In the midst of troubled financial times for arts and cultural organizations across the United States, the Portland Art Museum has beat the odds with some major good news: The museum announced Thursday morning, Oct. 16, that it has raised its entire $116 million capital campaign target to pay for its new Rothko Pavilion and major improvements in its Belluschi and Mark Buildings.

The completion of the capital campaign comes about a month before the Nov. 20 unveiling of the downtown museum’s new-look campus, and with $5 million more than the long-announced $111 million price tag, to cover final construction costs. PAM also has raised $28.4 million toward its goal of $30 million for its endowment campaign to support continuing operations, endow curatorial and leadership positions, and more.

The glassed-in, almost 22,000 square foot Rothko Pavilion — named for the 20th-century art giant Mark Rothko, who was born in Latvia, grew up in Portland, and graduated from Lincoln High School — connects the original Belluschi Building to the south and the Mark Building, a former Masonic Temple, to the north. The entire project adds almost 100,000 square feet of new or refurbished spaces to the museum campus. Perhaps equally importantly, it vastly improves access for visitors, including visitors with mobility challenges, and makes moving from gallery to gallery much easier.

“The successful completion of the capital campaign, which was 98% privately funded, was made possible by the generous support of more than 1,000 individual donors, including 49 who have made gifts of $1 million or more to the Museum’s broader Connection Campaign, which encompasses both capital and endowment initiatives,” the museum said in a news release.

A host of Portland big donors led the fund-raising drive. The museum reported that a lead gift of $13.5 million from the late Arlene Schnitzer was joined by an $8 million anonymous gift, plus $5 million from Mary and Tim Boyle, $5 million from Trudy and Pat Ritz, $5 million from Nani S. Warren, $5 million from Helen Jo and Bill Whitsell, and $5 million from another anonymous donor.

“The capital campaign was formally completed thanks to a $1.1 million gift from longtime PAM supporters Fred and Gail Jubitz, for whom the Museum’s modern and contemporary galleries are named, bringing their total contribution to the campaign to over $4 million,” the news release continued.

“I am deeply grateful for the generous support from the individuals, foundations, and businesses in Portland and across the region who recognize and value the impact of the arts on our city and its downtown,” Cyndy Maletis, chair of the museum’s board, is quoted in the news release. “For more than a century, this museum has served as a beacon of inspiration in the Northwest and with this expansion, we can ensure it continues to thrive into the next century.”

Sponsor

The success of PAM’s money-raising campaigns has come in spite of obstacles including the disruptions of the Covid pandemic years and, more recently, the Trump Administration’s choking-off of federal funding for the arts and many other things. The federal cuts have had a deep effect on state and local funding, as well, squeezing budgets and cutting the flow of federal funding to state arts bureaus that ordinarily then distribute money to cultural organizations throughout their states.

Thanks in large part to its many private donations, the Portland museum has bypassed those blockades. The Nov. 20 unveiling of the renewed campus, which will kick off four days of free public festivities, will come almost 10 years after plans for the massive expansion and remodeling were announced, and museum Director Brian Ferriso has been on hand to lead the entire process. Days after the grand public opening, Ferriso will leave for Texas to take his new post as director of the larger Dallas Museum of Art. The Portland museum is in the process of finding a new director.

The renovation and expansion were designed by Portland’s Hennebery Eddy Architects and Chicago-based Vinci Hamp Architects.