Education has been central to the Portland Art Museum since its founding in 1892, and while times have changed, the dedication to building belonging and fostering lifelong learning through the arts remains as strong as ever. New data mapping of school and community organizations shows just how big of a reach that PAM has both locally and regionally. Data collected from 2019 through 2024 shows that nearly 700 distinct schools and organizations visited the Museum from Oregon and Southwest Washington.
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The Museum offers dynamic school and community programs for audiences of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities, designed to deepen engagement with its permanent collection and temporary exhibitions. K-12 school group visits and tours are completely free, and of the more than 380,000 visitors a year, 20,000 are students and youth. In 2024, nearly half of school visits were Title 1 schools, which are designated by the percentage of students from low-income families. PAM works with more than 50 community and education organizations throughout Oregon, and over 900 educators participate in learning programs and partnerships.
PAM’s education programs also reach beyond the walls of our Museum. The Poster Project brings art into classrooms across the region, especially for educators in rural communities, with more than 26,000 posters distributed since the project began in 2015, and we celebrate a century-plus relationship with the largest public school district in the region.
With school and community initiatives and a recommitment to existing programs, PAM continues to center learning at the heart of its work as it enters the next phase of its future. Following the opening of PAM’s transformed campus, the Museum will expand its offerings with new, dedicated spaces that provide increased flexibility for and access to community-based programming. We can’t wait to welcome students, educators, and the entire community into the newly transformed Museum this November.
