10 Fascinating Reasons to Explore Oregon's Museums This Summer

The forecast for this summer is a hot one. If you’re looking to get out of the house without breaking a sweat, why not try a museum visit? Here are 10 reasons to visit an Oregon museum this summer.

“Monet’s Floating Worlds at Giverny: Portland’s Waterlilies Resurfaces”: There’s still plenty of time to submerge yourself in the coolness of Claude Monet’s “Waterlilies,” which the Portland Art Museum calls “perhaps the most treasured painting” in its collection. Fresh off a painstaking restoration , the work has been freed of a varnish placed upon it and now again looks as the artist intended. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday, now through Aug. 10, Portland Art Museum, 1219 S.W. Park Ave., Portland. $22-$25. Details: portlandartmuseum.org

“C. S. Price: A Portrait”: Clayton Sumner Price (1874-1950) has been called “a pioneering American expressionist” (Oregon Encyclopedia) and “one of the most fascinating and influential early artists to settle in the Pacific Northwest” (Portland Art Museum). Price is the subject of a new retrospective curated by his biographer, Roger Saydack, that features 48 works showcasing Price’s early Modernism. Saydack told Eugene Weekly that he first saw Price’s work as a child and has been fascinated by him since. Noon-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, now through Aug. 30, Hallie Ford Museum of Art, 700 State St., Salem. $5-$8. Details: hfma.willamette.edu

“Outliers and Outlaws”: Developed through the Eugene Lesbian Oral History Project , this exhibit spans four decades and 83 women who helped shape the city’s social and political landscape. The exhibit also highlights the intersectionality between Oregon’s Jewish and LGBTQ+ communities. Notable examples include the 1992 Freedom Seder, a protest against Oregon’s anti-gay rights Measure 9. 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday, now through Oct. 26, Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education, 724 N.W. Davis St., Portland. $5-$10. Details: ojmche.org

“Roots and Resilience: Chinese American Heritage in Oregon”: This exhibit combines archaeological finds with personal stories from the Oregon coast to eastern Oregon to the Willamette Valley. For an exhibit that’s relatively modest in physical size, it offers a lot to unpack about the multifaceted, multigenerational Chinese experience throughout the state. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday and Friday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Thursday, now through February, University of Oregon Museum of Cultural and Natural History, 1680 E. 15th Ave., Eugene. $4-$12. Details: mnch.uoregon.edu

“The Yasui Family: An American Story”: The story of the Yasui family of Hood River , which starts in 1903, is one in which entrepreneurship and farming collide with racism and wartime incarceration, leading to a fight for civil rights and equal justice. The Yasuis’ place in history was already secure with a Supreme Court case (Yasui v. United States), a book (Lauren Kessler’s “ Stubborn Twig ”), a Presidential Medal of Freedom (awarded to Minoru Yasui) and the University of Oregon’s Yasui Hall (dedicated this year). Now the family has this exhibit, too. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday, noon-5 p.m. Sunday, now through Sept. 6, 2026, Oregon Historical Society, 1200 S.W. Park Ave., Portland. $12-$14, free for Multnomah County residents with proof of residency. Details: ohs.org

“Saddle Up: Ranchers and Rodeo Life of The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs”: Family interviews, photos, art and more will illuminate this exhibit, which focuses on the transition from a land-based to a cash-driven society. 9 a.m.-noon and 1-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, June 26-Sept. 27, The Museum at Warm Springs, 2189 U.S. 26, Warm Springs. $3.50-$7.

“Art in the West”: This annual juried exhibition celebrates the High Desert, which includes central and eastern Oregon, with more than 120 artworks. Expect art that addresses landscapes, wildlife, people, cultures and history. Artworks will be on sale in an online auction, with proceeds going to participating artists and the High Desert Museum. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily, July 5-Sept. 20, High Desert Museum, 59800 U.S. 97, Bend. $13-$24. Details: highdesertmuseum.org/aiw

“Gilbert House for Grown Ups: Night at the Museum”: Relive childhood play at this 21-and-older event. The Gilbert House Children’s Museum promises a party, with a Giant Games Tournament, a Disaster Lego Build challenge, arts and crafts, music and a photo booth with props. There’ll be food and adult beverages, too. 7-9 p.m. Saturday, July 26, 116 Marion St. N.E., Salem. $40-$45. Details: acgilbert.org/gilbert-house-for-grown-ups

“Oregon’s Trail of Tears”: While researching the Oregon Trail a few years ago, Albany photographer Nolan Streitberger came across the journal of a Bureau of Indian Affairs agent. George H. Ambrose recorded in detail the 1856 forced relocation, on foot, of more than 300 Indigenous people from southern Oregon to the Grand Ronde Reservation. The exhibit pairs Streitberger’s landscape photographs of their 263-mile route with excerpts from Ambrose’s journal. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, Aug. 1-January 2026, Albany Regional Museum, 136 Lyon St. S.W., Albany. $3-$5. Details: armuseum.com/exhibits

“James Lavadour: Land of Origin”: This exhibit is billed as a national retrospective featuring 50 years of works from much-lauded Oregon painter and printmaker James Lavadour (Walla Walla). Expect a focus on the landscape of eastern Oregon, where Lavadour has spent most of his 73 years. Fans of his vivid grid paintings will find nearly 30 examples, along with prints and works on individual panels. 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Wednesday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Thursday-Sunday, Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at the University of Oregon, 1430 Johnson Lane, Eugene. $3-$5. Details: jsma.uoregon.edu

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