Miller Family Free Day: HeART of Portland

Every year the Portland Art Museum welcomes thousands of students and teachers through different school, educator, and youth programs. On this Miller Family Free Day join us for a sampling of student, teacher, and community partner-led programs that highlight some of the many ways the Museum is a place for meaningful educational experiences and connections to art, cultures, and ideas. We also celebrate the closing day of The HeART of Portland, an exhibition showcasing the talents of visual arts students across Portland Public Schools.  All ages welcome to all programs.

All Day

“Ye Art Book” Scavenger Hunt
Pick up a copy in one of the entrance lobbies.
Wind your way through the Museum with this fun activity guide co-created by PSU faculty members and students in the Fall 2015 Friendtorship program.

The HeART of Portland– Visual Arts Exhibition
Miller Gallery, Mark Building, 1st floor
Stop in to see artwork by students across Portland Public Schools as well as If I Were Leaving, a large scale collaborative art project made by six hundred students reflecting on the Museum’s current special exhibition Common Ground: Photographs by Fazal Sheikh, a photography exhibition that looks at the stories of displaced people throughout the world.

11 a.m. – 4 p.m.

“If I Were Leaving” Artmaking Project
Kinney classroom, Main building, Lower level
If you were leaving your home, what would you miss? What would you take with you? Portland Public Schools art teachers developed these questions in response to the Common Ground: Photographs by Fazal Sheikh exhibition. Six hundred K-12 students reflected on the prompts and created shadow boxes, which now hang in The HeART of Portland PPS Student Art Showcase. Join in this artmaking project, facilitated today by PPS teachers and students from Buckman Arts Magnet Elementary School and Capitol Hill School.

Nicole Penoncello-Buckman Elementary School, Visual Arts Teacher
Nancy Helmsworth-Capitol Hill School, Visual Arts Teacher

11 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Draw, Write, Discuss
Stevens room, Main building, Lower level
It’s interdisciplinary and interactive. Teacher Advisory Council members lead artmaking, discussion, and writing activities, including The Monstrous Sow and Other Monsters, If you could take it home…, Common Ground photo analysis, and more.

12:30 – 1:30 p.m.

Islam Up Close & Personal
Muslim Educational Trust Youth Ambassadors Club
Whitsell auditorium, Main building, Lower level
Organized in connection with Common Ground: Photographs by Fazal Sheikh, members of the Youth Ambassadors Club at the Muslim Educational Trust lead a discussion and overview of the fundamental beliefs of Islam, including the five pillars, rituals, significant holidays, common misconceptions, and interfaith relations.

2 – 3:15 p.m.

Muslim Youth Voices Short Films Screening & Discussion
Whitsell auditorium, Main building, Lower level
The Muslim Youth Voices Project (MYVP) is a national initiative of the Center for Asian American Media and funded by the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art’s Building Bridges Program. Through three summers of workshops across the country, MYVP amplified young people’s expression and celebration of Muslim life by giving them the essential tools to tell their own stories on their own terms. Under the direction of lead instructor and Sundance-winning filmmaker Musa Syeed, the films made through MYVP explore a wide range of genres and forms and create a unique, diverse, colorful portrait of Muslims in America.

Please join us for a screening of select short films from the MYVP, including films from Portland youth, before their national broadcast on PBS World Channel. Afterward stay for a discussion about the unique challenges and opportunities in telling Muslim stories.

Family programs are generously supported in part by Sharon L. Miller and Family, the Gordon D. Sondland and Katherine J. Durant Foundation, the Lamb Baldwin Foundation, and The Joseph E. Weston Public Foundation.