Twelfth International Conference on The Inclusive Museum

Abstract

In 2015, the Mellon Foundation funded a diversity study in museums that revealed that 38% of people in the U.S. identify as Asian, Black, LatinX, or multi-racial. However, only 16% of people of color held art museum leadership positions. Similarly, staff and leadership at many art museums do not reflect other marginalized groups such as the differently abled, LGBQ individuals, trans people, and those from lower socio-economic backgrounds. In response, the Ford and Walton Family Foundations announced that they would fund the Diversifying Art Museum Leadership Initiative with $6 million in 2017. While this investment in diversifying museums is commendable, it is not unlike previous diversity programs in the arts such as Americans for the Arts’ Diversity in Arts Leadership Internship, Getty’s Multicultural Undergraduate Internship Program, or the Cultural & Ethnic Arts Executive Leadership Program at the Institute for Ethical Leadership. In addition, although Cuyler (2015) determined that Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts’ Multicultural and Economic Diversity internships were effective at recruiting, developing, and retaining diverse individuals in Arts Management, a lack of systems thinking in approaches to diversifying museums may impede their ability to think holistically and explore additional solutions to fully addressing the enduring “diversity” problem. Therefore, this study explores the research question: beyond diversity programs that develop diverse professionals, what additional systems should funders and museums consider to enhance and inform their pursuit of diversity? This paper uses a systems thinking theoretical approach to examine museums’ diversity problem more holistically.