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Frequently Asked Questions

The Portland Art Museum is open Tuesday through Sunday. The hours are 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., with the exception of Thursday and Friday, when the Museum is open late until 8 p.m.

Museum Admission is $20. Seniors and College Students have a reduced admission of $17. Children 17 years of age and younger are admitted at no charge.

Many visitors enjoy the Museum for free or receive admission at highly reduced prices through our Admission Access Programs.

Photography (without flash) is allowed in the Museum except where indicated. Visitors to the Museum are welcome to take photographs or video for personal, noncommercial use. Photography may be restricted as indicated by a “No Camera” symbol on the gallery wall. Tripods, monopods, selfie sticks, and flash lighting are prohibited at all times.

The Museum does not have a cafeteria, however there is a coffee shop, called Museum Grounds. The coffee shop offers an array of espresso drinks, teas, and tasty pastries from local bakeries.

Yes, there is a free coat check at both the Hoffman and Park Avenue entrances.

We recommend planning your trip at trimet.org. There is a MAX stop convenient to the Museum, and the TriMet Bus Mall is three blocks away.

All Museum galleries, rest rooms, and drinking fountains are wheelchair-accessible. The access ramp for both wheelchairs and strollers is located at the Hoffman entrance by the Museum Shop on the north side of the main building. Wheelchairs are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Founded in 1892, the Portland Art Museum is one of the oldest art museums in the United States and the oldest in the Pacific Northwest.

The Museum’s collection of 46,000 objects reflects the history of art from ancient times to today. The collection is distinguished for its holdings of arts of the native peoples of North America; modern and contemporary art; Asian and American art; photographs, prints, and drawings; and English silver.

While the Museum’s staff does not conduct research on artwork in personal collections, you may be interested in starting your research by accessing our library’s resources. For the safety of your personal artwork, please do not bring it to the museum.

Request an appointment online here:
https://portlandartmuseum.org/learn/crumpacker-family-library/

The Museum cannot perform appraisals, but the following list of accredited appraisal organizations is the best way to begin your search.

You may also contact an appraiser from this compiled list. Please note this list is for your convenience and does not constitute an endorsement of any business.

Established in 1971 as a sister organization to the Portland Art Museum, the Northwest Film Center is a nonprofit regional media arts resource and service organization founded to encourage the study, appreciation, and utilization of the moving image arts, foster their artistic and professional excellence, and to help create a climate in which they may flourish. The Film Center provides resources (equipment, editing equipment, etc.) to local filmmakers, offers film education programs for both youth and adults, and features a robust film exhibition program with over 500 screenings per year (including the celebrated Portland International Film Festival.) Most Northwest Film Center screenings are held in the Portland Art Museum’s Whitsell Auditorium. To learn more about current film screenings, classes, or filmmaker resources, please visit the Northwest Film Center’s website.

Registering and Signing In

To register from our homepage, portlandartmuseum.org, click “Register” in the upper right hand corner. This will bring you to the registration form, where you can fill in your personal information. The email address you enter here will serve as your username. You will also make a password to use in the future. Once you have filled out the registration form, click “Register” in the bottom right hand corner of the screen to complete your registration.

If you are given a registration error message after filling out the form, you may already be registered. You can continue the online ticketing process by signing in. For help with website errors, you can email connect@pam.org or call the membership office at 503-276-4249.

If you get an error message that your email is invalid, when signing in, you are not registered for the website. Follow the steps to register. If you receive an invalid email error elsewhere on the website, you may have already registered, or the email you enter does not match the email we have on file. You can call the membership office at 503-276-4249 to update this information and troubleshoot any other problems.

Once you have successfully registered, you can sign in at various points in the ticketing process by clicking “Sign In” in the upper right hand corner of the website. The simplest way to sign in is to wait until you have all the tickets you want in your cart, then click “Sign In” in the upper right hand corner. When the Sign in box pops up in the center of the screen, enter your email and password, and click the “Sign In” button inside the box.

If instead of “Sign In,” your email address is displayed in the upper right, you are already signed in.

Your username is the email you entered when filling out the online registration form. It is usually the primary email we have on file for your membership. If you are unsure which email is set as your username, call the membership office at 503-276-4249 or email membership@pam.org.

If you can’t remember your password, enter your email in the “Sign In” box and click “Forgot your password.” Your password will be sent to you in an email.

You are no longer required to enter your membership number or ID number anywhere on the website. All of your benefits as a member can be accessed by signing in.

My Account

These membership details are not available on the website at this time. To get this information, call the membership office at 503-276-4249 or email us at membership@pam.org.

To change your password, click on your email address, which will appear in the upper right hand corner once you are signed in. You may then enter your current password and submit a new one. To change the email you use to sign in, call the membership office at 503-276-4249 or email us at membership@pam.org.

