PROJECT AT-A-GLANCE
New studio and gallery spaces
Approximately 80,000 square feet
Equity-centered design approach
Opening Fall 2026
A NEW HOME FOR A
SIGNATURE PROGRAM
PSU’s current Art + Art History + Design programs are spread across five locations on campus, all inadequate. The new space will redefine what is possible for this signature program. It will bring students, faculty, industry and community together in one place for the first time. With light-filled studios and classrooms, sufficient space for material storage, and flexible locations for exhibition and collaboration, the center will foster belonging and innovation.
EMPOWERING CREATORS AND CHANGEMAKERS
At PSU’s Schnitzer School of Art + Art History + Design, students with diverse lived experiences interact, exchange ideas and challenge conventional aesthetic boundaries. This multiplicity of perspectives reflects the makeup of a school where more than 40% of students identify as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color). Driven by a belief in the power of art to shape society, the school provides critical space and resources for these emerging artists, designers and art historians to question, reflect and create.
NEW POSSIBILITIES FOR PORTLAND
The project will also create opportunities to strengthen PSU’s connections to Portland’s Cultural District and Innovation Quadrant as well as to business and industry, forming new pathways to turn our region’s most creative ideas into impact and action. We know that our city’s transformation post-pandemic will be led by artists, makers and creative thinkers. This is a golden opportunity to harness the moment and build a thriving center for creativity in the heart of downtown Portland.
FOSTERING CREATIVE THINKING
ACROSS PSU
The Schnitzer School of Art + Art History + Design’s vision is to enable imaginative thinking unbound by traditional structures—where programs can focus on interdisciplinary ideation and problem solving inspired by the curiosity of students and the expertise of faculty and community partners. Ultimately, we hope to export a creativity ethos across campus so that PSU can become the nation’s most invention-forward university. Unleashing graduates in every discipline who are also creative collaborators can profoundly change our world for the better.
I usually work small scale, so it’s been a really good challenge to have work that is so visible. This can’t be ignored.
Nia Musiba, PSU Schnitzer School alum featured on Oregon ArtBeat for creating a large-scale mural in downtown Portland.