PORTLAND, OREGON.- The Portland Art Museum presents today “Becoming a Nation - Americana from the Diplomatic Reception Rooms - U.S. Department of State,” on view through June 8, 2003. Featuring over 120 national treasures from the State Department’s Diplomatic Reception Rooms, Becoming a Nation includes paintings, furniture, silver, porcelain, rugs, mirrors and other decorative objects. The exhibition highlights works by some of the best artists and artisans from America’s early years as a nation, including Paul Revere, Nathaniel Austin, John LeTellier, Gilbert Stuart and John Singleton Copley.
Organized by the Trust for Museum Exhibitions, this exhibition makes its premiere at the Portland Art Museum.
On April 13, Gail Serfaty, Director and Curator, Diplomatic Reception Rooms, and Jonathan Fairbanks, Guest Curator and catalogue author for Becoming a Nation, will present a joint program that explores the history of the Diplomatic Reception Rooms collection.
The oldest art museum in the Pacific Northwest came into existence in the last days of 1892, when seven leaders of Portland’s business and cultural institutions signed the letters of incorporation that created the Portland Art Association.