Portland Art Museum
The Portland Art Museum has begun a multi-year construction project that will revitalize the gallery and perhaps help do the same for the city’s downtown core. In addition, the museum has opened its new Tomorrow Theater in Southeast Portland. We talk to Brian Ferriso, executive director and chief curator, about the future of the Portland Art Museum, and the role of museums in 2023.
Note: This transcript was computer generated and edited by a volunteer.
Dave Miller: This is Think Out Loud on OPB. I’m Dave Miller. The Portland Art Museum (PAM) has begun a multiyear $111 million construction project. They say it’ll revitalize the museum and hopefully do the same for the city’s downtown core. Meanwhile, PAM recently opened the Tomorrow Theater, a new moviehouse and performing arts space in Southeast Portland. At the same time, the museum is cosponsoring the Native artist Jeffrey Gibson’s solo exhibition at the US Pavilion of the Venice Biennale, which has been called the Olympics of the art world. So there’s a lot to talk about with Brian Ferriso, the longtime director of the museum. He joins me now. Welcome back for the show.
Brian Ferriso: Thanks Dave, nice to be here.
Miller: Can you describe the idea behind the Mark Rothko Pavilion?
Ferriso: If you’ve been to our campus, it’s four different wings that have been built starting in 1930, 1939, 1970, then 2005 was a renovation. And we really need to make it more accessible, we needed to make it more inviting, and really knit these buildings together in a thoughtful way in a contemporary way.
Miller: Why? What was wrong with the assemblage of buildings the way they were? Because it’s a huge project to embark on. There has to be a good enough reason to raise $111 million.
Ferriso: Well, I’ve always felt, thinking about this museum and this community, that this museum needed to be more of a resource for all, rather than an attraction. And really serve more like a library in the sense that it is part of the fabric of the city. I felt it was somewhat disjointed architecturally from the fabric of our city, and then also internally, it was very confusing. And I think to really lower people’s anxiety when they entered the museum, I wanted a place that was comfortable and inclusive. And I think architecture can do that in a thoughtful way.
Miller: How do you think the experience of the museum is going to be different then?
Ferriso: I think when you move into the spaces, we’ve used universal design as a principle throughout the design of the project.
Miller: I don’t know what that means.
Ferriso: That means more sort of ADA to the nth degree. We’ve really thought about every person and everybody moving through the space in the same way. So if you have any bit of disability, if you have any bit of mobility issues, you can move through the spaces in the same way, which is a lot different than what is experienced now.
Additionally, I think this idea that if you’re feeling like you know where you are, you can see where you’re going, it’s much more of a pleasant experience for the visitor.
Miller: Is it common to start a huge capital project when you haven’t raised all the money? Because that’s what I read in a press release, that the money raising is still ongoing even as the work has begun. That seems really scary.
Ferriso: Sure. Well, we are very close. We still have about $15 million left out of the $111. And I feel that the city and the community is really responding to this project because of the now, the need for it. And I’ve been working on this probably for about 12 or 15 years in particular. So it’s been an ongoing process, obviously, costs have escalated, we all know, with the pandemic among other things.
Miller: A press release that I mentioned earlier about the construction mentions that this project is a key part of revitalizing a downtown core that’s been slow to recover after the pandemic. I’m curious what you mean by that? What do you see as a connection between this museum renovation and a different Portland downtown?
Ferriso: Well, let’s think about the museum in particular. It’s over 130 years old. So it’s obviously an anchor. I think it’s an educational, cultural community anchor. It’s sort of a community gathering place. And I think by doing this investment, investing in that community space which I believe so strongly in, we are going to I would even say rescue the city, Dave. Because it’s about education. It’s about inspiration. It’s about a place to gather, to critically think, to see the world.
I also think that museums help create empathy. This idea of seeing different cultures from time and place is so important now more than ever. I see it having a huge impact on the reimagining of our city.
Miller: Everything you said makes sense in and of itself. But if I am thinking about some of the current social ills that we all are familiar with in the Portland area and up and down the west coast, of homelessness or fentanyl overdoses. There, it’s a little bit harder for me to connect the dots, between the community space you’re envisioning and the street problems of Portland.
Ferriso: My first job in museums was in Newark, New Jersey. And Newark was a town that had gone through some real difficult times. I was working there in the early nineties. And really, the museum in that community, again over 100 years old, served as a place of hope. It wasn’t one or the other in this idea that we need to take care of the body and the mind. But we also need hope and inspiration and beauty, and really understand other cultures. So I think it’s part of the equation. I don’t think it’s an either/or.
Miller: Another big initiative that I mentioned at the beginning that you recently announced is the Tomorrow Theater on Southeast Division. It’s been a lot of things over its nearly 100 year life, including a porn movie theater. What’s it going to be now?
