As mentioned in previous posts, one of the reasons I applied for the Virginia Association of Museums (VAM) Leadership and Advocacy fellowship was being inspired by my experiences during the Getty's NextGen2019 program. However, I would be remiss in my reporting if I also did not highlight the influence of the critical work being undertaken by the American Alliance of Museums (AAM), the Facing Change Initiative and their DEAI Working Group.
AAM has been a leading voice in exploring the composition of museum boards and how tackling this issue is critical to the future of museums. The Museum Board Leadership 2017 report commissioned by AAM, graded boards on a wide variety of policies, practices, and performance. The results of this survey which highlighted a critical lack of diversity in museum boards in part led to a $4 million gift from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Alice L. Walton Foundation, and the Ford Foundation and the creation of the Facing Change program ( https://news.artnet.com/art-world/american-alliance-museums-gets-4m-grant-bolster-diversity-1440682).
The work of AAM's "Facing Change: Advancing Museum Board Diversity & Inclusion initiative" ( https://www.aam-us.org/programs/facing-change1/) inspired me to examine this critical topic at a state and regional level. It is my hope thanks to this fellowship to provide key resources, tools and data to local museums to inspire them on a path to improved equity and inclusion in their leadership and governance structures.
This is more critical than ever as boards and their composition are undergoing more scrutiny by local communities, artists and partners as this article from the New York Times discussing controversy with the Whitney Museum of Art board demonstrates,(https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/02/arts/design/whitney-art-museums-trustees.html).
Next Update: 2020 Virginia Museum Advocacy Day! @RichmondVA @vahouse @vasenate