Museum, Communities, and Artists

Author(s): Claudine K. Brown

Source: Visual Arts Research, Vol. 34, No. 2(67), Museum Education (2008), pp. 5-13
Published by: University of Illinois Press
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Museum, Communities,
and Artists
Claudine
.
Brown
Nathan
Cummings
Foundation
Just as museums have reconsidered their rela
tionships
with their
audiences, many
museums
are also
rethinking
their
relationships
with art
ists. Artists need to
develop
different
types
of
relationships
with museums,
if
they
are to un
derstand and value the
stewardship responsi
bilities of museums as well as the costs of
doing
business;
and museums can and should take
full
advantage
of the creative and intellectual
capital
that artists
bring
to the table in a
variety
of
ways.
This article
explores
the work of three
museums that
encourage
artists to
participate
as active and vocal members of their communi
ties,
and as contributors to the
day-to-day
work
of each of these institutions. These are muse
ums where artists not
only participate
as ex
hibiting
artists,
they
also function as
designers,
planners,
educators and advocates for the work
of the museum.
I
recently
interviewed three museum direc
tors whose work I have
long
admired. All of
their institutions have demonstrated com
mitments to
diversity,
innovation,
and inclu
siveness and I continue to be
impressed
by
each director's
ability
to lead and
learn,
their
knowledge
of the issues that concern
their
communities,
and their
willingness
to
form
partnerships
to address those issues.
I want to thank Carlos
Tortelero,
Executive
Director of the National Museum of Mexi
can
Art;
Chris
Yelton,
President of the In
ternational Museum of
Women;
and Ron
Chew,
who for 17
years
served as execu
tive director of the
Wing
Luke Museum for
their wisdom and
generosity.
Though
several themes
emerged
dur
ing
all three
interviews,
I was
especially
intrigued by
the roles that artists
play
as ac
tive and vocal members of these museums'
communities,
and as contributors to the work
of the museums. In these
institutions,
artists
participate
as
exhibiting
artists,
designers,
planners
and sometimes
community
activ
ists. I was reminded of artists who were fea
tured in
group
museum
exhibitions,
but who
resented the museums that showed their
work because
they
couldn't afford to travel
to
openings,
or of the artist who was
selling
catalogues
from the trunk of his car at a dis
count so that he could
stay
in New York and
attend a
variety
of museum events. These
artists had work in
major
museums, but
they
didn't feel that
they
were a
part
of them.
I believe that these tensions
may
exist
because artists view museums as
large
stable entities that are often housed in
mag
nificent edifices.
Additionally, many larger
institutions
appear
to be
wealthy
and their
staffs come across as
confident,
knowl
edgeable
and well
paid;
and
though
artists
are validated
by being
included in museum
exhibitions,
these
opportunities may
not im
mediately improve
their
pecuniary
circum
stances.
Accordingly,
I believe that artists
can and need to
develop
different
types
of
relationships
with museums,
if
they
are to
understand the work and
stewardship
re
sponsibilities
of museums as well as the
costs of
doing
business.
However,
my musings
on this
topic
be
gan
before
my
recent interviews. In the
mid-1990s,
when I worked at the Smithso
nian
Institution,
I received two
phone
calls
from artists
seeking support
and validation
that have caused me to think about the re
lationships
between
museums,
communi
ties,
and artists.
Though
I have worked with
artists in museums
throughout my
career,
both of these calls made me realize that
for some
museums,
the art is much more
important
than the artist. Both of the art
ists with whom I
spoke
were
seeking,
each
in his or her own
way,
access to a
system
VISUAL ARTS RESEARCH ? 2008
by
the Board of Trustees of the
University
of Illinois 5
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that was
eluding
them.
Ironically, they
each
also
represented extremely
different
points
on the
spectrum
of their careers.
