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The Portland Art Museum (PAM) has grown steadily throughout its lifetime. The original building from 1932 had a major add-on in 1939 and expanded again in 1970. In 2005, the Masonic Temple next to PAM became the museum’s Mark Building, which houses offices, ballrooms, and the Jubitz Center for Modern and Contemporary Art.Â
Later this November, PAM will link its original building with the Masonic Temple expansion by way of the Mark Rothko Pavilion. The new structure will extend across SW Madison and add approximately 10,000 square feet of space to Portland’s flagship art museum, finally connecting the two buildings.
The Rothko solves a major problem for PAM. Previously, the original part of the museum and the Mark Building were linked via an underground passageway that a lot of guests completely missed during their visits. In exit surveys, many museum-goers reported not knowing that the Jubitz Center was even part of PAM because they couldn’t find the passage that linked one building with the other. When the new addition opens on November 20, it will connect the original PAM building and the Mark Building across four levels.Â
Architecturally distinct from both existing structures, the Rothko Pavilion contrasts with the two adjacent brick buildings. The 1932 museum building was designed by Pietro Belluschi, a Portland modernist architect known for clean, functional designs. The Mark Building is from 1926 and, as a Masonic Temple, was made to look faux-ancient, complete with fake arrow slits.Â
The Rothko’s exterior is almost entirely glass, and its open design is much more contemporary, reminiscent of an Apple store or a sun-filled open-plan office. It was designed by the Portland-based Hennebery Eddy Architects working with Chicago-based Vinci Hamp Architects.
Another major change: PAM’s admissions desk is moving into the pavilion, which will function as the new visitor entrance. While the existing entrance’s architectural elements, like the stairs leading up to the original doorway, will remain, the original foyer will be repurposed into a gallery.
Upgrades and additions at PAM aren’t limited to the Rothko Pavilion. The passageway that was once the only connection to the Mark is also getting a makeover, becoming the New Media Gallery. That hall and series of rooms will open in November, presenting a video collage by Marco Brambilla, a contemporary artist also known for being the director of Demolition Man.Â
“He’s probably the only artist who’s both collected by the Guggenheim and has directed Sylvester Stallone,” says Ian Gillingham, head of press and publications for PAM. Other new features include a Black Art and Experiences Gallery, a new loading dock, and changes to the museum’s cafe and gift shop.
Initial plans for the pavilion stirred up controversy. The city has allowed PAM to build on and use a segment of SW Madison since 1968, provided that the museum maintains an easement that lets pedestrians and bicyclists pass through freely. However, a 2016 design of the Rothko did not include that easement. The public would have been able to move through an open area during the museum’s business hours, but wouldn’t have had 24-hour access.
“They severely underestimated how mad people would get,” says Jonathan Maus of Bike Portland, who reported on the back-and-forth between the city and museum during the planning process. “The public wasn’t willing to take any downgrade in access. The longer people had a chance to look at this, the more upset they got.”
Eventually, PAM altered the pavilion design to include a tunnel-like public area that would maintain the easement. Pedestrians and bicyclists will be able to use the thruway at all hours, and the museum still gets to connect its two buildings. “It was a pretty awesome example of the community expressing concern,” says Maus.
The new pavilion takes its name from Mark Rothko, a 20th century artist who spent much of his youth in Portland. Born Markus Rothkowitz in 1903, in what is now Latvia, Rothko moved with his family to Portland when he was eight years old. He attended Lincoln High School, took art classes with the museum, and had his first solo exhibition at PAM in 1933.
Rothko didn’t stick around to become part of the Portland art scene, though. He also had an exhibition that year in New York. Throughout his life, Rothko became famous for his large, abstract color field paintings. He died in 1970. The addition to PAM will bear his name because of the insistence of an anonymous donor who wanted the structure to be named after an artist rather than a patron.
One artist notably absent from the new pavilion, though: Mark Rothko. “It’s made of glass,” says Gillingham. “There’s light coming through. That’s not a place where you can display Mark Rothko paintings.” The new addition will house art that can be in direct sunlight on a regular basis, like sculptures
However, Rothko’s work will still be on view at the museum. The Rothko family is loaning PAM several pieces, and they’ll be displayed over the next 20 years. “It’s like a globally significant Rothko exhibition, except spread out over two decades,” says Gillingham. According to him, the works in question aren’t just limited to Rothko’s famous abstract color fields. They also include several earlier works, many of which are much more representational.Â
The new pavilion ensures that Rothko will be a major presence at PAM in the future, just a few rooms over from the bridgeway that bears his name.Â
The Mark Rothko Pavilion opens at Portland Art Museum, 1219 SW Park, Thurs Nov 20. More info and updates on an associated free four-day community event at pam.org
