While there is no easy answer to this question, it brings up a topic that indeed should be addressed.  Art museums can sometimes be intimidating to the general public, and consequently there seems to be a two-sided debate about who art museums should be for. Some argue art museums should primarily serve those who are highly educated in art history who know how to look at and appreciate art, while others argue that everyone should be feel comfortable and welcomed in an art museum, including those with no art historical knowledge or appreciation skills. Yet if the word ‘everyone’ encompasses the art-historically educated as well as the general public, does the question even need to be asked? The issue seems to stem from the assumptions that a) a public with no art historical knowledge will adversely affect how the knowledgeable art appreciator experiences the museum, and b) an art historical knowledge base is necessary to experience an art museum ‘correctly.’ Allowing those with less art-historical knowledge to enjoy an art museum does not inherently mean that those with more art historical background cannot still experience art museums in the same way that they always have, nor does it mean that the general public will not get anything out of an art museum visit even if they have no formal art historical training. In fact, the art museum and the art inside it can serve as a place of refuge and insightful thought. Recognizing that there is no correct way to interact with art and that equal value should be placed on an interaction with art that is not based in traditional art historical fact is the first step to dispelling the idea that the art museum cannot be for everyone.

Christopher Knight, art critic for the Los Angeles Times, even likened art museum elitism to sports elitists in his article “Elitist and Proud of It.”  His argument (“why are sports elitists OK, but art elitists aren’t?”), however,  is problematic for many reasons. Perhaps the greatest issue is that it is a clear case of false equivalence, where the two cannot possibly be compared because there are no similar defining qualities about the two. The fact of the matter is that while sports games are primarily a source of entertainment and comradery for fans and even their uninterested friends, museums are institutions committed to education and conservation of materials for posterity (this is not to say that people cannot be entertained by museums; rather that the core purpose of museums is not strictly entertainment). Museums have mission statements and are held by a standard of ethics while sports teams are for-profit franchises that market human achievement as entertainment. There is also a feeling of not being welcome in museums felt by those perceived to be less-educated, while this is not nearly as prevalent at sports games if at all. To compare the two when their fundamental purposes are utterly different therefore does nothing to further the argument that art elitists should be the only ones that art museums are for.

So, should museums be for everyone? Yes, absolutely. This is not to say that everyone will want to engage in museums, that they will appreciate museums in the same way that ‘art elitists’ do, or that they will even come. Yet while some museums will require a multitude of institutional changes for this to happen, everyone should at the very least have the opportunity to engage with art and the feeling of being welcome in an art museum.

What is it about art museums that inhibit inclusion? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Project Intern: Spring / Summer 2017 Cambridge Arts: Public Art

Cambridge Arts is seeking a spring and summer intern to assist with all aspects of its upcoming contemporary art series Common Exchange. A group exhibition of sound installations and performances, Common Exchange will feature 10 artist projects in and around the Cambridge Common from May – September 2017. Organized in honor of the park’s recent pathway renovations, each project that constitutes Common Exchange reiterates the park’s physical and ideological function as a connective space. Over the course of the summer, time-based and participatory works will occupy the Cambridge Common and its surrounding buildings to address connectivity and exchange in the twenty-first century, moving from interpersonal to communal and historical relationships. The public remains the central figure in each artwork to emphasize that it is participation and public discourse that ultimately shapes our civic spaces. Featured artists include: Andy Graydon, Paul Ramirez Jonas, Carmen Papalia, Aki Sasamoto, Kelly Sherman, Xaviera Simmons, Allison Smith, Julianne Swartz, and Lee Walton and Jon Rubin.

Common Exchange is made possible through multiple partnerships and sources of support, including the National Endowment for the Arts ArtWork Grant, VIA Art Fund, Elizabeth Firestone Graham Foundation, Cambridge Agassiz Harvard Community Fund, Berkshire Taconic, Artists’ Resource Trust, Massachusetts Cultural Council the Community Design Studio of LUCAD, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts at Harvard University, the City of Cambridge, and Holosonics.

Description:
The Common Exchange intern will work closely with the Director of Public Art at Cambridge Arts, Lillian Hsu, and the exhibition guest curator Dina Deitsch. Duties will include organizing and keeping schedules for events and artists’ travel, project research for artists’ projects, attending meetings and public presentations, and providing general administration assistant to the curator and director.

Requirements:
The ideal candidate will have some prior experience in project management and/or in public programs in the arts as well as excellent organizational skills. An interest and knowledge of contemporary public art practices is a plus. A great and flexible attitude is absolutely required.

This position is funded by a stipend and would require an average of two days a week, which may include weekend or evening hours. Schedules are flexible and can be modified as needed. Course credit can be attained for select academic programs.

About Cambridge Arts:
Cambridge Arts (CA), also known as the Cambridge Arts Council, is the official arts agency for the City of Cambridge, MA. Established by City ordinance in 1974 and incorporated as a public non-profit in 1976, CA’s mission is to ensure that the arts remain vital for people living, working and visiting Cambridge. As both a service and presenting organization, CA accomplishes this mission by stimulating public awareness of and support for the arts, preserving and celebrating the City’s diverse cultural heritage, displaying art in public places, and developing opportunities to improve the overall aesthetic experience for residents and visitors of Cambridge.

Cambridge has one of the oldest percent-for-art public art programs in the country, established through the Cambridge Public Art Ordinance in 1979. To date, over one hundred artworks have been publicly sited in Cambridge. Commissioned for capital improvements, the art is lasting evidence of the City’s ongoing pursuit to enhance its physical environment. For more information, please visit www.cambridgeartscouncil.org.

Please email inquiries and applications to lhsu@cambridgema.gov with the subject: Attn: Dina Deitsch / Common Internship.