First Call:
Hurry Up
and Wait
The first call was from a
young
woman from
a small town in mid-America. This
polite
and
very
sincere recent
graduate
from art
school wanted to know how she
might
rent
a Smithsonian
gallery
so that she could
show her work. After a
long pause,
I recom
mended that she first
attempt
to
get
shows
in local venues. I then
suggested
that she
seek
gallery representation,
and I encour
aged
her to then broaden the
scope
of her
venues. I let her know that it was
important
for her work to be reviewed
by
local and na
tional art critics. I also
suggested
that she
apply
for
fellowships
and submit
proposals
for Percent for the Art
programs throughout
the
country;
and then
maybe, just maybe,
a
curator
might
be
willing
to feature her work
in a museum exhibition.
She listened to me
patiently
and then
said,
"Mrs.
Brown,
the
process
that
you just
described could take a lifetime and I have
something
to
say
now.
My
work is
good
and
I need a show." Needless to
say,
we were
not on the same
page
and I was not able to
expedite
this
young
women's
journey
to art
validation.
However,
her
request
did make
me
begin
to think about when and how art
ists find validation and
acceptance
in art
museums.
Indeed,
there are
many
artists who come
to be
highly
valued
by
both the establishment
and the
lay public,
who were not embraced
by
the establishment
during
their lifetimes.
Though
the
young
woman who called me
was
naive,
she was also
being entrepre
neurial. More than a decade
later,
artists
who are
entrepreneurial
are
becoming
the
norm. Art schools are
offering
courses on
marketing, developing
business
plans,
and
creating
venues for one's own work.
The Creative
Capital
Foundation was
created in
1999,
in
large part
to
support
entrepreneurial
artists. The Foundation de
scribes its work as
follows;
Creative
Capital...
acts as a
catalyst
for
the
development
of adventurous and
imaginative
ideas
by supporting
artists
who
pursue
innovation in form and/or
content... We are committed to
working
in
partnership
with the artists whom we
fund,
providing advisory
services and
professional development
assistance
along
with multi-faceted financial aid and
promotional support throughout
the life of
each Creative
Capital project. (Creative
Capital, n.d.)
During
the late 20th and
early
21st Cen
turies,
respected
artists have created art
for,
or allowed their work to be included
in,
corporate advertising, (Absolute
Vodka and
Infiniti);
and
developed
home d?cor
prod
ucts,
stationary, jewelry,
and other func
tional
objects featuring
their work.
Many
of these
products
have been
developed
in
partnership
with museums and are sold in
museum
shops.
Individual artists have also identified
alternative venues for
showing
their work.
Coffee
shops,
restaurants,
bodegas,
bar
bershops, beauty parlors, laundries,
va
cant
lots,
exterior walls of
buildings,
store
windows and
repurposed buildings
have all
served as alternative
gallery spaces.
On
line
options,
such as
You-Tube,
FaceBook
and
personal
as well as
organizational
blogs
have also served artists
effectively.
Though many
feel that the commercial
ization of artists'
images
devalues the
origi
nal
work,
name and
image recognition
can
add value to an artist's brand. Such
recogni
tion can also increase sales of
original
work
and increase the demand for the artist's
work in a
variety
of media. Increased de
mand for work is one of the
highest
forms of
validation that an artist can
experience.
A recent
study
of individual artists con
ducted
by
the Urban Institute revealed the
following:
Validation is the
ascription
of value to what
artists do and make. It takes
many forms,
both formal and informal-some tied to
money,
others
not;
some
direct,
others
indirect. The most
prominent
forms identi
fied in our fieldwork were
peer recognition
(appreciation
of an artist's work
by
other
artists and audience or direct
public
rec
ognition
...
Affiliations with
training
institu
6
Claudine K. Brown
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tions... that 'brand' artists and associate
them with the characteristics ascribed to
those entities were
important
too,
as was
being
selected to show work or
perform
at
particular
venues
ranging
from formal
galleries,
museums,
and theaters to cof
fee
houses,
community
centers,
and reli
gious
venues.
(Jackson
et
al., 2003)
It is
my
contention that museums have
the
ability
to
improve
the
quality
of life for
artists
by providing
roles for them to
play
in
museums
throughout
their careers.
Second Call: Time is
Running
Out
My
second
thought-provoking
call was from
an
older,
much beloved African-American
artist. He called to
say
that he was termi
nally
ill and he wanted a
retrospective
ex
hibition in a
"real" museum before he died.
