Salem Guide

Arts

Salem has a variety of theatres and art galleries to please any visitor. The Salem Art Association is housed at the Bush Barn Art Center and Sales Gallery at the historic Bush House. Visitors will enter the barn, formerly used to house farm equipment, and step into three contemporary exhibition galleries, a sales and rental gallery, gift shop and featured artist gallery.

The Historic Elsinore Theatre is another favorite of Salem locals and visitors alike. The theatre opened its doors in May of 1926 and was designed to resemble the caslte in Shakespeare’s drama “Hamlet.” The theatre’s creator, George Guthrie, contracted with Portland architectural firm Lawrence and Holford to create the Tudor Gothic structure. The Elsinore quickly gained a reputation as the finest theater between Portland and San Francisco. The Elsinore currently features theater performances, movie nights and musical groups. Other local theaters worth attending are the Pentacle Theatre and Willamette University Theatre.

Just beyond the Salem city limits there are numerous museums, art galleries and other cultural attractions. Anyone interested in steam-run machines and farming equipment can’t afford to pass up the Antique Powerland Museum. The museum pays homage to weekend competitions in the 1950s and 1960s that showcased local farmer’s tractors and heritage apparatus. About 20 minutes west of Salem in Monmouth, visitors should attend the Jensen Arctic Museum. This museum is one of only two in the lower-48 states that is devoted solely to collecting, preserving and teaching about Arctic culture and ecology.