Resources

Visitors of Color Tumblr

| Dana

Visitors of Color

We envision this as a space for museum folks to be able to learn from the perspectives of marginalized people. We also see this as a form of activism–giving folks who may not feel safe or welcome in our institutions a little bit of agency in their relationships with museums.

Although we’re called Visitors of Color, we wish to include voices from people of various marginalized communities–ability, gender, sexual orientation, class and so forth. Ultimately, we wish to allow space for the voices of marginalized people to be heard.

Our passion is museums, our focus is people, our position is intersectionality.

Read more about this project here.

 

“I was lucky enough to grow up in a home and school environment that went on frequent field trips to museums. However, my understanding of those initial feelings of discomfort weren’t informed until I began defining success for myself as an artist of...

 

http://visitorsofcolor.tumblr.com/

Beyond Bullying

| Dana

http://beyondbullyingproject.com/

 

Why collect stories?

WE WANT TO KNOW

what happens when we think about LGBTQ sexuality in schools beyond risks like bullying, poor mental health, and dropping out

WHAT ABOUT

love, family, friendship and even our favorite movie and television stars?

HOW DO THESE STORIES

of LGBTQ life come up and what does school need to do to make room for them?

Inside the Lost Museum: Curating, Past and Present

| Dana

“The book derives its title from the Jenks Museum, a defunct natural history museum at Brown University. Woven throughout are vignettes about the museum’s founding curator, the naturalist John Whipple Potter Jenks, the institution’s colorful past, and a recent project—led by Lubar, artist Mark Dion, and a group of students—to recreate the museum as an art and history exhibit. These stories provide a narrative wedge into the history and philosophy of museums.

Objects are central to the book, which begins by considering the complex act of collecting. What do curators collect and why? What might be useful for research or exhibition? What is worth saving, and who decides? “Objects,” Lubar writes, “are important to museums, but they need to be the right objects, collected thoughtfully, documented thoroughly—and not too many.”

~Valerie Thompson

 

Inside the Lost Museum: Curating, Past and Present
Steven Lubar
Harvard University Press
2017
416 pp.

 

http://blogs.sciencemag.org/books/2017/08/14/a-behind-the-scenes-museum-tour-offers-insight-into-the-once-and-future-roles-of-these-iconic-institutions/

An Open Letter in Support of Dana Shutz

| Dana

“The National Academy letter is a direct response to a six-page outline sent to Eva Respini, the curator of the ICA show, by a group of protestors. (Megan Smith, Allison Disher, Stephanie Houten, Pampi, and Vonds DuBuisson are the authors of that letter, which appeared online last week in the form of a Google Doc.) “We were hoping to hear the ICA resist the narrative that Black people can be sacrificed for the greater good,” the artists wrote, referring to the controversy that erupted over a Schutz painting at the Whitney Biennial earlier this year.”

National Academy Members Pen Open Letter in Support of Dana Schutz

The Role that Museums Play in Social Activism

| Dana

“Should museums be seen as a place of dialogue for social change? Is it their responsibility to do so?

Recently, articles have come out addressing this topic—for example, MuseumNext conducted a survey asking “Should museums be activists?” Among the responses, data showed that “younger audiences respond very positively to the idea of museums taking a stand.”

Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice exhibition at the High Museum of Art.

The choice of museums to take a stand is unique to each institution, and it’s complicated, layered, and specific to the geographical location and political climate of the region. In the meantime, artists will continue to create works that question our existence and boundaries; be responsive to the emotional, social, political, and religious world around them; and ask the important questions that move us all forward as aware global citizens. Museums and cultural institutions that support contemporary artists will continue to support them, whether through curatorial or educational programming. Supporting artists will also mean empowering youth voices through museum settings and allowing young artists to continue to push boundaries, respond to the world around them in an empathetic and critical way, and ask important questions for the rest of us to listen.”

http://blog.americansforthearts.org/2017/08/02/the-role-museums-play-in-social-activism

How Are Museums Changing?

| Dana

How are museums changing from institutions of the elite to places that ‘promote humanity?’

 

Sarah Sims, of the Missouri History Museum, and Nicole Ivy, of the American Alliance of Museums discussed how museums are changing to reflect diversity and inclusion on Thursday’s St. Louis on the Air.
KELLY MOFFITT | ST. LOUIS PUBLIC RADIO

http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/how-are-museums-changing-institutions-elite-places-promote-humanity#stream/0

 

Children’s Books Illustrated by Artists

| Dana

“As the infinitely quotable Pablo Picasso once said: “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.” A child raised on these nine books might have a pretty good shot. From Andy Warhol’s early work as a commercial illustrator to Yayoi Kusama’s mesmerizing take on The Little Mermaid, here’s a selection of artist-illustrated children’s books to satisfy the youngest generations of art lovers.”

Detail from After the Party, 2005. © Louisiana Museum of Modern Art and Yayoi Kusama, 2016. All illustrations are from the series Love Forever, 2004-2007.

https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-your-kids-will-love-these-children-s-books-illustrated-by-famous-artists?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sm-editorial-evergreen&utm_content=fb-8-artist-illustrated-childrens-books