Look for a tall, modern building on the corner with big glass windows framed in pale stone, right at the intersection-if it feels a bit like you’ve landed in a hip architect’s dream, you’ve found it!
Alright, you've made it to the Art Institute of Portland! Imagine yourself back when the Pearl District was buzzing with students hustling through the revolving doors, portfolios clutched under their arms. Inside this sharp, glassy building, the air once hummed with the sound of clicking computer mice, music drifting from the recording studio, and excited chatter about the latest wild assignments.
It all started back in 1963, when Norma and Donald Bassist opened a fashion college just for women-picture vintage sewing machines and yards of colorful fabric everywhere. Fast forward to 1998, and the place transformed, joining the big league as one of the famous Art Institutes. Suddenly, the building was packed with creative energy, two computer labs glowing with screens, animation and video labs flickering late into the night, and a public gallery, the Marcia Policar Gallery, spilling over with weird and wonderful art by both students and local pros.
For years, the halls echoed with voices from all corners-painters, designers, fashion students, dreamers-and you could finish a full four-year degree here in just three years if you dared to brave summer classes! But then came a twist that even the most dramatic painting couldn’t capture. The school’s owner, Education Management Corporation, started sinking under financial troubles. In 2017, they handed the keys over to a new, rather unexpected owner-a Pentecostal group out of Los Angeles called Dream Center.
The new chapter didn't last long. In July 2018, those halls of creativity heard the final bell: The school would close by the end of the year. Today, as you stand here listening, you’re right in the spot where imaginations once ran wild, proving that even short stories can be inspiring-and occasionally, heartbreakingly real.
