As people across the country fight back against police brutality and systemic racism, cultural institutions need to leverage their platform as trusted sources of information to educate the public about racism in the United States. Discussions about race are typically limited to art and history …
The recent decisions to remove various statues and monuments across the nation presents, I believe, an opportunity for museums to play a vital part in this reevaluation of our nation’s history and to serve their communities in a vital way. While public opinion calls for …
Having grown up going to museums, it would surprise me when others would not enjoy going to museums as much as I did. Many times, I would attribute such disinterest to boredom, thinking that they just never learned how to have fun in a museum. I had never considered that perhaps some people did not like to go to museums because they felt such places were not there for them; that they weren’t welcome.
Such ideas were brought to the forefront of my mind when I was assigned to read the essay “The Art Museum and the Pressures of Society” by Robert Coles for a class. Coles was a resident in child psychiatry at the Children’s Hospital in Boston. In the essay, Coles reflects upon some of the youths he worked with during his residency. One youth, a black child ten years of age, talked about going to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) with his school because the teachers wanted to be sure that he “got his culture” (191). He did not understand what that meant. What he did understand was that he was living in a ghetto tenement building surrounded by pealing wallpaper and not surrounded by the beautiful things of the museum. Later in the essay, Coles recalls a statement made by the boy’s father: “Maybe I could go to see a lot of pictures in the museum, like my boy did. Maybe I’d want to keep coming back: look at a picture on each visit. But there’s no use going there. It’s not the place for me; I know that” (196).1
While Cole’s essay was written 75 years ago, its sentiments are still relevant today. In 2017, the MFA created a three-year strategic plan to increase the diversity of the institution which included the creation of “a warmer welcome, greater sense of belonging, and a deeper engagement with art.” Whatever its best intentions, its attempts to create a more welcoming atmosphere fell through in May of 2019 when a group of students from the Helen Y. Davis Leadership Academy experienced racial profiling and insults from museum staff and other visitors during their visit to the MFA (further details regarding the incident can be found in an article by Antonia Noori Farzan and Herman Wong for The Washington Post). On its website, the MFA apologized, stating that they “deeply regret any interactions that led to this outcome and are committed to being a place where all people trust that they will feel safe and treated with respect.”
In response to recent protests after the killing of George Floyd, the Ann and Graham Gund Director of the MFA, Matthew Teitelbaum, sent an email (a copy of which can be found on its website) stating that “the killing of George Floyd, and many others before him, is intolerable. It is unjust.” He also acknowledges that it is “past time to recognize that the usual commitments to change are not enough” and that the MFA has more work to do to become a better institution. Some of its plans for change which Teitelbaum mentioned in the email includes, but is not limited to a commitment to:
continue to diversify staff, management, and board governance to represent all of Boston and report regularly on our progress to hold ourselves publicly accountable; continue to diversify programming to recognize the voices and views of many and celebrate art in many forms; give all staff the training and learning opportunities so they can understand and support the necessary changes; commit transparently to our Community Engagement Plan that creates a presence for the MFA in collaboration with communities across Boston, including our commitment to reconciliation with the Davis Leadership Academy students and community.
MFa Director, Matthew Teitelbaum
After reading the email, I was curious to know more about these changes and what they might look like and had the opportunity to speak with three MFA staff members: Brooke DiGiovanni Evans, the Interim Director of Learning, Dalia Linssen, the Head of Academic Engagement, and Nadia Harden, the Community Engagement Manager. They graciously agreed to answer some of my questions regarding some of the changes to which Director Teitelbaum referred. DiGiovanni Evans spoke about the Idea Task Force which was organized to promote internal discussion among the staff about ongoing issues. The task force allows different members of staff to bring their own knowledge and experiences to the table. Along a similar vein, Harden discussed the Table of Voices program which seeks to more broadly define what it means to be an expert. Within the program they ask not only what story is being told but also who has the right to tell it. Another program Harden discussed was City Talks which is designed to promote discussion on a variety of issues in Boston and relating them to art. Linssen takes similar ideas to a broader community by speaking with college students, explaining the importance of teaching the students how to use art for interdisciplinary learning.
Another avenue through which the MFA has strived to promote inclusivity and equitability is by investing resources in interns. Harden discussed a program called Curatorial Study Hall, developed in partnership with Becoming a Man and The BASE. Through this program, high school sophomores and juniors are given the skills and resources to create their own exhibition. Their latest exhibition, Black Histories Black Futures, highlights black artists in the MFA’s collection.
Many of these programs have been developing at the MFA over a long period of time, responding to a variety of needs within the Boston community. While it is fantastic that there are so many programs available, I was curious to know how the museum draws individuals to the museum who may not be inclined to enter in the first place. How can those individuals be made to feel welcome? Harden answered by first articulating that there is no one-size-fits-all strategy, explaining that there are a variety of reasons why someone might not want to go to the museum. Interestingly, Harden also said that sometimes all it takes is a simple invitation. Linssen agreed and added the comment that museums are considered one of the most trusted institutions and therefore there is an obligation to uphold that ideology. This made me consider how the black father in Coles’ essay might feel differently about museums if someone were to actively invite him. What if he were made to feel that a museum was not only a place where he could go, but a place where people wanted him to go?
