{"id":281762,"date":"2026-02-13T06:29:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T06:29:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/281762\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T06:29:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T06:29:11","slug":"portland-museum-of-art-unveils-plan-for-temporary-events-space","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/281762\/","title":{"rendered":"Portland Museum of Art unveils plan for temporary events space"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The lot that used to house the former Children\u2019s Museum is being temporarily repurposed as an outdoor events and performance space \u2014 until construction of the new 60,000-square-foot wing gets underway.<\/p>\n<p>The Portland Museum of Art hopes to open its proposed open-air \u201cinterim community space,\u201d at 142 Free St. this summer.<\/p>\n<p>The lot that used to house the former Children\u2019s Museum is being temporarily repurposed as an outdoor events and performance space \u2014 until construction of the new 60,000-square-foot wing gets underway. Fundraising for the <a href=\"https:\/\/mainebiz.biz\/article\/portland-museum-of-art-picks-west-coast-architecture-firm-for-100m-revamp\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">$100 million expansion<\/a> is ongoing.<\/p>\n<p>The museum\u2019s communications director, Marcie Parker Griswold, told Mainebiz that, pending approval from the city of Portland and the issuance of all required permits, the museum anticipates opening this summer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are currently securing a contractor, and final cost estimates for the build\u2011out are underway,&#8221; she said.\u00a0\u201cThe cost of the space is incorporated into the overall Blueprint Campaign, as we view this activation as an essential step in bringing the project to life ahead of the PMA\u2019s future construction of a new wing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-794464 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/072825_PMA_2_opt.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"770\" height=\"480\"\/>A rendering shows the proposed new mass-timber building at 142 Free St., on the left in the image, where the Portland Museum of Art plans to expand. RENDERING \/ COURTESY OF PORTLAND MUSEUM OF ART<\/p>\n<p>Griswold added she hoped to have some programming highlights to share next month, but had said last fall when the event space was announced, \u201cvisitors may explore rotating installations, open-air studios and art workshops that hint at the light-filled public commons to come.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The one-story interim space is projected to be close to 5,000 square feet. LEVER Architecture, which is based in Los Angeles and Portland, Ore., is designing the space, as well as the new wing.<\/p>\n<p>Demolition crews <a href=\"https:\/\/mainebiz.biz\/article\/demolition-set-to-make-way-for-portland-museum-of-art-expansion\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">removed the building<\/a> at 142 Free St. last September.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The lot that used to house the former Children\u2019s Museum is being temporarily repurposed as an outdoor events&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":281763,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[442,498,499,500,501,156,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-281762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-artsdesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=281762"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281762\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/281763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=281762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=281762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=281762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}