Art & Culture
Art & Culture
Portland Public Library is the City’s cultural center and is the most visited cultural institution in Maine offering print, film, music, and online collections to showcase the arts and creativity.
We offer materials in the arts and humanities, a wide variety of programming in partnership with local cultural organizations, and a place where creative organizations and individuals can share their work with others. We celebrate the broad diversity of our community’s creative expression, and are committed to building awareness and appreciation of the arts around us.
How are you weathering the challenges of this COVID-19 pandemic?
We’re interested in archiving your thoughts, images, art, writings and more! Click HERE for more information!
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*Very Special Thanks to the Maine State Library, for hosting and funding our Omeka page
At this time, many cultural institutions and artists have been sharing content for free, online. This curated link to free entertainment for you and yours includes music, art, film, and more. There’s a lot to explore!
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Isolating Together is Portland Public Library’s digital archive where we collect stories from you, our community members, about how COVID-19 is impacting your life. Browse the collection and learn about how YOU can submit!
Learn More »How do you show and receive love, affection, and intimacy right now? We’re accepting submissions that answer this question.
Learn More »One Day at a Time, an exhibit in the Library’s atrium windows, serves to reaffirm the values of the Portland Public Library. Collaboration, Sustainability, Freedom, and Inclusivity is the foundation upon which this exhibition has been built.
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Poetry lovers, come explore the web with us! Here’s a list of resources and links to poetry. We include favorite websites where you can find fantastic poems, videos of great poetry readings, links to some of the best podcasts today, and more.
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How can we keep ourselves engaged, calm, and happy when we spend most of the day in isolation? Portland Public Library staff share some of their favorite websites and apps for learning a new skill, having fun in nature, and making each other laugh.
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The Portland Poet Laureate is an honorary position given every 2-3 years to a resident of the Greater Portland area who is both an accomplished poet and an excellent ambassador within the community. Portland’s current poet laureate is Linda Aldrich.
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Founded in 1995, the Portland Conservatory of Music is a nonprofit community music school. They educate through musical instruction and concert performances. The Noonday Concert Series offers free access to performances by the Conservatory’s talented faculty, arguably among Maine’s most esteemed musicians. The weekly concerts are held in downtown Portland throughout the academic year. The series has always been an integral part of the Conservatory’s mission to provide equal access to quality music and highlight its talented faculty and students.
Learn More »The 2021 Camden Conference will explore the Arctic, one of the world’s least-known regions. Join PPL for two FREE virtual live-streamed events!
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In addition to our ever-changing exhibits in the Lewis Gallery, PPL has a notable collection of donated and commissioned art pieces throughout our locations including the dazzling new installation The Feathered Hand by Alison Hildreth in our Main Library Atrium.
Descriptions of many pieces and information about the artists are available on PPL’s Digital Commons.
Museum Passes Available
Portland Public Library offers free passes to several local Museums and cultural sites including Portland Museum of Art, Portland Observatory, Southworth Planetarium, and the Maine State Museum. To request a pass for a specific date, with your Library card, call or visit the Lending Desk at any of our locations.
Up Next at the Library:
Literary Lunch: Arisa White talks about Who’s Your Daddy? with Adrian Blevins
Spotlight Lecture: Eleanor Morse talks about Margreete’s Harbor with Neela Vaswani
Noonday Concert Series Online – Titus Abbott