Author: Michael Smith

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Write Around PAM: Ansel Adams

Image Description: Cemetery Statue and Oil Derricks, Long Beach, California. Ansel Adams. 1939. Photograph, gelatin silver print. Square black and white photo of a statue of a female with flowing wavy hair parted in the middle and gently falling onto her shoulders. Her eyes are closed and she has a peaceful, but solemn expression on her face. The figure is wearing a flowing robe-like garment with several ripples and folds. Her chin is gently resting on the folded fingers of her right hand and her elbow is resting on her knee. Her right foot and toes peek out from under the robe. She holds a wreath of daisy-like flowers in her left hand as it rests on her lowered left knee. The sculpture is on a cement pedestal that is partially visible with rounded corners decorated with filigrees. The figure seems illuminated while the evergreen trees, fifteen oil derricks, and sky in the background are much darker.
Ansel Adams (American, 1902–1984), Cemetery Statue and Oil Derricks, Long Beach, California, 1939, Photograph, gelatin silver print, 2018.2572, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The Lane Collection. © The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust. Courtesy, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

In addition to grand sweeping vistas, Ansel Adams spent time photographing the urban landscapes surrounding his home. This weekend, we invite you to spend some time closer to the city, writing within this place. Take a moment to imagine standing where Adams did when he took this photograph. What do you notice? What if you…  Read more

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Daily Art Moment: Ansel Adams

Image description: Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico, Ansel Adams, 1941, (negative) printed later, gelatin silver print. A black and white, landscape photograph showing a moon in a dark night sky over mountains, a church and graveyard. The photo is divided roughly in half with the top portion holding the dark, almost black sky. Towards the center of the work the sky lightens, and wispy clouds stretch across the photo. An almost full moon sits just left of center in the lighter sky above the light gray clouds. A snow-peaked mountain range sits under the clouds with scrubland below it. At far left a pueblo-style church with steep flat walls rises in the foreground topped with a small white cross. Low lying outbuildings and trees continue across to the right side of the photo where they meet with a cluster of crosses and headstones. Each cross is slightly different, and all seem to reflect the light and show up brightly against the darker background. Dark scrubby bushes continue to the bottom of the photograph.
Ansel Adams (American, 1902–1984), Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico, 1941; print date: 1965–75, Photograph, gelatin silver print, 2018.2730, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, The Lane Collection © The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust, Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Tonight’s waxing gibbous moon has me thinking about how folks love to photograph the moon, and how difficult it is to capture this celestial orb in a way that matches what we feel when we observe it with our eyes. One of the most famous photographs of the moon is currently on view at the…  Read more

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Community Discover Learn

Art and Writing During the Pandemic: Celebrating the Write Around Portland Partnership

It has been more than one year since Write Around Portland and the Portland Art Museum began collaborating on weekly, art-inspired writing prompts to sustain our souls and our sense of connection during the pandemic. Write Around Portland staff and writing workshop facilitators have created over 60 writing prompts inspired by works in the Portland…  Read more

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Daily Art Moment: Jingle

Ojibwa artist, Blouse, 30 x 39 inches, cotton, plastic buttons, tin, and sequins. A black, hip length shirt with elbow length sleeves and a small, rounded collar. Patterned metal jingles set closely together hang from a short yoke edged with a faded peach strip of fabric, stitched and embellished with sequins. The round collar is edged with star shaped sequins and has two long strings that hang to mid garment. Two large black buttons fasten the shirt at mid chest. The sleeves and hem are also edged in evenly spaced sequins. More jingles drop from under the sleeve and garment hem suspended by cloth loops, their colors now ranging from red to faded peach. The shirt’s hem dips slightly at the sides approximately reaching the wearer’s finger tips.

