Portland Museum of Art Announces Grand Opening of the David E. Shaw and Family Sculpture Park

On July 7, the Portland Museum of Art will open the David E. Shaw and Family Sculpture Park in the Joan B. Burns Garden with a community celebration. Taking place on First Friday and featuring food trucks, live music, raffles, art-based activities, and much more, the grand opening of the David E. Shaw and Family Sculpture Park will be the arts and cultural event of the season.

In addition to the grand opening, the entire museum will be free and visitors will be encouraged to take their PMA Summer of Sculpture experience from the Park to the major exhibition inside, A New American Sculpture, 1914-1945: Lachaise, Laurent, Nadelman, and Zorach.
The David E. Shaw and Family Sculpture Park in the Joan B. Burns Garden not only makes outdoor art, a crucial and unique part of the PMA collection, more available to everyone, but it also improves quality of life in Portland, creating a green space where anyone can have quiet moments with world-class works of art at any time during museum hours. The grand opening event also serves as the unveiling of the latest addition to Portland’s outdoor arts landscape and a new major work in the PMA collection: Jonathan Borofsky’s Human Structures (24 Figures Connected).

The Joan B. Burns Garden has incorporated sculpture since Celeste Roberge’s Rising Cairn was installed there in 2000. Since then, the PMA acquired Anthony Caro’s Moment in 2012 and John Bisbee’s Hearsay in 2016. Aside from specific events, however, the public has never been allowed access to the Garden; visitors to the PMA could only admire the works from viewing points throughout the inside of the museum or the sidewalk on High Street. Thanks to Shaw’s gift, the Garden will be open to anyone during PMA hours May through December; whether they are visitors to the museum or simply out for a stroll in Portland.

For more information visit www.portlandmuseum.org