, 2024. 

Generous support provided by Art Bridges Foundation’s Access for All program.

About Art Bridges Foundation

Art Bridges Foundation is the vision of philanthropist and arts patron Alice Walton. The mission of Art Bridges is to expand access to American art in all regions across the United States. Since 2017, Art Bridges has been creating and supporting programs that bring outstanding works of American art out of storage and into communities. Art Bridges partners with a growing network of over 220 museums of all sizes and locations on nearly 700 projects across the nation, impacting over 4.1 million people, to provide financial and strategic support for exhibition development, loans from the Art Bridges Collection, and programs designed to educate, inspire, and deepen engagement with local audiences. The Art Bridges Collection represents an expanding vision of American art from the 19th century to present day and encompasses multiple media and voices. For more information, visit artbridgesfoundation.org.

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“Donald Jenkins was a talented museum professional and scholar. His passion and ability to create wonder for generations of Oregonians truly brought joy to our community,” remarked Brian Ferriso, Portland Art Museum Director. “I am fortunate to have known Donald, and am extremely grateful for his many contributions, which continue to have a significant impact on our museum.”

Jenkins’s passion for Asian art began in 1964 and he pursued it by becoming fluent in Japanese, traveling to the country, and completing his graduate degree at the University of Chicago. Jenkins returned to the Museum in 1974 after some time at the Art Institute of Chicago, and just a year later assumed the role of Head of the Portland Art Association, the name that encompassed the Museum, the Museum Art School, and the Northwest Film Study Center. In 1977 he adeptly steered the institution toward solid financial footing after years of decline and remained helming the organization until 1981 when he stepped back into the curatorial realm as the Director of the Museum until 1987. He served as Curator of Asian Art from 1987 until his retirement in 2003, with an additional role as Chief Curator from 1997 to 2001.

Jenkins curated and organized numerous exhibitions at the Museum over five decades, among them The Floating World Revisited (1993) which was acclaimed for its scholarship in the field, and Images of a Changing World: Japanese Prints of the Twentieth Century (1983).

Jenkins retired from the Museum in 2003, giving him time and space to tend to his beloved farm outside of Portland with his wife, Mary Ella (Mel) Jenkins, who passed away in 2012. Those who knew Jenkins knew that this piece of land was always his sanctuary, and he cared for it with the same vigor as he cared for the Museum, its collections, and its community during his long and fruitful career. 

View artworks in the Museum’s permanent collection given by Donald and Mel Jenkins or in honor of Donald Jenkins.

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Portland Art Museum in Oregon and SITE Santa Fe in New Mexico, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, announced today that Jeffrey Gibson will represent the United States at La Biennale di Venezia, the 60^th International Art Exhibition. Celebrated for an artistic practice that combines American, Indigenous, and Queer histories with influences from music and pop culture, Gibson creates a dynamic visual language that reflects the inherent diversity and hybridity of American culture. Using abundant color, complex pattern, and text, he invites deep reflection on identity, inspires empathy, and advocates for a widening of access to democracy and freedom for all. On view April 20 through November 24, 2024, the Biennale provides international audiences with the first major opportunity to experience Gibson’s work outside of the U.S.

The 2024 U.S. Pavilion is co-commissioned by Kathleen Ash-Milby, Curator of Native American Art at the Portland Art Museum and a member of the Navajo Nation, Louis Grachos, Phillips Executive Director of SITE Santa Fe, and Abigail Winograd, independent curator, and is co-curated by Ash-Milby and Winograd. A member of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and of Cherokee descent, Gibson will be the first Indigenous artist to have a solo exhibition for the U.S. Pavilion. This exhibition is also the first to be co-commissioned and co-curated by a Native American curator.

“Throughout his career, Jeffrey has challenged us to look at the world differently through his innovative and vibrant work,” said Ash-Milby. “His inclusive and collaborative approach is a powerful commentary on the influence and persistence of Native American cultures within the United States and globally, making him the ideal representative for the United States at this moment.”

“Having recently collaborated with Jeffrey to present a solo exhibition in Santa Fe, we are honored to continue championing his dynamic, insightful, and timely work—now on an international stage,” said Grachos. “This collaboration builds upon SITE Santa Fe’s long history as a platform for artistic innovation, providing artists with the support and resources they need to realize bold and ambitious visions.”

“I have long believed in the ability of Jeffrey’s work to be a force for positive change and to create the possibility of a radically inclusive future,” said Winograd. “It is my hope that as a global audience experiences his work through the Biennale, they will also find it to be a source of joy and healing, something sorely needed in a world driven by conflict and crisis. I couldn’t be more thrilled to be working with Jeffrey and this team to share his work more broadly.”

