Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion in Museums

Shaindlin, Valerie Brett

doi:10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.33047

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…Cultural institutions are becoming more conscious of their capacity to create truly inclusive and inspiring environments, but there is plenty of work still to be done (Shaindlin, 2020). Though well intentioned, the idea of being segregated to a specific time and day alienates those from being included within neurotypical society.…”

Section: Recommendationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neurodivergence and Inclusivity in Cultural Institutions: A Review of Theories and Best Practices

Hutson¹,

Hutson²

2022

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Whereas there has been increased attention paid to accommodations for neurodiverse populations in education and the workplace, the way cultural institutions-including museums, art galleries and other public collectionsare able to support such an audience remains understudied. The educational support afforded by law for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is prescriptive and includes Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) with educators trained in providing identified intervention strategies. At the same time, there have been no such agreed upon strategies to support the same population in public educational spaces, especially later in life as adults, who often go undiagnosed. This study seeks to reconsider the role of cultural institutions in serving the neurodiverse population beyond childhood and provide practical strategies to address their needs. Through programs that include staff training and programming that goes beyond "sensory days," institutions can ensure that the educational opportunities afforded by their collections can support greater inclusivity and diversity.

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Section: Recommendationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neurodivergence and Inclusivity in Cultural Institutions: A Review of Theories and Best Practices

Hutson¹,

Hutson²

2022

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“…In 2019, AAM announced Facing Change , a multi‐year project aimed at diversifying museum boards funded by $4 million in grants from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Alice L. Walton Foundation, and Ford Foundation (AAM, 2019). That same year, AAM published the book Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion in Museums 2019. While these steps are welcome, there is much more that professional organizations could do.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nothing can be Changed Until it is Faced: Museum Solidarity Statements as Reflections of Understanding Systemic Racism

Chevalier¹,

Jennings²,

Phalen³

2023

Curator The Museum Journal

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The May 2020 murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police led many institutions to write and share statements opposing racism, committing to change, and claiming solidarity with the Black community. The authors saw an opportunity to compile data and assess the commitment of our field to racial equity by taking the statements at face value, examining them, and performing a content analysis. In our view, most statements of solidarity would represent a museum's best effort at reaching out to Black communities and communities of color, and at articulating the value it placed on its relationship with those communities. This assessment of “best effort” tells us that there is moderate progress toward the racial equity and justice that has been a hot topic for decades, but the findings suggest that only a fraction of U.S. museums are publicly facing their complicity in White supremacy culture, from the make‐up of their boards and staff to the dominant content found in collections, exhibitions, and programs. The authors challenge this status, provide new resources as yet another starting point to help invite museums identify and examine the racism that lies within their institutions, and call for a more genuine commitment to the difficult but necessary steps to eliminate systemic inequity.

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“…That is because audiences form the crux of a museum's existence, in a way legitimising them socially. Museums that are needed socially become an organisation of public trust, and by building social bridges and creating relations with their own social environment, they become a protection-free space for dialogue, the exchange of ideas, spontaneous discussions of values, and emotions (the most intimate impressions related to experiencing the world) [4][5][6][7][8][9][10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Museums without Visitors? Crisis of the Polish Museums during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Their Revival under the Digital Experience Offer

Gaweł

2023

Sustainability

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Museums, as many other organisations, froze during the lockdown. Museums offer insights into varying cultures and since no forms of culture can sustain without the engagement of audiences, participants, or visitors, the lockdown forced by the pandemic compelled museum authorities to look for new ways to reach audiences and establish relationships with them, thereby facilitating previously untapped forms of cultural participation. This worldwide experience of the pandemic undoubtedly accelerated the digital transformation of the entire cultural sector. To what extent these new opportunities have changed the forms of participation in the cultural realm remains an open question. This current research carried out in some of the largest Polish museums allowed us to conclude that the pandemic period saw a significant leap forward in terms of the involvement of digital technologies in popularising museum collections, as well as in seeking contact with audiences at various levels. At the same time, the reopening of museums resulted in increased attendances on an unprecedented scale. It could be said that the pandemic made us realise how global threats can, in a short span of time, take away the possibility of enjoying traditional forms of cultural participation, but at the same time enable the development of digital technologies that can significantly contribute to the popularisation of museum collections or exhibitions. This research was designed to find out whether museum audiences wanted a change in the way they experience the collections and exhibitions held in museums, and whether the digital experience created during the pandemic was attractive enough to compete with a personal visit to an art gallery. The results of the research clearly indicated that despite the rich digital experience offered in Polish museums, viewers still stated a desire to return to a “real museum”. The pandemic allowed the museum authorities to learn novel administration techniques and numerous technological solutions that were previously never used have now become a permanent feature of regular museum operations. However, the reaction of the audiences after the lockdown was clear: they still wanted to enjoy traditional forms of cultural participation, valuing above all the possibility of personal contact with an original work of art in a museum gallery.

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Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion in Museums

Abstract: Book Review

Cited by 5 publications

References 0 publications

Neurodivergence and Inclusivity in Cultural Institutions: A Review of Theories and Best Practices

Neurodivergence and Inclusivity in Cultural Institutions: A Review of Theories and Best Practices

Nothing can be Changed Until it is Faced: Museum Solidarity Statements as Reflections of Understanding Systemic Racism

Museums without Visitors? Crisis of the Polish Museums during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Their Revival under the Digital Experience Offer

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