Money
was not an issue. His
original
works
and
prints
were
popular, especially
in the
African-American
community.
He was one
of those rare artists who made a more than
comfortable
living
from the sale of his art.
Churches,
colleges,
and
community orga
nizations invited him to
speak
and he would
sign
hundreds of
posters
and
prints.
He col
lected stories from fans that found his work
to be
inspirational.
Teachers had his
prints
up
in their classrooms and
parents pur
chased his
prints
to remind their children
of their families'
struggles
and
accomplish
ments.
However,
museum curators found
his work to be
illustrative,
and too commer
cial.
They
dismissed him and his works. He
died without ever
having
a museum exhibi
tion.
Though
his work
hangs
in
hundreds,
and
possibly
thousands of homes
through
out this
country
and
abroad,
this artist of
the
people
was never
acknowledged
or
validated
by
the establishment.
Thelma
Golden,
Director of the Studio
Museum in
Harlem,
should be commended
for
taking
on this issue in the 2002 exhibi
tion Black
Romantic,
a
survey
of the works
of 30 black
artists, many
of whom have
sig
nificant
followings
in the African-American
community.
However,
exploring
such a
body
of work was
challenging
for this
very
seasoned curator. Michael Kimmelman ex
cerpted
from the exhibition
catalogue
her
responses
to the work:
Golden states the she was
'physically
un
settled'
by
what she
perceived
to be the
'overwrought
sentiment' of the art. She
'shuddered at the crass commercialism'
and the 'bombastic
self-promotion.'
The
'absence of
irony,'
she
adds,
'was
pro
found.' So the
challenge
for her was 'the
suspension
of
judgment?not
curatorial or
aesthetic
judgment?but
the
suspension
of value
judgment. (Kimmelman, 2002)
On the other
hand,
Karin
Higa,
Director
of the Curatorial and Exhibitions
Depart
ment and Senior Curator of Art at the
Japa
nese American National Museum believes
that "art cannot be
separated
from context."
(Buitr?n, 2007). Though Higa
has curated
and co-curated
cutting-edge
exhibitions
featuring
the works of Asian-American art
ists,
she has also identified and
exhibited,
without
apology,
artists who are new to the
Asian American and/or national canon.
Sculptor
Ruth Asawa and
painters
Hideo
Date,
Henry Sugimoto,
and Hisako
Hibi,
all internment
camp survivors,
have cre
ated work which some
might perceive
to be
"overwrought [with]
sentiment" and suffer
ing
an "absence of
irony."
Yet their works are
hung
with
pride
and received
by
the
Japa
nese American National Museum's
public
with reverence and
respect.
I offer these two
examples,
not because
I am
attacking
the
system, (though
I do find
current
practices
to be somewhat
trendy
and
subjective
as well as
arbitrary
and ca
pricious)
but because I
recognize
that there
is,
and
probably always
has
been,
disso
nance between that which the establish
ment views as
great
art and that art which
the
community
embraces and views as in
spirational.
I am also not invested in
single
handedly changing
the
system.
The issues
are
complex
and I believe that new
systems
of
engagement
and validation are
being
cre
ated
by
a new
generation
of
entrepreneurial
artists and
by
museums that embrace the
values of their communities.
Museum, Communities,
and Artists 7
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The
Museum,
its
Community,
and
its Artists
When
considering writing
this
article,
I was
moved to consider the work of museum
directors who value artists as active mem
bers of their communities. The
following
notes taken from
my
interviews
may provide
some
insight
into new models of
engage
ment and redefine
relationships
between
museums,
communities and artists.
Carlos Tortelero: The National Museum
of Mexican Art
The mission of the National Museum of
Mexican Art is to show the art of Mexico
from both sides of the
border,
from ancient
times to the
present.
The museum's found
ers wanted the institution to be located in a
Mexican American
neighborhood. They
be
lieved that if the museum was located in a
neighborhood,
it would have to be involved
with the issues of its residents. It's
Director,
Carlos Tortelero believes that all museums
have
agendas.