Ferriso: The head of the program is Amy Dotson, and she’s been very creative in working with me and saying “What is the next iteration of movie consumption or storytelling?” And we’ve moved beyond just the traditional idea of film. We will show films. But we also see artists thinking about their practice in a much broader way, in a bigger platform, so they tell stories in different ways. So there’ll be performances, they’ll be obviously musical acts. We’re opening up Friday night with David Byrne from the legendary Talking Heads, and thinking about him as an artist. And artists today are very multifaceted. So we really want to embrace that moment and think about how storytelling is being told by the artists of today.
Miller: How is the space going to feel different from the Whitsell Auditorium, a nice place to see a movie, but I say this with respect, it’s a museum movie theater, a kind of sterile space.
Ferriso: Yes, that’s exactly it. And we wanted a space to complement that, to think a little bit differently. That we would use the Whitsell in sort of maybe our more traditional approach to things, films, lectures, etc. But the Tomorrow Theater is really about breaking out of that mold. We’ve worked with Osmose, Andee Hess is a wonderful designer here in town. She’s done major projects throughout the community and the United States. And she really helped us revitalize that space in a very creative and thoughtful, and I think a cost effective way. So it’ll feel more accessible in the sense of what a Portland space would feel like.
Miller: Did the pandemic change the way you think about the purpose of a museum?
Ferriso: I think it emphasized what the role of the museum is. We’ve talked a little bit about this idea of gathering, and I think in many of your interviews I’ve heard this idea of isolation and we really need connection. And I really came to a deeper understanding of the importance and the significance of a museum. It almost reminded me of what happened after 9/11, after that tragedy in 2001, where museums became a place of healing and hope. And I feel the same way now. We’re at this important inflection point. And I can’t think of a better reason why we need a museum today.
Miller: It’s interesting for you to put that in that way. Absolutely it’s been a theme that I’ve noted, the social isolation, the loneliness. And I brought it up a couple of times on the show. When I think about museums, if I think about connection, it still feels more internal. It’s less, I think, about connecting to the people around me, and more about connecting to art and ideas. But do you see it as a more social gathering place?
Ferriso: I do. I think the history of museums is really about collecting objects. If you go back to the enlightenment, let’s go back 150 years, it was about cabinets of curiosities, objects. And today’s museum is really about objects, which are important, but also people and program. And I think there’s three parts to the museum and each one has an equal role. And program can be exhibitions, events, lectures, talks, celebrations. And the collections are part of that equation, but they’re not the primary. They’re part of the three-legged stool.
Miller: We’ve heard a lot about the enormous challenges that theaters and other performing arts spaces or venues have been dealing with recently. Are museums or visual arts centers also suffering a downturn in attendance?
Ferriso: Somewhat. I think ours in particular is related to the state of downtown. We’ve seen a decline, there’s no doubt about it. And I know that there are some things being put in place to help hopefully rectify that.
Miller: You can say with near certainty that a decrease in visitors is because people are wary of going to downtown Portland?
Ferriso: I think so. When I look at the statistics, Dave, of let’s say, hotels in particular, and I’ve talked to Jeff Miller about this from Travel Portland, they’re down at some of the lowest numbers. And historically, in the summer, we’ve had a huge amount of tourists, as well as local community members come to our museum. And we’ve seen pretty much mirror our decline in attendance [and] the decline in visitors to the city.
Miller: Upcoming shows over the next year or so at the museum include “Africa Fashion,” which will feature the work of designers from 20 African countries, “Future Now: Virtual Sneakers to Cutting-Edge Kicks” and “Psychedelic Rock Posters and Fashion of the 1960s.” Why this fashion focus?
Ferriso: It’s always been part of my interest and vision, is that I feel that if we can celebrate objects that we see everyday that are part of the human experience on a daily basis, there’s a greater accessibility. And we’ve had tremendous success, we’ve done shows on Italian fashion style, Native American fashion. And it really brings I think an accessibility and inclusivity to the program. In addition to, let’s say, the more traditional exhibitions we’ve done in the past.
Miller: When you’re thinking about curation and planning the next year or multiyear plan for shows, how much attention do you pay to, say, how many people went to see those exhibits at other comparable museums?
Ferriso: Oh, that’s a good question. I look at it. I glance at it. But interestingly, Portland has done so much more than other cities - we did an exhibition on Italian fashion maybe about eight years ago. It was in Minneapolis, I think it had about 30-40,000 people. We had over 100,000. So our city really responds to these programs, these exhibitions in a really impactful way and a big number.
Miller: So how do you decide that? It seems like you’re saying that attendance in other places is not a particularly helpful metric for you. How do you decide what to bring here? It has to be one of the more consequential decisions you make. Besides the collection that’s here, what can people see?
Ferriso: I think about bringing the world to Oregon, and Oregon to the world. “Africa Fashion” is bringing the world to Oregon. It’s about a celebration of the abundance of Africa, which is really exciting.
