From Egyptian mummies to the Art of Beer: a case study of the Portland Art Museum's engagement strategies, community building, and connection to urban policy, 1994–2014

Abstract

Urban arts institutions engage communities through their programming, theoretically providing space and impetus for relationship building across and within social groups. However, this discourse does not adequately acknowledge that these institutions are dynamic organizations that are responsive to their environments, social norms, and leadership changes, which impact with which communities they engage. This article uses an analysis of the Portland Art Museum (PAM) between 1994 and 2014 to show that a change over time in its leadership and funding climate has ostensibly led to changes in community building in its urban context. Notably, these changes in engagement strategy mirror changes in urban policy preferences at the time, particularly with respect to arts economic development, as articulated by A. J. Ashley (2015). The findings highlight the significant role that funding environment played in how the art museum programmed and how that programming influenced community building. The research also found a strong correlation between the change in programming strategy of PAM and a change in arts economic development policy norms. However, there was no strong evidence that one explicitly influenced the other, suggesting the need for further investigation.