Description

The Portland Art  Museum (Oregon) is in dire need of ready funds at this moment of severe earned-revenue losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In the letter attached here, Portland’s director, Brian Ferriso, requests an emergency grant of $100,000 to directly support curatorial salaries, including the unendowed position of PAM’s curator of Native American Art, Kathleen Ash-Milby, during a closure that is expected to last through August. With this email, I wholeheartedly recommend approval of the proposed emergency grant. The funds would be drawn from the American Art Program’s 2020 allocation.
 
PAM is a vital cultural hub in the region, and is increasingly focused on issues of DEI. Their most recent American Art Program grant was for the loan exhibition,  Hank Willis Thomas: All Things Being Equal . PAM was also among the cohort of museums that received AARF funding from the Foundation in 2010, for short-term salary support.
 
The Foundation’s support of PAM’s talented and highly committed staff at this unprecedented moment, through this emergency grant, is a rapid and effective way to assist them in keeping their staff whole and active through these months of unprecedented challenges to the museum sector.