“Jeffrey’s work embodies the aspirations of the Portland Art Museum’s program to reveal the beauty and complexities of the world, and creates a deeper understanding of our shared humanity,” said Brian Ferriso, Director of the Portland Art Museum. “We are incredibly honored to help bring his vision to an international audience through this presentation at the Venice Biennale.” 

For the U.S. Pavilion, Gibson will activate the interior and exterior of the U.S. Pavilion with a series of new and recent works that invite reflection on individual and collective identities including sculpture, paintings, multimedia works and a site-specific installation activating the pavilion’s courtyard. In conjunction with the presentation at the U.S. Pavilion and in partnerships with the Institute of American Indian Arts (Santa Fe, NM) and Bard College (Annandale-on-Hudson, NY), Portland and SITE will also develop year-long educational programming. They will focus on connecting Indigenous, Native American and international undergraduate humanities students and graduate art students, including bringing students from the Institute of American Indian Arts to Venice for a summer arts program and organizing a fall 2024 convening for students, scholars, and the public.

The 2024 U.S. Pavilion: Jeffrey Gibson is made possible by The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State.

About the co-commissioners/co-curators

Jeffrey Gibson: Selected work

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The Leadership in Art Museums (LAM) initiative comprises four national funding partners, Alice L. Walton Foundation, Ford Foundation, Mellon Foundation, and Pilot House Philanthropy. Over the next five years, the LAM funders will commit over $11 million in funding to museums to increase racial equity in leadership roles such as curators, conservators, collections managers, community engagement staff, educators, and other senior leaders in a manner designed to advance racial equity.

The Portland Art Museum was one of 19 museums across the country selected through a competitive and thorough application process. The selected museums have pledged to make these new positions permanent and to develop a diverse pool of applicants in a manner that is inclusive of communities of color, including Black, Latinx, Indigenous, Arab, Asian, and Pacific Islander communities—a process that the Museum is already committed to. 

“This new position is a game-changer. We will now be able to focus on necessary work in our collections as well as exhibitions and more public-facing work, said Kathleen Ash-Milby, Curator of Native American Art. “Both are needed as we continue to build our relationships with Native communities in the region and beyond.”

The Assistant Curator of Native American Art role will initially focus on National Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) compliance—including tribal communications and continuing resolution of remaining active NAGPRA claims—and planning for the Museum’s major redesign and re-installation of the Native American art permanent collections galleries. Eventually, the role will touch all aspects of the Native American curatorial program, supporting Kathleen Ash-Milby, Curator of Native American Art, focusing both on the collection of historical Native objects and cultivating the curation of contemporary Native art, and building relationships with the local Native communities.

Grant has been with the Portland Art Museum since February 2022 when she joined as an IMLS Curatorial and Community Partnerships Fellow. Over the past 17 months, her primary focus has been supporting Dakota Modern: The Art of Oscar Howe and Jeffrey Gibson: They Come From Fire by driving the Museum’s programs and community outreach with Native American communities in the greater Portland area for these two exhibitions. 

“It is a great honor to be selected for this grant and to be recognized for the work that we are doing, and are seeking to do,” said Portland Art Museum Director Brian Ferriso. “Our Native American art collection and related programs and community relationships are among our greatest priorities and strengths at the Museum. I am grateful for this remarkable grant, and for Kathleen’s leadership and I am thrilled to have Erin here to fill this role.” 

About Erin Grant

Erin Grant is a member of the Colorado River Indian Tribes with family at Hopi, the Gila River, and throughout Phoenix, Arizona. She holds a Bachelor’s in History from Seattle University. As a 2019 graduate of the History of Design & Curatorial Studies M.A. program offered through The New School and the Smithsonian Design Museum, she specializes in Native American art and design, and American material culture. She completed internships at the New York Historical Society, American Federation of Arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Indian Arts Research Center (School for Advanced Research).

“As an Indigenous scholar and museum professional, I have always strived to be the bridge connecting institutions and their audiences to the worlds and cultures they reflect. I am guided by community collaboration and outreach methodologies. As I seek more growth opportunities, I am eager to continue my work in the prioritization of Native voices and to contribute my voice on a bigger scale at the Portland Art Museum.” — Erin Grant

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Dakota Modern: The Art of Oscar Howe and Jeffrey Gibson’s They Come From Fire and To Name An Other not only showcased Native American art excellence but, through related programming, celebrated Native culture and nurtured local connections.

In November, “Voices Like Thunder: An Afternoon of Poetry with the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation” (NACF) celebrated the release of NACF’s first published anthology, The Larger Voice—Celebrating Native Arts and Cultures Foundation Literature Fellows. A number of celebrated and emerging Native American poets read work at the event, including current and former poet laureates from Washington and Oregon. 

