Twelfth International Conference on The Inclusive Museum

Abstract

This paper provides an evaluation of The Art Institute of Chicago’s efforts to diversify the museum field through the Diversifying Art Museum Leadership Initiative (DAMLI) program. DAMLI is supported by the Walton Family Foundation and Ford Foundation as part of a movement to diversify the arts and cultural workforce in the United States. The goal of the program is to create systemic change within the Art Institute in order to create an inclusive and equitable environment where individuals from underrepresented groups within the museum field can develop skills, social and cultural capital, networks, and job awareness that will allow them to succeed as future museum leaders. The paper begins with an overview of recent diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in the arts and cultural sector in the United States – highlighting the systemic issues leading to the need for such initiatives and presenting a typology for organizational responses to the issue. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, this paper will focus on the recruitment, selection, management, and post-internship experiences of the staff managing teenage, undergraduate, and graduate-level interns within the program. Particular attention is paid to the internal processes and challenges faced by staff working to increase the cultural competency capacity of their organization and the individuals that run. it. Finally, the paper concludes with a discussion of the broader implications of this work for museums interested in diversifying their cultural workforce.