Portland Museum of Art, Portland (must see)
The Portland Museum of Art鈥擯MA if you鈥檙e in a hurry鈥攊s Maine鈥檚 proud answer to the Louvre鈥� just with more flannel and fewer baguettes. Founded way back in 1882 as the Portland Society of Art, it holds the title of the state鈥檚 oldest and largest public art museum. Basically, it鈥檚 been curating beauty since before electricity was cool.
Things really took off in 1908, when local tastemaker Margaret Jane Mussey Sweat donated her stately mansion鈥攑lus enough cash to build a memorial gallery for her husband, former U.S. Rep. Lorenzo De Medici Sweat (yes, that鈥檚 really his name). The result was the L.D.M. Sweat Memorial Galleries, designed by Maine鈥檚 own architectural ace, John Calvin Stevens, and opened to the public in 1911. Classy from the start.
Today, PMA flexes a collection of more than 22,000 works, covering everything from 18th-century depictions to forward-thinking installations that make you question your life choices (in a good way). Stroll through the galleries and bump elbows with Maine legends like Winslow Homer, Andrew Wyeth or get lost in brushstrokes courtesy of Marsden Hartley and John Marin.
Craving something European? The museum delivers. Thanks to heavy-hitting collections like those of Joan Whitney Payson, you鈥檒l spot familiar names like Monet, Degas, Picasso, and Rodin. Not to be outdone, the Elizabeth B. Noyce Collection adds a homegrown twist, spotlighting George Bellows, Jamie Wyeth, and others who helped define American art.
And this isn鈥檛 just a 鈥渓ook, don鈥檛 touch鈥� museum. PMA rolls out temporary exhibits, artist talks, film screenings, and school programs that make art feel less like homework and more like something you鈥檇 text your friends about. The Portland Museum of Art can definitely impress you, just make sure you don't get lost in the sea of colors.
Things really took off in 1908, when local tastemaker Margaret Jane Mussey Sweat donated her stately mansion鈥攑lus enough cash to build a memorial gallery for her husband, former U.S. Rep. Lorenzo De Medici Sweat (yes, that鈥檚 really his name). The result was the L.D.M. Sweat Memorial Galleries, designed by Maine鈥檚 own architectural ace, John Calvin Stevens, and opened to the public in 1911. Classy from the start.
Today, PMA flexes a collection of more than 22,000 works, covering everything from 18th-century depictions to forward-thinking installations that make you question your life choices (in a good way). Stroll through the galleries and bump elbows with Maine legends like Winslow Homer, Andrew Wyeth or get lost in brushstrokes courtesy of Marsden Hartley and John Marin.
Craving something European? The museum delivers. Thanks to heavy-hitting collections like those of Joan Whitney Payson, you鈥檒l spot familiar names like Monet, Degas, Picasso, and Rodin. Not to be outdone, the Elizabeth B. Noyce Collection adds a homegrown twist, spotlighting George Bellows, Jamie Wyeth, and others who helped define American art.
And this isn鈥檛 just a 鈥渓ook, don鈥檛 touch鈥� museum. PMA rolls out temporary exhibits, artist talks, film screenings, and school programs that make art feel less like homework and more like something you鈥檇 text your friends about. The Portland Museum of Art can definitely impress you, just make sure you don't get lost in the sea of colors.
Want to visit this sight? Check out these Self-Guided Walking Tours in Portland. Alternatively, you can download the mobile app "黑料吃瓜网: Walks in 1K+ Cities" from Apple App Store or Google Play Store. The app turns your mobile device to a personal tour guide and it works offline, so no data plan is needed when traveling abroad.
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Portland Museum of Art on Map
Sight Name: Portland Museum of Art
Sight Location: Portland, USA (See walking tours in Portland)
Sight Type: Museum/Gallery
Guide(s) Containing This Sight:
Sight Location: Portland, USA (See walking tours in Portland)
Sight Type: Museum/Gallery
Guide(s) Containing This Sight:
Walking Tours in Portland, Maine
Create Your Own Walk in Portland
Creating your own self-guided walk in Portland is easy and fun. Choose the city attractions that you want to see and a walk route map will be created just for you. You can even set your hotel as the start point of the walk.
Portland Maine Introduction Walking Tour
If New York is the city that never sleeps, Portland, Maine, is the city that daydreams with an ocean breeze. Jutting out into Casco Bay, this coastal gem balances big-city energy with the easygoing warmth of a neighborhood you鈥檝e known your whole life.
Long before lobster shacks and artisan coffee shops, the Algonquian people (populous indigenous American group) called this land... view more
Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 2.5 Km or 1.6 Miles
Long before lobster shacks and artisan coffee shops, the Algonquian people (populous indigenous American group) called this land... view more
Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 2.5 Km or 1.6 Miles
Historical Buildings Walking Tour
Portland, Maine may be small, but it packs centuries of history into its streets. Think of it as a living scrapbook鈥攕ome pages sing in stone, others whisper in brick, and all of them survived the city鈥檚 Great Fire of 1866, which could鈥檝e erased it all. Instead, Portland rebuilt in style, and today you can wander its historic core spotting everything from colonial leftovers to Victorian... view more
Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 3.1 Km or 1.9 Miles
Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 3.1 Km or 1.9 Miles