Portland Museum of Art sets October 2 opening for free outdoor pavilion

The Portland Museum of Art plans to open a free outdoor pavilion at 142 Free Street on October 2, giving residents a place to gather on the site of its proposed new wing. The 4,200-square-foot PMA | AMP is temporary: the museum intends to dismantle and reuse it when permanent construction begins, though no start date has been set.

The pavilion is scheduled to open at 10 a.m., the Portland Press Herald reported, ahead of the city’s First Friday Art Walk that evening. Visitors can expect public seating, free Wi-Fi and a site-specific mural by Portland artist Jenna Pirello. Museum communications official Marcie Parker Griswold told the newspaper that people may use the space during regular museum hours.

What visitors can use from opening day

The museum describes PMA | AMP as a free, publicly accessible gathering space in the Arts District near Congress Square. It lists hours from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, with Friday hours extending to 8 p.m. The museum cautions that hours may vary and that the pavilion closes seasonally, so visitors should check its pavilion page before traveling.

Pirello’s mural is the clearest identified artwork for the opening. Sayantan Mukhopadhyay, the museum’s associate curator of modern and contemporary art, told the Press Herald that she painted it in acrylic on wood board. He said its imagery draws on the museum’s buildings and the changing landscape of Congress Square, connecting the temporary site to the planned campus expansion.

Mark Bessire, the museum’s executive director, called the pavilion an opportunity to create a space that is ‘welcoming, experimental, and immediately useful for the community.’ Parker Griswold described it to the Press Herald as a way to bring the museum outside. Those aims will be tested through the public uses and events the institution eventually puts on the calendar.

A temporary structure on an expansion site

LEVER Architecture designed the 4,200-square-foot pavilion and is also designing the museum’s proposed new wing. According to the museum, LEVER worked with project manager Urban Projects Collaborative, Maine design-build firm Woodhull and timber supplier WholeTrees. The museum says the structure uses largely Maine-sourced timber and regional materials, with dismantling, relocation and reuse built into its plan.

That reuse remains an intention tied to future construction, rather than a completed outcome. The museum describes a planned 60,000-square-foot expansion, but its announcement gives no date for work to begin. The Press Herald likewise reported that the construction timeline has not been set and that the outdoor pavilion is expected to remain open as weather allows. There is therefore no confirmed closing or relocation date for PMA | AMP.

The site has a contested history. Greater Portland Landmarks said in a September 2025 update that the museum had demolished the former building at 142 Free Street after a dispute over its historic status. The preservation group opposed demolition before the expansion was funded and approved. Its objections provide context for the temporary use of the cleared site; they do not establish the museum’s current funding or approval status.

The pavilion gives the museum a way to use the site while the larger project takes shape. The institution says it wants the outdoor space to inform its future campus, and its announcement names local organizations and businesses with which it expects to collaborate on programming. Specific dates and formats for those activities remain to be announced. For now, the practical opening-day offer is a free place to sit, connect to Wi-Fi and see Pirello’s mural.