Portland Art Museum, Portland (must see)

Founded in 1892, the Portland Art Museum is the oldest art museum in the Pacific Northwest. Its collection contains more than 50,000 objects, ranging from ancient works to modern and contemporary art. Visitors can see paintings, sculpture, photography, prints, decorative arts and design from Europe, Asia and the Americas. Permanent galleries are combined with temporary exhibitions, so the works on display change throughout the year.

A major part of the museum is its Native American art collection, which includes more than 3,500 historic and contemporary objects representing about 200 Indigenous cultural groups. The galleries contain basketry, carvings, ceramics, textiles, jewellery and works by living artists. Northwest art is also well represented through landscapes, portraits and experimental pieces connected to the region’s communities, natural environment and cultural history.

The campus combines buildings from different architectural periods. The 1932 Main Building was designed by Pietro Belluschi, an important modernist architect. The neighbouring Mark Building was constructed as a Masonic temple between 1925 and 1927 and became part of the museum campus in 2005. The glass-fronted Mark Rothko Pavilion, opened in November 2025, connects the two buildings through a four-floor public passage. It is named after the abstract painter who spent much of his youth in the region and attended art classes associated with the museum.

Other collection areas include European and American paintings, Asian ceramics and prints, post-war photography and more than 25,000 works on paper. Labels and themed displays explain the historical and social background of many objects. Programmes include talks, films and family events, while some exhibitions require timed tickets. Allow several hours for the main galleries.