The jingle is a symbol of Native North American women. This blouse with matching skirt, a possible precursor to the jingle dress, is an example of the ingenuity of Native design. This type of dress adornment and dance was first developed to heal and has continued to be a symbol of healing and female empowerment.…  Read more

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Community Discover Learn

Write Around PAM: Richard Misrach

Image Description: Golden Gate Bridge 8.4.98 6:16am Richard Misrach. 1998. Photograph, chromogenic dye coupler print. Landscape photo showing the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance under the pastel colors of the sunrise. The bottom fourth of the photo shows peaceful bay waters covered with a light layer of fog. Dark peninsulas extend from either side of the bay just before the barely visible two pillars of the bridge. Calm water extends past the bridge and fades into the light blue sky. A thin layer of light purple extends beyond the blue followed by a light cream and blue sky.
Richard Misrach (American, born in 1949), Golden Gate Bridge 8.4.98 6:16am, 1998, Photograph, chromogenic dye coupler print*Private Collection, Cambridge, © Richard Misrach, courtesy of Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco, Courtesy, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Looking at the water, the land, the tiny bridge in the distance, we are reminded of journeying, and the boats or ships that may have passed under that bridge. What else might be in the water, on those distant shores? We invite you to take some time today to write about the images that come…  Read more

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Community Discover Learn

Write Around PAM: Ansel Adams

Ansel Adams (American, 1902–1984), Clearing Winter Storm, Yosemite National Park about 1937, Photograph, gelatin silver print, 2018.2722, *Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The Lane Collection, *© The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust, *Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Photographs take us to places and times we might never see otherwise. Even on this summery day, this picture by Ansel Adams transports us to snowy grandeur shrouded by clouds and fog. If you were on one of these rocks in the clouds, how would you feel? Let your imagination take you there today as…  Read more

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Blazers star Carmelo Anthony nominates PAM for $100,000 prize supporting Black Art and Experiences

Portland Trail Blazers star Carmelo Anthony was named the winner of the first Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Champion award in recognition of his work for civil rights, Black empowerment, and racial equity.  Last week’s NBA announcement was reported by local, national, and international outlets including The Oregonian, ESPN Global, ABC News, and Sports Illustrated.  In…  Read more

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Community Discover Learn

Write Around PAM: Ansel Adams

Image Description: Moon and Half Dome, Yosemite National Park. Ansel Adams. 1960. Gelatin silver print. Black and white photo of the sheer cliff wall of Half Dome in Yosemite under a waxing gibbous moon. The white moonlight reflects off the expansive Half Dome cliff edge highlighting the detailed texture in the rock appearing as vertical white lines. The jagged edges of the cliff are sharp and the top of the dome on the right appears smooth. A black edge of another cliff appears on the left side in the foreground. A large shadow in the shape of a backward L covers the right side of Half Dome extending from the right side of the photo into the middle. The rocks at the bottom of the two cliffs are slightly blurred and partially covered by shadows.
Moon and Half Dome, Yosemite National ParkAnsel Adams (American, 1902–1984)1960Photograph, gelatin silver print2018.2681*Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The Lane Collection*© The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust*Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Some places are so iconic, so famous, that they seem to carry their own personalities with them. You could imagine what they might be saying to one another about the world around them, about the weather, about the throngs of people who come to see them. During this holiday weekend, we invite you to spend…  Read more

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Community Connect Discover

The Summer Series at Madison Plaza featuring The Numberz FM

As we tune into the energy of warmer weather, we are excited to share more information about the Madison Plaza Summer Series, a collection of pop-up programs and events in partnership with the Museum, The Numberz FM, and the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT). Working with the City Repair Project, staff gathered on Friday, June…  Read more

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Daily Art Moment: Ron Nagle

Image description: Fortgang, Ron Nagle, 4 ¾ x 4 ¾ x 4 inches, earthenware with overglaze. A small, bright orange sculpture featuring a circular “fin” behind a curled, finger-like appendage. The fin stands about twice as high as the crooked finger that ends in a point. The appendage appears to have several joints like a human finger with folds or wrinkles where it bends. The base widens slightly and appears rounded. The rough, craggy surface of the sculpture shows lighter highlights amid the deeper orange shadows.

“Diabolically beautiful.” “Ridiculously seductive.” “Subversively beautiful.” These are just a few reactions to Ron Nagle’s small scale ceramic sculptures. This photograph shows only a glimmer of the iridescent color and craggy surface of Fortgang. The scale feels off too—it seems like it should be bigger, more weighty, but the work is not even 5 inches…  Read more