Portland Art Museum

This is such a great museum. I love just taking an afternoon and wandering through, always finding new corners and passages, and seeing the constantly changing special shows. A perfect showcase for art, both of Portland and the world.

If you love art, why not give the Portland Art Museum a chance? Yes, they take themselves a tad too seriously from time to time, and occasionally they don't seem to know exactly what they want to be. But they're trying to please a large range of people with a limited budget. This isn't New York or Chicago, after all. It wouldn't hurt to occasionally pay the price of admission and enjoy all the work that's been done. (The sunken ballroom is one of Portland's great venues.)

I love to visit and wander on a rainy day. the regular collection is a bit dull but the special exhibits are great..

This is a local museum, and not really in the league of the great international art museums. But over the past fifteen or twenty years, it's gone through a period of amazing expansion and growth. With a large special exhibition gallery that brings major traveling exhibitions to town several times a year, you can see some of the best art in the world depending on when you visit. The museum has dedicated two spacious galleries to the art of the Pacific Northwest, and shows some of the best contemporary regional arts. It also has a new four-story wing devoted to 19th and 20th century art, ranging from impressionism to contemporary. There's also a print gallery in the basement, and an impressive collection of English silver. The museum as a whole is large enough that you can wander all day and still feel like there's more to see.

Give it a try. Many wonderful pieces and a great atmosphere. They get many beautiful traveling exhibits.