The website is currently unable to update member contact info online. To update your information with us, call the membership office at 503-276-4249 or email us at membership@pam.org.

Renewing or Purchasing a Membership

You can renew or purchase a membership by phone at 503-276-4249 or by mailing a check to the following address:

Portland Art Museum
Attn: Membership
1219 SW Park Ave.
Portland, OR 97205

To renew or purchase a membership online, click “support” from the homepage, then select “Membership” from the list on the right side of the screen. You will see a list of the available levels of membership. Click the “renew” (or join, if you’re a first time member) button below your desired level of membership. From the next screen, select either the 1 year or 2 year option, and fill in the names as you would like them to appear on your membership cards. If you would like your second card to be a guest card, leave the “Name on card 2” fields blank. Then click “Add to cart,” and continue to fill out your personal information. Continue to the payment page by clicking “Checkout.”

The Individual level membership will admit one person to the museum or museum events as a member. Levels Dual and above are for two adults. You can have two specific names on the membership, or you may choose to have the second person on your membership be listed as “Guest.” A Guest card will then be issued to you in addition to your personal membership card. With the guest card, you can bring anyone you want with you to the museum as a member. Guests must be accompanied by the primary member at admittance.

If you were given a discount code, you may enter it in the “Discount code” box below the total in your cart, then click “apply” to have the discount applied to your order.  If you are given an error or “discount already applied” message, call the membership office at 503-276-4249.

If you would like to buy a membership as a gift, follow the same steps for purchasing a membership, except click the “gift” button below the desired level of membership, and once you select either the 1 year or 2 year option, check the box next to “This membership is a gift.” You can then select whether you’d like to have the membership materials delivered to the gift recipient directly, or sent to you instead. You may also add a signature and gift message at this time. Once you enter the gift recipient’s information and add the membership to your cart, your billing information will be entered on the following page.

A greeting card containing gift information and temporary membership cards will arrive by mail within 5-10 days, and the recipient of the gift will receive their permanent membership cards within 3-6 weeks. Recipients of gifts purchased in December will receive their permanent cards in mid-January. *NOTE: Creative License and College Creative Licenses purchased as gifts do not include any gift materials or cards. Recipients of these memberships will not receive gift messages or materials.

If you have any special requests regarding gift memberships, contact the Membership department at (503)276-4249 or send an email to membership@pam.org.

Portland Art Museum members can enjoy $1 off all regular-price Northwest Film Center tickets. For a more in-depth film experience, we recommend joining the Silver Screen Club; members enjoy free and discounted admission to all Film Center screenings. For more information, please visit the Northwest Film Center’s website or call the Northwest Film Center’s Membership and Development Associate at 503-221-1156 x19.

Getting Tickets

Museum admission and lecture tickets are available in person at the Museum’s box office or from the calendar page.

For Museum Admission, click the month of the tickets you would like to buy, and select your chosen date and time from the list. You can then enter the quantity of tickets you would like in the “Member” category, and click the “add to cart” button in the bottom right corner of the screen. Be sure to sign in to receive the member discount.

For tickets to lectures or other public museum events, find the lecture or event by date on the calendar itself. The calendar will display the current month. If the event you are looking for is in a different month, access future months by clicking the abbreviated month right above the days of the week at the top of the calendar. This will scroll the calendar over to the next month. Click on the title of the event on the calendar. The next page will feature a description of the event. Click the orange “tickets available online” link to reach the tickets page. You can then enter the quantity of tickets you would like in the “Member” category, and click the “add to cart” button in the bottom right corner of the screen. Be sure to sign in to receive the member discount.

Many member event invites are sent by email. Make sure to provide us with a current email address in order to receive exclusive member invitations.

To sign up for a member event from the home page, click “Events” and select “Member Events” from the list on the right side of the screen. Here you will find a list of upcoming member events with the links to the tickets page written in orange at the end of the event description. You can get tickets for an event from the tickets page by entering the number of tickets you would like in the “quantity” box, and clicking the grey “Register” button in the bottom right. You do not need to sign in or create a new registration and password for member exclusive events, simply enter your name and contact info and click “Add to Cart” and then “Checkout.”

Member event tickets are also available in person at the Museum’s box office.

To receive member rates, you must be signed in to our website. Check the upper right hand corner, if your email is listed here, you are currently signed in.  Your discount will be applied once the tickets are in your cart. The discounted rate can be seen listed under “total,” (the “Price” heading will still reflect the full value of the tickets).

