Free First Thursday

Overview

Portland Art Museum invites the community to join a Free First Thursday event, offering free admission to the museum for all. The day will include opportunities for visitors to engage with A Brief History of Photography: the Portrait and An Honest Day’s Work exhibitions through “Look With Me” tours and gallery conversations centered on portraiture, storytelling, memory, and representation. There will also be screenings of the documentary The Photograph in the Whitsell Auditorium.

Special Screening: The Photograph (Documentary) 

Discover the profound legacy of the Harlem Renaissance through a special screening of The Photograph, a moving documentary by filmmaker Sherman De Jesus.

The film follows De Jesus’s journey to New York, guided by the only remaining photograph of his grandfather, Juan de Jesus—a proud Black man elegantly captured in a white tropical suit. The portrait was taken by legendary photographer James Van Der Zee, whose vast body of work went far beyond capturing a moment in time; it shaped the self-image and visual sovereignty of Black Americans by portraying them exactly as they wished to be seen. This screening explores a deeply personal family history interwoven with a broader story of jazz, literature, art, and the enduring power of the archive.

The Hands of Portland: Holding On

Join Portland-based interdisciplinary artist Brooke Willow for The Hands of Portland: Holding On, an ongoing community photography project exploring the hidden language of our hands and the ways we hold one another through care, memory, labor, grief, love, and connection.

During this special one-day event, a temporary photography studio will be installed in a community space within the Museum. Participants are invited to a 15–30-minute photography session centered on gesture, touch, and shared stories or memories connected to the power of our hands.

Together, the images form a collective portrait of the city, examining how humanity, tenderness, and identity are carried through gesture and physical connection. Participants will receive a risograph-printed community portrait publication featuring work from the project. Photography sessions will take place from 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. All minors must be accompanied by an adult.

Tickets

Free First Thursday tickets can be reserved online one week in advance and are also available at the door. Tickets to Free First Thursday programs at the Tomorrow Theater are available online.

Free First Thursdays at the Museum and PAM CUT’s Tomorrow Theater aligns with the revitalization of the long-standing Portland art galleries’ tradition of opening their doors for openings, receptions, and events on the first Thursday of each month. In recent months art and culture organizations have joined to bring back this popular activity, including the Pacific Northwest College of Art and the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education in the North Park Blocks.

Generous support provided by Art Bridges Foundation’s Access for All program.