Inside PNCA

The old Portland post office is converted into an art college! I’ll show you want it looks like inside…

One of my favorite things to do is walk around Portland’s neighborhoods.  Lots of people ask me how I always know about what’s going on around town, and walking is one of the ways I do it.  I just pick a neighborhood, put the baby in the stroller, the dog on a leash and wander around.  You can see things that you just would not otherwise find, no matter how many hours a day you spend online.

That’s how I ended up on a little tour inside the new Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) campus.  I was wandering around the Pearl District after picking up some stuff at Blick and ended up in front of the building.  I was curious what the inside looked like so I went in to look around. The front desk happily signed me in, gave me a visitor badge and sent me into the galleries.

Look at this place!  They converted the historic post office into an art college.  What a wonderful use of the giant building and what a great addition to the North Park Blocks.  The school moved in in February after a year long $34 million dollar renovation.  I have been to the old campus many times for TBA Festival and for a 6-week painting class so I was very interested to see the change and I love it.

The renovations are fantastic.  I don’t know what it looked like previously, but they obviously added lots of skylights and windows.  The atrium on the first floor is filled with natural light and connects three floors of gallery space with the library and the classic architecture of the main entry.  It’s really beautiful.  There is probably twice the gallery space of the old campus and that’s just in the 3 floors I was able to see.  

School is out right now so the place was fairly vacant, but I look forward to stopping in in the future for more events and exhibits.  Or maybe another art class?  Their continuing education program is fantastic, if you are interested in a painting, drawing or graphic arts class, check out their schedule.  They are a little spendy but a great experience.  You can read about my painting class here.  Otherwise, stop in and check the place out.  

PNCA CAMPUS
511 NW BROADWAY