Mainstream museums that
show
mostly European
art have
agendas,
as do science centers that have exhibits
and
programs focusing
on Global Warm
ing.
The National Museum of Mexican Art
is
unapologetically pro-immigration
and an
advocate for the issues of its
community.
The museum has also taken an affirma
tive stand on
Gay,
Lesbian,
Bi-sexual and
Transgender (GLBT)
issues and sees itself
as a leader in an area
many
museums of
color have chosen not to take a stand.
The staff of the museum is
encouraged
to be
proactive
and
speak
out at
community
meetings. They
know that new ideas are
welcomed at the museum. The staff tends
to be
young.
Of the museum's 39 staff mem
bers,
only
8 are 40 or above. Staff members
have a
strong
work ethic.
Young
staff mem
bers also have children in
public
schools in
the
neighborhood.
In addition to
being
en
gaged
staff
members,
they
are also
actively
involved in
improving
local schools.
The role of the
community.
Tortelero be
lieves that the
big
issues for his
community
are
immigration,
education,
domestic vio
lence,
and racism. The museum
partners
with hundred of
organizations
of all
types.
They
include health
organizations,
social
services
providers, neighborhood
associa
tions, schools,
cultural
groups
and other
non-profits. Groups
use the
space
to con
vene
meetings. They bring visiting dignitar
ies to the museum to see the collections
and meet the
staff,
and
they
use the
space
for
special
events and fundraisers.
The staff does not
attempt
to control the
agenda
at
meetings
held at the museum.
They
see themselves as learners as well as
teachers. The
goal
of the museum is to cre
ate an environment in which
people
see the
museum as their own communal
space.
One
example
of the museum's
partner
ships
with the local
community
involves the
use of an abandoned
police
station. The
museum wanted the
space
for
program
ming.
However,
when
they
learned that a
local school needed the
facility,
the staff
became advocates for the school. Because
the museum is committed to
quality
edu
cation for
community youth,
it serves the
interest of the museum for local children
to learn in a safe and
healthy
environment.
The museum's staff members are
currently
involved in discussions that were initiated
by
the school that would have the museum
use
space
in the
building
and
provide
art
classes for the students.
The roles of the artists. The museum's
existing
collection does not
necessarily
re
late to the issues thatTortelero views as im
portant
to his
constituency.
While,
the mu
seum does have some
prints
and
posters
that relate to issues of social and economic
justice, ninety percent
of the collection is
donated. The current
process
for
collecting
should correct this situation. In
planning
the
African Presence in Mexico
exhibition,
the
museum was able to
purchase sixty
new
works. The museum looks forward to
pur
chasing important
works when it
develops
future
projects, including
its
pending
exhibi
tion on
immigration.
Tortelero believes that the
progressive
left has lost its
focus,
and that
progressive
artists are fearful as a result of the attacks
on the National Endowment for the Arts
8
Claudine K. Brown
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and the
post-9/11
climate in this
country.
The inherent stress of
trying
to succeed
and survive as an artist is
having
a
chilling
effect on the artistic
community.
Tortelero also
acknowledges
that artists
of color are not
necessarily community
art
ists. Tortelero is interested in artists who are
actively
involved with
issues,
those who talk
to their
neighbors
and the local barber or
grocer,
not
just
to other artists. He acknowl
edges
that an artist who seeks
recognition
and rewards from traditional venues such
as commercial
galleries
and mainstream
museums
may
not be
doing
work that's
valued
by
the
community,
and that a val
ued
community
artist
may
not be a
highly
acclaimed artist in the more traditional arts
community.
Lessons learned. Tortelero observes that
museum that focuses on the issues of its
community may
suffer because it looks less
like those institutions that set the standards
for the field.
Community
museums
may
not
receive
grants
for their most valued
pro
grams
and their institutions are often under
capitalized. Community-focused
institutions
nevertheless must offer their staffs
competi
tive
salaries,
health
benefits,
and
pension
funds. These institutions must be stable if
they
are to offer
support
to communities in
crisis.
