Portland Art Museum sets date for unveiling of its $111M campus renovation

The project that broke ground in early 2023 will make the museum more accessible for visitors and improve the gallery experience.

Renderings show the future Portland Art Museum from the South Park Blocks entrance, with a bright glass pavilion spanning the two brick buildings.

The new 24,000-sqft Mark Rothko Pavilion will be a transparent, welcoming “front door” to the museum.

Rendering via Portland Art Museum

The Portland Art Museum’s status as a work-in-progress now has an end date. The campus expansion and renovation project, which broke ground in January 2023, will finish at the end of 2025.

At $111 million, it’s hailed as “one of the most significant capital investments in the arts in the history of Oregon” and will create a cultural hub in downtown Portland, adding 95,000 sqft of new or upgraded public and gallery space, plus accessibility improvements.

Chicago-based Vinci Hamp Architects and Portland’s Hennebery Eddy Architects partnered on the transformation, whose shining jewel will be the Mark Rothko Pavilion, named for the Latvian abstract artist who spent his childhood in the city and took art classes at the museum.

The glass facade will connect the museum’s two historic buildings, creating a seamless transition between all four floors of exhibits.

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