The King School Neighborhood Museum is an art museum that lives inside a public school. It is a collaborative project between Portland Public School’s King Pre K-8 and Portland State University’s Schools of Art + Design, Architecture, Urban Studies and Planning, and community partners. It is a participatory work of art that layers a contemporary art museum into a public school in NE Portland, OR. We are artists, professors, students, teachers, administrators, and volunteers engaging art as a vehicle for social change.

Creating Meaningful Change—Not Your Everyday Art Museum
The King School Neighborhood Museum is a living space for education catalyzed by art practice. The school and museum share a physical site and an audience at King School Pre K-8 in NE Portland. One of the lowest performing public schools in the nation, King School serves 300+ students from Portland’s highest poverty populations in gentrified communities. At King the resources to develop and sustain meaningful art curriculum for students are understandably lacking.

The King School Neighborhood Museum explores cultural heritage within a new system of ideas about the art museum’s responsibility to people, education, and community. We believe that collapsing the physical and conceptual borders between what represents culture (artifacts in museums) and how it is constructed (school curricula) provides new opportunities for engaging students. In borrowing organizational elements of conventional art museums—like exhibitions, collections, education, and outreach—we certainly espouse aspects of this historic institution. However, access and relevance are core values directly addressed within our collaborative and interactive programming.

The King School Neighborhood Museum is a participatory museum wherein King students join in curating exhibits, giving tours, and creating artwork for display. Additionally, the museum houses exhibitions by professional artists, and hosts events open the public. Join us