King Elementary students curate Portland Art Museum exhibit
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Students focused on the theme of identity and representation. Photo: Courtesy of Portland Art Museum
For most kids, museums are field trip destinations. But one group of King Elementary fourth and fifth graders got to be curators.
The latest: In a new exhibition at Portland Art Museum called "Harriet Tubman Center Museum," students selected works on the theme of identity and community, now on display in the museum's Black Art and Experiences Galleries.
Zoom in: Seventeen students, part of King Elementary's Museum of Contemporary Art, worked alongside artist Lisa Jarrett and Portland State graduate students to research, select and install 27 pieces ranging from portraits, artifacts and large-scale works.
- They visited PAM's collection storage, studied works that are not always on public view, discussed what each piece meant to them and helped shape the final layout.
The result is a colorful gallery filled with works reflecting on how these young people see belonging.
- On one wall, Portland-based artist Isaka Shamsud-Din's "Brothers Phree" shows a group gathered around a pool table.
- Down the hall, Robert Pruitt's drawing "Meteorite," depicts a seated Black woman with a walkie-talkie in her lap, pairing portraiture with audio that draws on gospel.
- Other works include prints and text-based pieces that invite viewers to think about confidence and representation.
If you go: The exhibition runs through Jan. 3 at Portland Art Museum, 1219 SW Park Ave.
- General admission is $27.50; children 17 and under are free.