Tortelero is concerned about communi
ty-focused
institutions that are
inordinately
dependent upon public
funds. It is his ex
perience
that these institutions are laden
with
time-consuming
bureaucracies. This
is a
problem
for institutions that
may
need
to do exhibitions and
programs
in a
timely
manner. He is also concerned that com
munity-focused
institutions could become
dependent upon corporate support,
which
could
shape
the
message
of the museum
in a manner that
might
hurt rather than
help
their communities.
Tortelero sees this work as essential to
the furtherance of
equity
and
justice
in this
nation. The work of
community-focused
mu
seums is about
listening
to voices that have
been
silenced,
appreciating
the contribu
tions of
low-wage
and middle-income mem
bers of our
society,
and
working collectively
to ask hard
questions
that can be made
clearer
through
an
engagement
with art.
Chris Yelton: International Women's
Museum
The role of the museum in
society.
The mis
sion of the International Women's Museum
in San Francisco is to value the lives of
women around the world. The staff of the
museum is
diverse,
multilingual,
and
pas
sionate about the work.
Many
also have ex
perience working
with websites. Members
of the editorial team have come with a vari
ety
of
global experiences;
two staff member
speak
five different
languages.
In addition to its small but
very capable
staff,
the museum also
depends
on volun
teers and consultants.
Approximately
one
third of the effort
on
Imagining
Ourselves,
the museum's first on-line
exhibition,
con
sisted of time and
expertise
from the 30
women from around the world who serve
on the museum's Volunteer
Advisory
Coun
cil.
They
advised the core
team,
garnered
submissions for the
exhibition,
and
helped
with the
development
of content. The mu
seum's work has also been
supported by
highly
skilled interns.
The museum's issues of concern dove
tail with the
Beijing
Platform for Action.
They
are concerned with
eliminating
discrimina
tion;
fostering empowerment; promoting
economic
independence; promoting
liter
acy, training,
and basic
education;
provid
ing
health
care;
and
advocating
for human
rights
for women and
girls.
The museum
has also concerned itself
specifically
with
women and
girls living
with HIV/AIDS.
The museum's first on-line
exhibition,
Imagining
Ourselves,
addressed most of
these issues
through
its Take Action bi
monthly
themes. The museum's next on
line
exhibition, Women, Power,
and
Politics,
is a more in
depth
examination of some of
the same issues. It will include education
programs, key partnerships,
and local
pro
grams.
This exhibition will be on line for one
year.
Imagining
Ourselves was
designed
to
inspire young
women from
twenty
to
thirty
Museum, Communities,
and Artists 9
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years
of
age
from around the
world;
by
en
gaging
them in a conversation about issues
that were
important
to them. The exhibition
sought
to connect
them,
facilitate their inter
action,
and
inspire
them to act on their be
liefs and
passions.
The exhibition included
visual
art,
writing,
and videos. Another
goal
of the exhibition was to build a
global
audi
ence.
During
the first four
months,
the
goal
was to attract
250,000
hits to the site. The
museum exceeded it
goal by
an additional
350,000
hits. This led to the decision to ex
tend the exhibition. The
catalogue
sold out
within the first three months of the launch of
the on-line
exhibition,
thus
triggering
a sec
ond
printing.
There were more than a mil
lion on-line
participants representing
221
countries.
The museum
engaged
a consultant to
determine whether members of their on-line
community responded
to the issues
high
lighted
in the exhibition. More than 50% of
the
responding
visitors took action in their
personal
lives or took civic action. 71% of
the visitors also found that
they thought
differently
about social
justice
issues after
engaging
with the site.
The role of the
community.
The museum
offers links to 27 international
organizations,
5
national,
and 19 local
organizations.
Am
nesty
International's
campaign
Make Some
Noise to End Violence
Against
Women
proved
to be
complimentary
and informa
tive to museum staff
working
on
Imagining
Ourselves.
Amnesty
International was an
important partner
for the museum and an
organization
that visitors concerned about
ending
intimate violence could work with.
During
the course of the exhibition visi
tors could download
guides
that
provided
them with
templates
for
holding
informative
meetings
in their homes or favorite
gather
ing places
to discuss
specific topics.
