In the months since George Floyd’s killing, businesses and institutions across the art and design world have faced loud and clear calls to address their role in upholding and perpetuating racism. One of the most famous cultural institutions in New York has now laid out its plans for tackling these issues and creating more space for diversity, the New York Times reports.
This week, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum introduced its two-year Diversity, Equity, Access and Inclusion Plan, a multifaceted approach born from a desire to “center the voices of our BIPOC communities” and “reflect the plurality of our culture and our global audience,” the text reads.
The DEAI plan, written by nine individuals (at least four of whom identify as Black), seeks to advance racial justice at the Guggenheim across a variety of dimensions, led in part by a special committee. Efforts to diversify the workforce will include expanding paid internships for underrepresented students, promoting job openings at historically Black colleges and universities, and creating a professional network for BIPOC individuals in the art world more broadly. A subcommittee will also assess changes that could diversify the museum’s board.
The museum’s collection and exhibitions will aim to showcase underrepresented identities and artists as well. In addition to acquiring the works of Black, Latinx, and Indigenous artists, the Guggenheim will study its own history of exhibitions and seek to curate a program elevating marginalized groups, which could theoretically produce the first-ever solo exhibition by a Black artist, Indigenous artist, or woman of color in the museum’s iconic Rotunda. The introduction of a broader set of art-historical perspectives, including postcolonial critiques, queer theory, and other frameworks, is also a goal of the plan.
In the wake of a 2018 study, which showed 73% of Guggenheim visitors were white (compared to 43% of New York City residents), the DEAI plan hopes to make the demographic of Guggenheim visitors more representative of the city it calls home. In addition to new partnerships, programming, and staff training, an expansion of the Guggenheim’s “pay what you wish” hours beyond Saturday evenings will be considered.
The release of the plan comes after sustained internal criticism of the museum’s handling of racism, specifically a 2019 incident when guest curator Chaédria LaBouvier said she experienced mistreatment while working on a Jean-Michel Basquiat retrospective. In June, nearly 200 current and former Guggenheim employees organized as “A Better Guggenheim,” sending a letter to the board of trustees. The letter alleges that LaBouvier “encountered institutional racism in a multitude of forms,” an experience that was “singular in its extremity and cruelty, but not isolated.” The Guggenheim has since hired a lawyer to independently investigate the incident.
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The New York Times reports that employees in an all-staff meeting last month were not convinced the DEIA effort would create meaningful change, especially without the input of recently furloughed BIPOC employees. Nearly 30 part-time Guggenheim educators sent a statement to the Times that pointed out they were concerned they would likely be required to handle a majority of programming and outreach efforts flowing from the plan, without the ability to offer any input on its content.
The plan lands at a time when the the Guggenheim is expecting to face a $15 million deficit for the year due to the coronavirus pandemic. According to the Times, the institution has had to reallocate funds and seek new contributions from trustees in order to implement the measures outlined in the diversity plan. While Governor Andrew Cuomo has approved the reopening of New York City museums on August 24, the Guggenheim is not expected to open before October, administrators say.