I am looking forward to the reopening of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. I hope that when I walk through those doors, I will find myself surrounded by diversity. I want to see others enjoying art in a place where they feel not only safe but accepted. As I move forward along my own career path within the museum field, I hope to look back on the MFA as an example of how to listen to one’s community and how to promote positive change. In the meantime, I must do what I can as a visitor to make the museum more inclusive. Perhaps the next time I visit I will be accompanied by someone new, someone I will have invited to share my love of museums.
References:
Museums across the country have felt the impact of the COVID-19 and the mandatory stay-at-home orders. Thousands of employees have been laid off and furloughed as these institutions try to stay afloat without revenue from visitors. Zoos and aquariums have an extra element to juggle: …
I suppose for myself, as a History major, museums signify places of remembrance that offer more vivid understandings of the past. Of course, this is the purpose of Memorial Day as well, as we remember our service members and oftentimes hear their stories. It is …
It’s that time once again for the editors we have come to know and love to hand over the reins to upcoming editors. Congratulations to you all on your graduation! We as new editors will do our best to uphold the standards you have set as we take it from here.
Now to introduce ourselves! Your new editors are:
Alexandra Harter
Hello everyone! My name is Alexandra Harter and I am starting my second year in the History and Museum Studies MA program at Tufts. Growing up in Virginia, there were tons of opportunities to go to museums – especially those with a focus on history – as I went through school. While I loved studying history since I was a child, it wasn’t until my undergraduate studies at the University of Richmond that I decided to pursue my love of history in my career. My interest in museums played a significant part in this decision, as it was during my semester abroad in London and all of the time that I spent at institutions such as the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum that helped me to realize what I was passionate about.
I discovered a passion for archival research and academic writing throughout my studies and interned at Agecroft Hall, a Tudor era historic house museum that was transported from England to Richmond, VA in the early twentieth century. Accessibility is a particular concern that I have within the museum, so I worked to translate the regular tour that I had learned into Spanish for visitors as part of my internship. While at Tufts, I have learned so much more about what it means to be an accessible museum as well as other issues that museums must consider when they think of how to serve their communities. I am thrilled to say that my studies here have broadened my interest in various museum positions, from curator to conservator to collections manager. I look forward to continuing to learn even more as I help to run this blog with my classmates!
Abigail Lynn
Hello! My name is Abigail Lynn and I am a second year in the Art History and Museum Studies Program at Tufts University. Having grown up in rural Indiana, visiting a museum meant hopping in the car for a bit of a drive to get to a larger city. To this day, I can still remember my first visit to the Chicago Art Institute in Chicago, Illinois. It seemed like such a massive place, and there was art everywhere I looked. From that point on I knew art was always going to be a part of my life.
During my undergraduate studies, I thought I would give studio art a try, and paired that degree with studies in history and Spanish. However, when I had the opportunity to take a trip to Italy, I realized my love of research, digging into the background of an artwork or an artist to find out what makes them tick. I also realized that I wanted to share my love of art with others, and offer them the same, rewarding experience I had at the Chicago Art Institute.
Since then I have volunteered at the Nelson Atkins Museum in Kansas City, Missouri and worked for the Mariana Kistler Museum of Art in Manhattan, Kansas in order to gain more experience within the museum field. I have also had the opportunity to hold a fellowship position at the Tufts University Art Galleries. While at Tufts, I have further developed my writing and researching skills, and more fully realized the responsibilities awaiting future museum professionals. I hope this blog will provide another avenue through which I can share and learn along with other museum enthusiasts.
Eric Carstens
Hi everyone! My name is Eric Carstens and I am starting my second year in the Museum Education program. I am from Northern Virginia and grew up going to the Smithsonian Museums in DC. A long time animal enthusiast, I credit both the National Museum of Natural History and the National Aquarium for encouraging my love of the natural world.
In undergrad, I studied biology and marine science, continuing a lifelong obsession with the ocean. I figured out that I did not want to spend my days in the lab and starting pursuing science communication. I homed in on museums after interning at the Science Museum of Virginia, writing scripts and gathering information for programming about climate change. As a young visitor, I learned the value of science museums in sparking curiosity and translating complex topics into engaging and digestible information. I now want to help create inclusive museum spaces for all museum-goers to learn about science, particularly natural history, climate change, and conservation.
Since the Science Museum of Virginia, I have worked as an environmental educator at Change is Simple, an environmental non-profit, as well as a visitor services assistant at the MIT Museum and a visitor educator at the New England Aquarium. Thanks to the Tufts program, I’m far less intimidated by art and history museums and I’m looking forward to exploring all kinds of museums through this blog!