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Portland Art Museum to add hundreds of new pieces to its permanent collection

The museum’s $111 million campus expansion and renovation project will include a full reinstallation of its permanent collection featuring never-before-exhibited items.

People stand in a large indoor gallery space that features a single, one-dimensional art display of a hyper-saturated image merging familiar film characters with fantastical set pieces, transforming them into infinitely looping memes trapped in time.

“Heaven’s Gate” by Marco Brambilla, displayed here in London, will be adapted + displayed in the New Media gallery on the lower level of PAM’s Main Building.

Photo by Leon Neal, courtesy of Marco Brambilla Studio and bitforms gallery

When the Portland Art Museum debuts its expanded and renovated campus in late 2025, it will include nearly 100,000 sqft of new or upgraded public and gallery space. That means a lot more room for new art.

PAM’s permanent collection will add nearly 300 major new pieces by artists like Jeffrey Gibson, Simone Leigh, Ugo Rondinone, Wendy Red Star, Pedro Reyes, Marie Watt, and Carrie Mae Weems. Rare and never-before-exhibited art will also be on view.

Diverging from traditional chronological and geography-based curation, the galleries will focus on “thematic displays” that foster a sense of storytelling and encourage viewers to see new connections and perspectives.

“The newly unveiled galleries will invite our community to see themselves in our collection, highlighting the myriad identities that make up the Pacific Northwest and presenting works by generations of nationally renowned artists who have drawn inspiration from Oregon’s natural beauty and Portland’s creative culture,” said PAM Director Brian Ferriso.

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