The exhibitions were also a vital part of the Museum’s work with area schools. A November Evening for Educators allowed educators at all levels to learn about the exhibitions and artists, hear from the curator, and participate in workshops led by teachers from NAYA Many Nations Academy and Roosevelt High School. The exhibitions and their themes of personal identity and cultural expression were also the focus of Portland Public Schools’ Collaborative Art Project presented in the 2023 HeART of Portland K-12 Arts Showcase. For this project, United (Not Divided), hundreds of students created work inspired by the Howe and Gibson exhibitions and the artists’ desire to express their individuality, rather than conform to established styles. 

In January the Museum hosted “POWER UP: They Come From Fire.” POWER UP is the Museum’s annual event celebrating middle school, high school, and college-age LGBTQ2SIA+ youth and allies. Participants met new people, immersed themselves in powerful art by Jeffrey Gibson and other queer artists, participated in a drag workshop with Carla Rossi, and spoke their truth at an open mic. While Gibson was in town for this event, he also led workshops with students from Chemawa Indian School and the PPS Indian Education Program over two separate days. 

The February Miller Family Free Day featured an all-day celebration of Dakota Modern: The Art of Oscar Howe and Jeffrey Gibson’s They Come From Fire and To Name An Other. Families and children attended storytelling sessions and participated in art-making activities with Indigenous educators Karen Kitchen and Sunshine Guzman, along with an array of presentations, performances, and activities planned in collaboration with Future Generations Collaborative, a public health collective impact partnership between Native and Native-serving organizations, institutions, and governments.

These community programs were made possible by support from the Institute of Museum and Library Services and from the Bank of America Charitable Foundation, which underwrote the Howe and Gibson exhibitions as well as related programs.

“Bank of America believes in the power of the arts to create connections for greater cultural understanding across diverse communities,” said Roger Hinshaw, Oregon and Southwest Washington President, Bank of America. “In supporting these important exhibitions and community engagement events, we wanted to help bring the arts to life for youth and our entire community.”

Connecting with students and educators 

The Museum continues to make connections with, support, and encourage area schools to engage with art and artists. In addition to the Howe and Gibson programs mentioned earlier, educators were invited to dig into This is the Future, by the film and new-media artist Hito Steyerl. The exhibition explores a vibrant, imagined garden through an immersive environment of video projection, sculpture, and architectural intervention that offers reflections on the complexities of the digital world, global capitalism, and the implications of artificial intelligence (AI) for society. Participants heard from the curator and engaged in a workshop with NW Noggin neuroscience educators. The workshop deepened their understanding of Steyerl’s AI neural networks by enabling them to investigate real neural networks and reflect on the biological wiring that makes everyone unique. 

In April, the Museum was thrilled to host the ninth annual Portland Public Schools HeART of Portland arts showcase. Over 1,300 people attended the opening night student performances that kicked off a two-week visual arts exhibition in the Miller Gallery filled with student artwork from across the district. The visual arts exhibition culminated in a full-day celebration during the Miller Family Free Day with art-making and student performances in the galleries. 

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The Portland Art Museum’s film and new media center, PAM CUT // Center for an Untold Tomorrow, announced today new details of the Tomorrow Theater at 3530 SE Division Street in Portland, Oregon. Opening in late fall 2023, the Tomorrow Theater will offer robust, participatory programming, serving as a model, both locally and globally, for the future of media arts and cinema. The space will function as a creative hub for artists and audiences not content to be contained to a single medium or art form.

Located in the heart of Southeast Portland, the Tomorrow Theater will devote its nearly 9,000 square feet to the celebration and expansion of cinematic storytelling and new media, in a community becoming increasingly recognized as an eclectic artistic and cultural hub. By offering even more opportunities for the public to connect with media arts, the theater reflects the PAM CUT ethos to reimagine for whom, by whom, and how cinematic stories are told and connect with new audiences in fresh ways. Through screenings, exhibitions, performances, and interactive programs, the Tomorrow Theater will further PAM CUT’s mission to advance media arts in all its forms.   

Each evening will bring something different, through a variety show approach that incorporates at least two distinct art forms simultaneously. Embracing cinematic storytelling in all its forms – from film and series to animation and gaming, plus XR, performance, and audio stories too – the events and happenings will be as varied as the artists and audiences colliding on any given night. The Tomorrow Theater will showcase a broad range of mixed media arts that cannot be experienced anywhere else in the state, closely developed with artists and partners based in the Pacific Northwest and from around the world. 

The full programming slate and partnerships will be announced this fall, with SPRING/BREAK Art Show kicking off the theater’s opening in partnership with PAM CUT for a multi-media art takeover. SPRING/BREAK Art Show is an internationally recognized exhibition platform founded in New York that activates underused, atypical, and historic exhibition spaces to challenge the traditional cultural landscape through group shows with artists of all mediums.