The
themes of the
guides
were
Love,
Money,
Culture and
Conflict,
and The Future. The
museum's
hope
is that visitors will learn
about
issues, engage
in
conversations,
vol
unteer to work with
partner organizations
and/or donate
money
to
support
a cause.
The role of the artists. The museum
identifies artists to include in its exhibitions
by posing questions
that artists
working
in
a
variety
of
displines respond
to. The cail for
submissions
process
is
open
and attracts
artists from around the world.
Participating
artists reach wider
audiences,
gain greater
confidence,
and
recognize
that their voices
are
powerful.
Artists write statements about
their work that are also included on the site.
The
process
has been a fruitful
one,
which
the museum will use for future exhibitions.
The museum has
developed long-term
relationships
with its
artists,
and the artists
have
actively engaged
in
generating
an au
dience for the museum.
They
are
speakers
at international events and
public programs.
Some have acted as
co-curators,
and oth
ers have created exhibitions in their home
communities that address the issues of the
on-line exhibition.
The museum is
creating
a social net
working component
to its site. All artists
may
create a
profile
and their
space may
include
additional
examples
of their work and writ
ings. They
will have the
ability
to create their
own communities on-line.
Lessons learned. The International
Women's Museum is
blazing
new trails.
However,
there's not a lot of
history
for them
to benefit
from,
and the work is
fraught
with
risk.
Securing
resources is a
challenge
for
an institution that is unusual both in the
media world and in the traditional muse
um world.
Getting
the work launched and
keeping up
with
rapidly changing
technol
ogy
are concerns. This museum must com
municate the
viability
and
appropriateness
of a museum without walls that reaches
international audiences
every day.
This is
also a museum that is about
change.
The
board and staff must
always
be
prepared
to
change
and
they
must be
prepared
to deal
with
global change.
The museum's on-line exhibitions have
been more successful than
any
of its staff
imagined.
It has made the mission a
reality
and the
programs
are
leading
to
change.
The museum has
already
touched the lives
of hundreds of thousands of
people. They
have
inspired, engaged,
and effected wom
en
throughout
the world.
10
Claudine
.
Brown
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Ron Chew:
Wing
Luke Asian American
Museum
The role of the museum in
society.
The
mission of the
Wing
Luke Asian Museum
in Seattle is to
engage
Asian Pacific Ameri
can communities and the
public
in
explor
ing
issues related to the
culture, art,
and
history
of Asian Pacific Americans. Seven
teen
years ago,
when Ron Chew became
Director of the
museum,
there were
very
few Asian Pacific American museum
pro
fessionals. Chew hired activists
engaged
in
community
issues,
frontline
educators,
and
artists who were activists. He structured
po
sitions around
projects.
In
addition,
consul
tants and freelance
professionals designed
and constructed the
exhibits,
conducted
interviews,
and wrote texts.
As
funding
for the museum's
programs
increased,
additional staff members were
hired;
and as the museum
grew,
Chew con
tinued to look for nontraditional museum
staff with different skill sets. He was less
interested in
hiring subject-matter experts
with museum
backgrounds.
He believed
that the museum's
community-based
exhi
bition
process
could be better
managed by
individuals with
experience working
in com
munities and other collaborative
settings.
Individuals who had worked on
creating
so
cial
change
and elders who could serve as
anchors were valued team members. This
process,
from its
inception,
was
intergen
erational,
and each
project
involved
large
networks of stakeholders. Scholars and
professionals
served as advisors.
Since the work of the museum was dif
ferent from
approaches
of most traditional
museums,
it was
necessary
to
approach
the
work with a reflective attitude. After meet
ings
and
post-exhibitions,
the staff
analyzed
the
process
and the
product. They
wanted
to know what did or didn't work. There were
concerned with the attitudes of their com
munity partners.
Did
they
feel
good
about
the
process
and did
they
feel that their
opin
ions were valued?
Chew is most
proud
of the
growth
and
development
of the museum's staff.
Many
came to the institution when
they
were
very
young.
The salaries were low and the work
was
demanding.
