The Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields push for diversity ironically prompted cries of systemic racism due to the wording of a recent job posting.
Applicants vying to become the latest Newfields director were informed that “other responsibilities” besides expanding the museum’s appeal among the local community include “maintaining the Museum’s traditional, core, white art audience.”
“The phrase’s inclusion angered many on social media, who called it an example of systemic and institutional racism,” Indy Star reported over the weekend. “People cited the July resignation of Kelli Morgan, the associate curator of American art who was recruited to promote more culturally diverse galleries and said Newfields’ environment fails people of color.”
Newfields moved quickly to assuage its critics’ anger.
“Our audience — and most museums’ audiences — have historically been, and currently are, too homogeneous, and we are committed to changing that and intentionally diversifying our audiences,” Newfields said in a statement. “We deeply regret that in our job description, in our attempt to focus on building and diversifying our core audience, our wording was divisive rather than inclusive.”
An updated version of the job post now stresses the need to “welcome and embrace a more diverse audience while maintaining the Museum’s traditional core art audience.”
Mark Oppenheim, founder and a principal with the search firm, told the newspaper via email that he was “humbled” by the experience.
“Change is fraught with trial and error, and we focus on supporting this journey, imperfect as it may be at times,” he wrote. “Our team, itself diverse, is dedicated to advancing organizations like Newfields that also navigate this fraught terrain. We are humbled by reminders of our flaws, apologize, seek to correct them and be better for it.”
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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