News

(Portland, Ore.) October 26, 2010 – Portland State University partnered with the Portland Art Museum to offer 1,000 free annual museum memberships. The offer, which went out to students on Friday, was so popular that it sold out in an hour and crashed the museum’s website.

“This was a wonderful opportunity to encourage our students to take advantage of one of Oregon’s finest cultural institutions,” said President Wiewel. “Obviously there was a pent up demand.”

Since 2007, the museum has offered a College Pass to college students at all schools. The pass provides a year of museum free admission and costs $10 a year, which is less than the cost of one adult general admission ticket ($12).

“We would like to see a day when every PSU student receives a membership and that the PortlandArt Museum can serve as PSU’s art museum through accessibility and programming,” explained Brian Ferriso, The Marilyn H. and Dr. Robert B. Pamplin, Jr. Director of the Museum. “Generous members of the community have stepped forward to fund free admission opportunities, we hope to find donors who will support the funding of memberships for all PSU students.”

The offer of free memberships was a test to determine the demand for such an opportunity.

"Art really transports me to another time and place and state of mind,” said Su Yim, a PSU student pursuing a Masters in Social Work.  “When I was working, I loved supporting the museum as a member, but as a full-time student it's hard to find room in the budget. That's why I was so excited to see the offer of a free membership to students." 

Leaders at both institutions have been in discussions about forming a partnership to support students’ access to the Museum’s collections, exhibitions, and programs. The Museum recently partnered with PSU’s Art and Social Practice Concentration to present Shine a Light, an annual event which drew nearly 3,000 people in six hours on October 15.

Interviews with students and representatives from PAM and PSU are available.

About Portland State University

Portland State University (PSU) serves as a center of opportunity for over 29,000 undergraduate and graduate students. Located in Portland, Oregon, one of the nation’s most livable cities, the University’s innovative approach to education combines academic rigor in the classroom with field-based experiences through internships and classroom projects with community partners. The University’s 49-acre downtown campus exhibits Portland State’s commitment to sustainability with green buildings, while many of the 125 bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees incorporate sustainability into the curriculum. PSU’s motto, “Let Knowledge Serve the City,” inspires the teaching and research of an accomplished faculty whose work and students span the globe.

About Portland Art Museum
The seventh oldest museum in the United States and the oldest in the Northwest, the Portland Art Museum is internationally recognized for its permanent collection and ambitious special exhibitions drawn from the Museum’s holdings and the world’s finest public and private collections. The Museum’s collection of 42,000 objects, displayed in 112,000 square feet of galleries, 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, English silver, and the graphic arts. An active collecting institution dedicated to preserving great art for the enrichment of future generations, the Museum devotes 90 percent of its galleries to its permanent collection. The Museum’s campus of landmark buildings, a cornerstone of Portland’s cultural district, includes the Jubitz Center for Modern and Contemporary Art, the Gilkey Center for Graphic Arts, the Schnitzer Center for Northwest Art, the Northwest Film Center, and the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Center for Native American Art. With a membership of more than 22,000 households and serving more than 350,000 visitors annually, the Museum is a premier venue for education in the visual arts. For information on exhibitions and programs, call 503-226-2811 or visit portlandartmuseum.org.