International Museum of Carousel Art

{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}

{{Infobox museum

| name = International Museum of Carousel Art

| image =

| caption =

| established = {{start date and age|1983}}

| dissolved = {{end date and age|2007}}

| map_type = Oregon

| map_relief =

| map_size =

| map_caption = Hood River, Oregon

| map dot label = International Museum of Carousel Art

| coordinates = {{coord|45.708974|-121.513537|region:US_type:landmark|format=dms|display=inline,title}}

| location = Portland, Oregon (1983–1999)
Hood River, Oregon (1999–2007)

| type =

| visitors =

| director =

| curator =

| website =

}}

The International Museum of Carousel Art (IMCA) was a museum in Hood River, Oregon, focused on carousels. The museum claimed to be the largest such collection in the world and had 8,000 to 10,000 visitors per year.{{cite web|url=http://www.greatstreets.org/MainStreets/MainStHoodRiverNews.html#anchor734776|title=World's Largest Carousel Museum to Open|author=Bill Campeau|date=April 29, 1999|work=Hood River News|accessdate=2010-12-29}}{{cite web|url=http://web.oregon.com/trips/intl_museum_carousel_art.cfm|title=International Museum of Carousel Art good for kids and adults alike|author=Patrick Johnson|year=2006|publisher=Oregon.com|accessdate=2010-12-29|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130131004639/http://web.oregon.com/trips/intl_museum_carousel_art.cfm|archive-date=2013-01-31|url-status=dead}}

The IMCA was founded in 1983 as the Portland Carousel Museum, a non-profit organization, after the founders, Duane and Carol Perron, helped restore a 1914 carousel in the late 1970s.{{cite web|url=http://www.carouselmuseum.com/about.html|title=All about the International Museum of Carousel Art|accessdate=2010-12-29}} The museum's location was later moved to Hood River and opened on October 17, 1999; it attracted about three thousand visitors in its first year.{{cite web|url=http://www.greatstreets.org/MainStreets/MainStHoodRiverNews.html#anchor332841|title=Carousel Museum Celebrates First-Year-Go-Round|date=October 24, 2000|author=Raelynn Gill|work=Hood River News|accessdate=2010-12-29}}{{Cite magazine|last=Cook|first=Janet|date=Summer 2024|title=Thistledown on Oak: Past Meets Present in a Boutique Hotel Nestled Inside an Old Bank Building|url=https://issuu.com/thegorgemagazine/docs/tgm_summer2024_web|magazine=The Gorge Magazine|pages=10–14|access-date=March 25, 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250120135301/https://issuu.com/thegorgemagazine/docs/tgm_summer2024_web#expand|archive-date=January 20, 2025}} The collection contained about 110 carved animals, an operational Wurlitzer band organ, chariots, and other artifacts. The exhibits featured European animals, major American carvers, armored horses, and the carousel animal restoration process.

Around 2007, due to the city informing the Perrons that their carousel restoration work could no longer take place at the museum and would need to be moved to an industrial area, the IMCA closed.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Driving Directions to the International Museum of Carousel Art|url=http://www.carouselmuseum.com/directions.html|work=IMCA|access-date=December 29, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070707141721/http://www.carouselmuseum.com/directions.html|archive-date=July 7, 2007|url-status=dead}} After the closure, plans were in place to create a much larger museum facility for the collection south of Hood River in Dee, Oregon, but due to the denial of a permit, those plans never came to fruition. The museum's former displays are in storage in a warehouse in Dee as of 2024.