If your email is listed in the upper right, first check to make sure you selected the quantity of tickets you want in the Member ticket category, and not Adult, Student, or Senior. The type of ticket you chose is listed underneath “Description” in the cart. If your ticket does not say “member” in the description, go back to the ticket page and be sure to put the quantity of tickets you want in the member category. You can remove the incorrect tickets from your cart by clicking the “remove” button. If you are signed in and have member category tickets in your cart, and are still being charged full price, contact the Membership department at 503-276-4249 or membership@pam.org for assistance.

Your online registration applies to your membership only and will only permit the number of tickets that your membership level allows.

You can continue to go through the process of getting tickets for multiple events by putting tickets in your cart and clicking the “continue shopping” button next to the cart icon in the upper right. To return to your cart at any time, click the shopping cart icon.

Tickets ordered online will be delivered via email. Once your transaction has finished, you will be given an order number and summary of your order. Print this page or write down your order number for your records. You will receive two emails: a receipt, and link to an e-ticket. This e-ticket is your ticket to the museum which you should print out and use for your museum admission. If you don’t receive the email or are unable to print your ticket, you can show us the ticket on your smartphone, or present your order number to the box office and a replacement ticket will be printed for you.

Tickets can be cancelled or rescheduled by Guest Services. To reach Guest Services, call the Museum’s main line at 503-226-2811, or visit our box office in person.

All tours must be scheduled online. Both docent-guided tours and teacher-guided tours require at least four weeks of advance notice.

If you would like specific instructions for signing up for a tour (K-12 or College) please view the School Tours page of the Museum website.

You will receive an e-mail when the Museum has received your online request. You will receive a confirmation e-mail once your tour is approved.

All school groups should enter at the Hoffman entrance. This is the side entrance located next to the sculpture court.

The Museum does not have a lunchroom. Teachers utilize the downtown park blocks, located just across the street, and the Smith Memorial Student Union on the PSU campus.

Please email tours@pam.org if you have to add or reduce student numbers. To cancel your tour, log in to the reservation system and navigate to “My Tours” where you can cancel your tour.

School tours are free for grades K-12. Fees for college classes, once processed, cannot be returned to cover low attendance or a missed tour. We will try to reschedule your group.

The number of students the Museum is able to accommodate varies based on collection area. To see a list of how many students can go on each tour, please view the School Tour Options document.

If you have more students than a gallery can hold, please divide your group among multiple tours. Some teachers schedule half their groups at locations outside the museum (like OHS, PSU, downtown scavenger hunt) and alternate.

Due to space restrictions and in order to create meaningful experiences for your students, the Museum cannot accommodate all tour requests. We have done our best to meet teacher, docent, and education staff needs. We offer docent-guided tours at specific times during the day. If you do not see an option that works for you, please select the closest option in the online reservation system and indicate the desired modification in the comment box. We will do our best to meet your needs.

If you would like extra time before or after your tour reservation, please leave your request in the comments box. These requests depend on the daily schedule, but we will do our best to accommodate your requests. There is also a sculpture collection located outside on the Museum campus that may be used for continued education without reservation. (Note: Only docent-accompanied groups are allowed inside the Museum before it opens at 10 a.m.)

Both docent and self-guided tours last one hour. We ask that you have your students divided into groups before you arrive so your tour can begin promptly. For more information, see the teacher guidelines document in your confirmation e-mail. If you are a self-guided group and require more than an hour, please indicate that when you sign up for the tour. The education department will do its best to accommodate your request.

Yes! To facilitate group conversation, name tags are very helpful.

Visitors to the Museum are welcome to take photographs or video for personal, noncommercial use. Photography may be restricted as indicated by a “No Camera” symbol on the gallery wall. Tripods, monopods, and flash lighting are prohibited at all times.

The Museum reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to withhold and/or withdraw permission to photograph on its premises or to reproduce photographs of objects in its collection.

Limited storage is available for jackets and bags. We recommend that backpacks and electronics be left on the bus or at school. Pencils only in the galleries. We recommend hard backed notebooks or clipboards for written projects. We ask that students do not bring assignments on docent-led tours.

Don’t panic, just call us. Call the Museum (503-226-2811) and ask to be connected to someone in education. When your group arrives, ask students to stay on the bus while an adult checks in with volunteers and docents who are here to help. They will work your group in as soon as possible. If you do arrive late, we cannot guarantee a full tour, as it is dependent on the schedule for the rest of the day. There are no early entries.

Bus parking information and directions will be e-mailed to you with your tour confirmation e-mail. Drop off and pick up students in front of the Museum on SW Park Avenue and Madison Avenue. The designated bus parking area is 5 blocks west of the Museum across from Lincoln High School.

Plan your trip at trimet.org. There is a MAX stop convenient to the Museum, and the TriMet Bus Mall is three blocks away.