An Expansion and Renovation Brings New Life to the Portland Art Museum

"When the Portland Art Museum presented the city's first retrospective exhibition of paintings by Mark Rothko in 2012, many local viewers were unaware that the artist grew up in Portland, where he attended the Portland Art Museum School and was awarded his first museum exhibition. With Rothko now officially reclaimed as a hometown hero, and with the tacit approval of his heirs, the museum has now enshrined the artist as a signature for its new $116 million campus."

"The project involved integrating two neighboring buildings, adding almost 100,000 square feet of public and gallery space, and uniting the structures with a 21,000-square-foot, multilayered glass pavilion named for Rothko. Although the renovations were almost entirely privately funded, donors decided to credit the celebrated artist, who began his career in Portland, rather than financial contributors. Optimistic supporters of the museum see the new facility as potentially reinvigorating the cultural center of the city, which is slowly recovering from a post-Covid economic malaise."

"The Portland Art Museum's main building was designed in 1932 by young Portland architect Pietro Belluschi, who enlisted an endorsement for his modernist plan from Frank Lloyd Wright after trustees expressed a preference for a Georgian-style building. The building was designed to face Portland's south park blocks, a greenbelt edging the city's downtown core. Today it retains its understated elegance, with a brick and travertine exterior that plays especially well with seasonal foliage across the street."

Mark Rothko grew up in Portland, attended the Portland Art Museum School, and received his first museum exhibition there. The museum completed a privately funded $116 million expansion that integrated two neighboring buildings, added almost 100,000 square feet of public and gallery space, and united the structures with a 21,000-square-foot multilayered glass pavilion named for Rothko. Donors credited the artist rather than financial contributors. Supporters view the new facility as a potential catalyst for reinvigorating the city's cultural center during a slow post-Covid economic recovery. The main Belluschi building (1932) and the 1927 Mark Building together anchor the campus, though access between them had been logistically obscure.

Read at ARTnews.com