Portland Museum

About Portland Museum

Founded in 1978 by elementary school teachers, Portland Museum grew from a single classroom to its present location in Beech Grove, an antebellum “country seat” on the old road between Portland and Louisville. The on-going restoration of Beech Grove, an 1852 Italianate residence with vintage gardens, serves to tell the story of William and Mary Skene, whose family lived here for eight decades. There are also two rotating galleries and a John James Audubon Gallery located on the first floor. In a modern addition, Portland Museum uses permanent and temporary exhibitions to tell the story of Portland — a Louisville, Kentucky neighborhood that is rich with history and the arts. Beech Grove Press, a letterpress studio, is equipped with Chandler & Price presses, cases of foundry type, and bookbinding equipment. Here, as funding permits, children and adults learn and practice various printing techniques. Gray Zeitz of Larkspur Press has been a major influence over the years. More recently, we moved the studio from the building’s new addition to an underutilized space inside the original Beech Grove residence. Portland Museum is an educational resource where art & heritage celebrate the community and history of Portland, a neighborhood of Louisville that was once an independent town. The Kentucky Arts Council provides operating support to Portland Museum with state tax dollars and federal funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.

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