MaineBiz: Timber! Portland Museum of Art to host conference on an innovative forest product

As the Portland Museum of Art embarks on a $100 million expansion that includes the use of mass timber, the museum is hosting a conference on the emerging industry this November.

August 26, 2024
By Renee Cordes

Originally Posted on MaineBiz, read it here

Timber and fine art may seem like an odd combination, but the Portland Museum of Art is promoting itself as the perfect host for a conference this fall on an innovative type of forest product.

“An art museum is an ideal host for a mass timber conference because art has a unique power to unite people around complex and forward-thinking ideas,” the museum said in its announcement of a three-day conference this November.

“By bringing diverse perspectives together in a cultural setting, the Portland Museum of Art is fostering a dialogue that blends creativity with sustainability, helping to shape the future of architecture and construction."

The "Mass Timber Maine Conference" is scheduled for Nov. 13-15, and around 350 people are expected to attend, according to Ashleigh H. McKown, the museum's director of philanthropy. She said that while planning has been underway for a year, research began three years ago.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently awarded the museum $300,000 for its planned $100 million expansion, which incorporates the use of large, prefabricated wooden building elements more commonly known as mass timber.

The PMA has also received a $2 million federal grant to support construction of the 60,000-square-foot wing using mass timber. The museum has said it is at the forefront of sparking a mass timber economy in Maine.

The material has the ability to sequester carbon, keeping the substance from being released into the atmosphere and thus aiding in the fight against climate change.

Sponsors

The event's lead sponsor is the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forestry Service.

Corporate sponsors include LEVER Architecture, the West Coast firm chosen to lead the museum's expansion. Another sponsor is the Maine Technology Institute, which promotes innovation in forest and agricultural technology and serves as the leader of Maine’s federally designated Forest Bioproducts Advanced Manufacturing Technology Hub. 

“The event will highlight Maine’s unique assets and research capabilities, its state-of-the-art product innovations, and its opportunity to become a global leader in this emerging sector," MTI President Brian Whitney told Mainebiz.

November’s conference aims to bring together industry leaders, artists, innovators and others to explore the future of construction through mass timber technology.  

Field trip destinations include the University of Maine Advanced Structures and Composites Center in Orono; several midcoast towns to see building made out of mass timber; and a “Greater Portland” trip that includes the New England Forestry Foundation’s Arnold Family Forest in Freeport.

Asked whether the PMA plans to host similar events in the future, McKown said, "We will assess the success of this program and consider other programming like this that addresses broad topics like mass timber."

She also said that the architecture process for the plan expansion was recently completed and that the museum "will be sharing our vision forward to raise funds to get us to the next step."

The museum is currently evaluating when construction will begin based on fundraising and architectural benchmarks, she said.

More information

Find out more about the conference and purchase tickets here.

Ticket options include $250 general admission for two days, plus 100 to add a field trip; discounted rates for government agencies, nonprofits and students are also available.