Thursday, December 11, 2014

#MuseumsrespondtoFerguson




Over the past year, the themes of courage and empathy have repeatedly come into my professional life, from watching Ukrainian museums and the Revolution to working with the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center on ways to convey emotional, not physical, courage to museum visitors. Increasingly, I find that I am looking inside myself and at the field to see how we can be bolder, how we can invest in communities before a time of crisis when our communities need us.  Over the last week, Gretchen Jennings has virtually brought a diverse group of museum bloggers and colleagues together to think about our individual, organizational and field-wide responsibilities in terms of the events in Ferguson, Cleveland and Staten Island.  Here's our statement. I hope you'll join all of us (see the full list at the bottom of this post) in this effort.

Joint Statement from Museum Bloggers and Colleagues on Ferguson and related events

The recent series of events, from Ferguson to Cleveland and New York, have created a watershed moment. Things must change. New laws and policies will help, but any movement toward greater cultural and racial understanding and communication must be supported by our country’s cultural and educational infrastructure. Museums are a part of this educational and cultural network. What should be our role(s)?

Schools and other arts organizations are rising to the challenge. University law schools are hosting seminars on Ferguson. Colleges are addressing greater cultural and racial understanding in various courses. National education organizations and individual teachers are developing relevant curriculum resources, including the #FergusonSyllabus project initiated by Dr. Marcia Chatelain. Artists and arts organizations are contributing their spaces and their creative energies. And pop culture icons, from basketball players to rock stars, are making highly visible commentary with their clothes and voices.

Where do museums fit in? Some might say that only museums with specific African American collections have a role, or perhaps only museums situated in the communities where these events have occurred. As mediators of culture, all museums should commit to identifying how they can connect to relevant contemporary issues irrespective of collection, focus, or mission.

We are a community of museum bloggers who write from a variety of perspectives and museum disciplines.  Yet our posts contain similar phrases such as  “21st century museums,” “changing museum paradigms,” “inclusiveness,” “co-curation,” “participatory” and “the museum as forum.”  We believe that strong connections should exist between museums and their communities. Forging those connections means listening and responding to those we serve and those we wish to serve. 

There is hardly a community in the U.S. that is untouched by the reverberations emanating from Ferguson and its aftermath. Therefore we believe that museums everywhere should get involved. What should be our role--as institutions that claim to conduct their activities for the public benefit--in the face of ongoing struggles for greater social justice both at the local and national level?

We urge museums to consider these questions by first looking within. Is there equity and diversity in your policy and practice regarding staff, volunteers, and Board members? Are staff members talking about Ferguson and the deeper issues it raises? How do these issues relate to the mission and audience of your museum?  Do you have volunteers? What are they thinking and saying? How can the museum help volunteers and partners address their own questions about race, violence, and community?

We urge museums to look to their communities. Are there civic organizations in your area that are hosting conversations? Could you offer your auditorium as a meeting place? Could your director or other senior staff join local initiatives on this topic? If your museum has not until now been involved in community discussions, you may be met at first with suspicion as to your intentions. But now is a great time to start being involved.

Join with your community in addressing these issues. Museums may offer a unique range of resources and support to civic groups that are hoping to organize workshops or public conversations. Museums may want to use this moment not only to “respond” but also to “invest” in conversations and partnerships that call out inequity and racism and commit to positive change. 

We invite you to join us in amplifying this statement. As of now, only the Association of African American Museums has issued a formal statement about the larger issues related to Ferguson, Cleveland and Staten Island. We believe that the silence of other museum organizations sends a message that these issues are the concern only of African Americans and African American Museums. We know that this is not the case. We are seeing in a variety of media – blogs, public statements, and conversations on Twitter and Facebook---that colleagues of all racial and ethnic backgrounds are concerned and are seeking guidance and dialogue in understanding the role of museums regarding these troubling events. We hope that organizations such as the American Alliance of Museums; the Association of Science-Technology Centers; the Association of Children’s Museums; the American Association for State and Local History and others, will join us in acknowledging the connections between our institutions and the social justice issues highlighted by Ferguson and related events.

You can join us by...

      Posting and sharing this statement on your organization’s website or social media

      Contributing to and following the Twitter tag #museumsrespondtoFerguson which is growing daily

      Checking out Art Museum Teaching which has a regularly updated resource, Teaching #Ferguson:  Connecting with Resources

      Sharing additional resources in the comments
      Asking your professional organization to respond
      Checking out the programs at The Missouri History Museum.It has held programs related to Ferguson since August and is planning more for 2015.
      Looking at the website for International Coalition of  Sites of Conscience. They are developing information on how to conduct community conversations on race.
Participating Bloggers and Colleagues
Gretchen Jennings, Museum Commons
Aletheia Wittman and Rose Paquet Kinsley, The Incluseum
Aleia Brown, AleiaBrown.org
Steven Lubar, On Public Humanities
Porchia Moore, Cultural Heritage Informatics Librarian at the University of
South Carolina and Regular Contributor for Inclusuem

Mike Murawski, Art Museum Teaching
Linda Norris, The Uncataloged Museum
Adrianne Russell, Cabinet of Curiosities
Nina Simon, Museum 2.0
Rainey Tisdale, CityStories
Jeanne Vergeront  Museum Notes
Image:  Author and activist Kevin Powell moderated a town hall meeting on issues concerning events in Ferguson, Missouri, at the Missouri History Museum on August 25.

4 comments:

ABC said...

Thank Linda, this message goes straight to my heart. I couldn't agree more.

Linda Norris said...

Thanks Jasper--it really represents the work of a great community of colleagues who jointly deserve all credit. I was really pleased to be able to stand with this important effort--and have been really pleased to see it resonate not just here in the US, but around the world.

JFKU Museum Studies said...

January 2015

In Response to the Museum Bloggers Joint Statement
http://museumtwo.blogspot.com/2014/12/joint-statement-from-museum-bloggers.html

In December, a group of thought-leaders in the museum field posted a joint statement on their individual blogs as a call to action for museums and museum professional associations. They rightly point to the incidents in communities across the country where tensions among citizens and law enforcement have become flashpoints that vividly and tragically reflect a nation conflicted. The bloggers call for a “movement toward greater cultural and racial understanding and communication [that] must be supported by our country’s cultural and educational infrastructure” (Museum Bloggers, 2014). We agree.

As Museum Studies faculty, we would like to add to this conversation and continue our advocacy for civically engaged museums. A deeply held tenet of our program is that museums are integral to community life and exist not only to preserve natural and cultural heritage but also to serve the needs and interests of neighborhoods, cities, and the greater society. We seek to empower students with the sensitivities, tools, and agency needed to do meaningful and thoughtful work, within their departments, museums, and communities. As a civically engaged institution, the museum can only be as good as the people who work there.

The bloggers and others have suggested ways in which museums can truly invest in the conversations, partnerships, and solutions so desperately needed. For those of us teaching Museum Studies and related subjects, universities and colleges must be sites of expression, training, and problem solving. The tradition of higher education to foster and inspire social change is not simply historical or rhetorical. In this spirit, we re-commit ourselves to promote cultural competency, support open and facilitated dialogue, and help museums best serve their communities.

Respectfully,
John F. Kennedy University
Museum Studies Program Faculty

Jennifer Walsh said...

Your blog on #MuseumsrespondtoFerguson, which emphasises the significant part museums play in addressing social concerns, is very much appreciated. Have you thought about distributing materials from "https://usepromos.com/promo-codes/all-stores" in support of these initiatives to improve engagement between museums and visitors? It might aid in significant transformation and awareness. I appreciate you supporting such worthwhile programmes!