“Cinematic storytelling, like artists and audiences, comes in all varieties and flavors. With the Tomorrow, we’re building a home for cultural snackers, a space where when people walk through this door, they will never quite know exactly what Tomorrow brings,” said PAM CUT Director Amy Dotson. “As a home to a multi-media feast of creators, content, and audiences who are pushing the boundaries of what’s possible, we are firmly committed to mixing it up. By creating a space where artists collaborate across disciplines, audiences co-mingle and are exposed to a variety of art and media stories folks; they will never have the same experience twice.” 

History and reimagination

Originally imagined as architect Isaac Geller’s 1925 vaudeville theater, the space has lived many lives in many eras, from its vaudeville origins to hosting art house and Spanish-language films, to its most recent iteration as the X-rated movie house the Oregon Theater. With deep storytelling roots and nearly a century of Portland history, the venue itself is a kindred spirit to the vision for the Tomorrow Theater. 

Andee Hess and Makrai Crecelius, of Portland-based and female-owned interior design studio Osmose, designed the theater. Known for their wildly imaginative and unique projects, their work has been featured in The New York Times and Architectural Digest as the creative forces behind spaces as varied as Salt & Straw ice cream shops and Fred Armisen’s goth-inspired house. The project was developed by Guerrilla Development in concert with PAM CUT and the design team. 

The food program will be led by well-known Portland chef, Leather Storrs (former chef-owner of Noble Rot), who recently also opened The Mahonian, an event space and private dining venue. His playful approach to food and beverage will drive menus that will change according to themes, artists and vibes of the featured screenings, events, and experiences.

The partnership is part of ChefStable group, whose portfolio of projects includes James Beard Award winning OX Restaurant, Voysey, helmed by legendary bartender Katie Stipe, KEX Hotel which houses Pacific Standard—Jeffrey Morganthaler’s newest project, acclaimed Restaurant St. Jack, along with numerous other hot spots and event spaces in Portland and Northwest.

PAM CUT Tomorrow Theater creative program advisors include: Savina Neirotti (Venice Biennale Cinema), Liz Mowe (Kickstarter), Thomas Gewecke (Former Chief Digital Officer, Warner Bros), Aimee Lynn Barneberg & Nico Fearn (Nike), Producer David Cress (Portlandia), Rosemary Colliver (ShadowMachine, PAM CUT Co-Chairwoman), Tim Williams (Oregon Film), Chloe Mason (model & actress), Shelby Rachleff (Westridge Foundation), Julie La’Bassiere (Publicity & Awards Strategist, AppleTV+), René Pinnell (Founder, Artizen), Byron Beck (journalist & media personality), and Patty Brebner (Opinionated), as well as PAM Board Chairwoman Alix Meier Goodman and PAM CUT Co-Chairwoman Mary Blair.

Facilities and programming

PAM CUT has consulted with Full Aperture, a premiere cinema tech company that works with Sundance and Telluride Film Festivals, and museums throughout the country, on modern, flexible approaches to venue and experience. The Tomorrow Theater features: 

• 8,744 sq. ft. with up to 300 seats designed with modular fixtures to encourage maximum flexibility. 
• A fully digital event and experience, powered by the ticketing and theater experience company FilmBot.
• Accessible amenities such as gender-neutral restrooms, prime seating for guests with disabilities, and more.

The Tomorrow Theater will occupy many roles, functioning as:

• A creative space. Programming will go beyond film and emphasize intersectionality across art forms, with each night a unique experience designed for the culturally curious. The space will host international cross-media performances, screenings, exhibitions, immersive theater, game nights, workshops, and more. 

• A community space. Along with new partner programs, the theater will host guest-curated programs, Museum partner programming, and quarterly local offerings and experiences by legendary Portland performers Izohnny to media artists in residence partners The Numberz FM. 

• An event space. Many local and regional celebrations, events, and conferences have taken place over the decades at the Museum’s main campus downtown, and with The Tomorrow Theater, the Museum, and PAM CUT will have an east-side space for the community to gather.  

“Portland Art Museum embraces art in all its many forms,” said Portland Art Museum Director Brian Ferriso. “As a museum, we value media arts storytelling as a fine art and want to ensure that we bring that to the community far and wide.” 

Bringing the Tomorrow Theater to life is made possible by the generous support of the National Endowment for the Arts, Ritz Family Foundation, Travel Portland, Mary and Don Blair, and the Lamb Baldwin Foundation.

Portland Art Museum membership will include access and discounts on Tomorrow Theater programming and events. 

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