Portland Art Museum — Attraction in Portland

I spent a significant amount of time in this museum, about two and a half to three hours, because I had a lot of time left in my last day in Portland, and I was not disappointed. The price is a little high, and even the student discount is a measly $3 off the full price, but the quality of the exhibits is worthwhile, especially for a mid-sized and relatively young city on the West Coast. What I saw of the permanent collection was nice but not particularly impressive. There was some beautiful old art, some 18th century stuff, some beautiful impressionist work, and some other newer art that I was less enthused by, the kind of work that claims to be radical but requires a lengthy written description to make any sensations or emotions communicable to the audience. Where this museum really shines for me was in the temporary exhibits that were displayed while I was there, both of which related to the 1960s in a quite playful way. One was on photography and the Beatles, focusing on the moment when the Beatles transformed from a purely national sensation to a true international sensation, coming to America and being swarmed by wild fans. The context provided was quite helpful and comprehensive, and even as a person who thinks of himself as being quite knowledgeable about the Beatles, I felt like I learned a lot. The other was on psychedelic fashion and posters, which was quite comprehensive. The mix of influences from which these artists drew, from Elizabethan England to Art Nouveau to Wild West and native American imagery, was considered thoughtfully and comprehensively. The greatest delight though, was simply in the psychedelic collection itself, which was wild and varied and very stimulating in a purely sensory way. I think the quality of this museum depends highly on the quality of the temporary exhibits offered, so if you like what is being displayed at a given time, I highly recommend...

We were pretty disappointed in the museum. It's under construction, so much of their exhibits were in storage and not displayed. There were only 2 exhibits available, both of which were relatively quick to walk through.

They still charged the full $25 entrance fee in spite of having a much smaller exhibit on display. I think they should have adjusted the prices to reflect that.

Also, there seemed to be no staff around the museum floor except one guy who mostly avoided the crowd. The bathrooms are hidden in the back downstairs area, and finding them took almost 10 minutes of checking everywhere. Very minimal signage to guide you there.

There were several large groups of high school or college age kids walking the museum shouting and laughing and touching statues that were clearly not meant to be touched. Overall, they made it a lot more difficult to stop and appreciate the art with any degree of focus. To he honest, they sort of ruined the experience and I'm not sure I would go back any time soon.

The guides did nothing to quiet the groups and instead seemed to avoid them like we did. My partner and I found ourselves hurrying ahead of them just to see a few things in peace. Not worth the $50 to get in.

I've never been to a museum where it was okay to shout and yell and disturb everyone else without consequence or even a warning.

The silver lining is some of the art was very good, including a single Monet on display and some...

An interesting building, good location ... but the best thing about this gallery is the exhibition that is currently on: All Things Being Equal by Hank William Thomas.

This is the most remarkable exhibition I've ever seen. Not only is it great art but it exposes our society as being deeply racist. You can see more detail of this on the texts that I'm sharing here.

Perhaps the most powerful message here is that advertising is based on attitudes that reinforce stereotypes and racism -- as well as sport. What's particularly disturbing is how advertising, and the media, adapt so quickly to modern technology, and changing fashion -- they change with the time but always carry with them their underlying philosophy of segregation and white superiority.

I left feeling that the ethnic minorities in the US haven't really progressed much in the last 100 years,

Hopefully this exhibition will go global as these issues are prevalent everywhere people live; our very economic system thrives off discriminating between peoples. The empires of old used to call it...