But at the same time, we have an exhibition called “Black Artists of Oregon.” And that’s putting our community out there into the world. So this exchange between these two things is really important. I’ve always been a big believer too [in] a sense of place. How do we define this place? And globalism as you know really took over the world in museums, and sort of everyone wanted to do the same thing. But I think our niche here is to be unique and to really follow that, bring the world to Oregon and vice versa.
Miller: You told Willamette Week not too long ago that your greatest work achievement is doubling the number of curators. There are now nine, at least as of the publication of that article, four of which for those positions are endowed. What does this mean for the public, the number of curators?
Ferriso: I think it’s about people, right? I talked about this idea that the museum is collections, people, and program. And the curators in particular, as well as our educators and learning and community partnerships, define and shape the program. But they also are the human interface with people. And I think that’s so important. We need really strong leaders and advocates who have the ability to connect with people. Because sometimes art can be intimidating and daunting. But if you have a person who can help connect it, I think it’s absolutely at the core of what we need to do.
Miller: This gets to another issue that you were in Willamette Week about recently, they had a story about tensions among some long-time museum volunteers because of changes to the program, a program often known as “docents.” That word is now on the outs. Can you describe first what changed?
Ferriso: It was more of an expansion. So we’ve been in conversation with some of the leadership in the docent program about how can we be more expansive? Many, many years ago, we started a teacher advisory committee, and we wanted to be more inclusive. So the docent program is transitioning to volunteer educators. And they’ll oversee families and adult tours. And then we’re bringing in college guides to work with students in K-12 in Portland Public Schools. So it’s really about an expansion, and more inclusivity, rather than let’s say shifting completely away from volunteers. Because we believe in volunteerism very strongly.
Miller: What was the reason for those changes? What was wrong with the old status quo?
Ferriso: I think we needed to have more people at the table, more people engaged in the museum. Going back to what I was talking about before, we need to be more of a resource, we needed more representation on the staff and the volunteers of our community, and we wanted to have a value add. It was more of an addition rather than a subtraction.
Miller: When you say more representation. What exactly do you mean, specifically?
Ferriso: I think we need different age groups. We need different people from different backgrounds. We need older people. We need all different demographics in the museum.
Miller: The sense I got is that you need more younger people and more People of Color as either paid or unpaid staff or volunteers. Is that a fair way to put it?
Ferriso: No, I would not say so. I don’t agree with that. It’s just more people involved.
Miller: In general, you’re saying.
Ferriso: Absolutely. More people on the staff, more people on the board, more people in our volunteer program, more people in our paid program. And I think it’s really important also to invest in our youth. I really believe that the next generation, we have an obligation to make sure that they have the right skills and the opportunities. And that’s part of our educational mission.
Miller: Do you have the money to hire those new people?
Ferriso: We do. There’s a program called the Federal Work Study program. So we were able to get funds from the federal government.
Miller: As I mentioned in my intro, the museum is co-commissioning the solo exhibition of Jeffrey Gibson’s work. Folks may have seen his work at the Portland Art Museum not too long ago. But this will be for the 2024 Spring Venice Biennale. How did the Portland Art Museum get involved in this?
Ferriso: Well, it’s really important to us. And if you think about our collections, one of the great strengths is our Native American collection. I, about four years ago, was able to hire Kathleen Ash-Milby as a curator, going back to the investment in curators. And Kathleen came from the Smithsonian. But the primary purpose was to really think about Native American art and culture in a contemporary way, in a relevant way. It is a living breathing exciting dynamic culture. And Kathleen’s expertise is in this area. So this is an extension of that vision of building on our historic collections and making it relevant in the programs.
So Kathleen and I worked together on the application with my colleague at SITE Santa Fe, Louis Grachos. And we applied to the state department. And it was the right time for us, and it was the right time for this vision. And Jeffrey is a very powerful artist, a really influential artist, but also an accessible artist. If you’ve seen his work and what he’s done, there is an entry point for all. And we’re just thrilled.
Miller: Am I right that you recently came back from Venice?
Ferriso: I did, in August. So there’s a lot of planning, as you can imagine. Installing a major exhibition in a place surrounded by water is a little more complicated than doing it in downtown Portland.
Miller: Will there be any way, since you’re the one of the co-commissioners, for Portlanders to see this art without going to Italy?
Ferriso: Absolutely. So we’re building out a complete website. We’re working with Bloomberg Connects to build a full application on it. There will also be a prominent catalog that will come out probably a year afterwards, because we’re gonna document the whole process. So the project will live on. We’re also developing teacher resources for children and building out the program so it is impactful for our community.
Miller: Brian Ferriso, thanks very much.
Ferriso: Thanks, Dave.
Miller: Brian Ferriso is the director of the Portland Art Museum.
Contact “Think Out Loud®”
If you’d like to comment on any of the topics in this show or suggest a topic of your own, please get in touch with us on Facebook, send an email to thinkoutloud@opb.org, or you can leave a voicemail for us at 503-293-1983. The call-in phone number during the noon hour is 888-665-5865.