Yet
they stayed
and made
a commitment to the work and the commu
nity. Many
of them now have
positions
of
leadership
in the museum. Chew believes
that
having
a clear mission and
hiring
indi
viduals who are
aligned
with that mission
has
strengthened
the museum overtime. He
believes that a staff will model the behaviors
of the institution's leaders and if those be
haviors
support
the stated
values,
then an
institution will be able to
keep
its staff. He
paraphrased
a
quote
that he believes
cap
tures his
thinking;
"You either
change
or
pay
more for the
process
of
staying
the same."
At
Wing
Luke,
staff members move
up
the ladder and assume
greater respon
sibility
over
time. The institution
supports
professional development
and
mentorship
as an institutional value. After almost two
decades,
young people
who came to the
museum as students are now
training
and
mentoring
a new
crop
of
young
leaders.
The role of the
community.
The
physical
infrastructure of the International District in
Seattle is
deteriorating.
The
community
is
dealing
with a
growing population
of home
less
persons,
victims of
drug abuse,
elderly
people trapped
in
poverty
and undirected
youth.
The new museum
facility
is located
in the International District and it
bridges
two
multi-layered complex
communities.
The
community
has identified a number
of
key
issues of concern. The first is an is
sue of
identity.
While earlier
generations
had
strong
ethnic and cultural
identities,
the
younger generation
is
dealing
with is
sues of
greater complexity.
There are more
children of mixed
ancestry
as well as a
large
number of Asian
adoptees
who have
been raised
by
Euro-American families.
Many
of these
youth
don't know where to
place
themselves.
There are also concerns about economic
polarization.
Seattle has its share of Asian
Pacific Americans who work
low-wage jobs
and are
living
in a
cycle
of
poverty.
Concur
rently,
there are also
wealthy
Asian Pacific
American families
living
in
gated
communi
ties.
Though
this is a
country
of
immigrants,
the economic
polarization
also
gives
rise to
Museum, Communities,
and Artists 11
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tensions between recent
immigrants
and
those families that have been in the United
States for two or more
generations.
The mu
seum has worked to
keep
a
dialogue go
ing
and to educate its audiences about the
plight
of
immigrants.
This is also a
community
of
people?
especially
those who are Southeast Asian?
who are fearful of
becoming
victims of a
post-9/11
backlash.
They
are concerned
about threats to their civil liberties.
The
starting point
for the museum's
unique relationship
with its
community
was
the
development process
for the
Japanese
American Internment exhibition in 1993.
The museum's
goal
was not to
collect,
but
to communicate. The staff
posed questions
so that
they
could
identify
hot-button issues.
They
worked with the
community
to
identify
a
theme,
and
through
a series of commu
nity dialogues
the
community helped
the
staff to
shape
the exhibits and
programs.
While the first
meeting began
with 10 to
12
community participants.
The
group
was
constantly changing. People brought
fam
ily
members and
friends,
and
they
would
recommend others as resources. The
pro
cess
encouraged multiple points
of
view,
and conversations were rich and textured.
Key players
were interviewed and the mu
seum established its oral
history
collection.
By
the time the exhibition was
installed,
more than 100
people
of diverse
ages
and
backgrounds
had
participated
in the
pro
cess.
Although
the museum does not have
standing
committees,
community
members
have returned and
participated
on other ex
hibition
planning
committees.
The museum has also
partnered
with
a
variety
of service
organizations
in the
neighborhood.
Museum staff volunteer with
community organizations
and serve on their
boards. Public service and
community
ac
tion are attributes that are considered when
new staff members are hired. A
person
who
can
keep
their cool if a
meeting
becomes
contentious or someone who can
bridge
values is considered a valuable asset at
this institution.
The role of the artists. Since the muse
um's
inception,
artists have
played
a role in
every aspect
of the museum's work. There
are artists on the Board of Directors and
they
have
always
been on the staff. Chew
acknowledges
that artists
bring
a broad
range
of
expertise. They
serve on
advisory
committees and are often instrumental in
translating dialogue
into visual terms. While
some see their contribution
solely
as mak
ers of
art,
others offer the museum creative
solutions to a
variety
of
strategic
and de
sign challenges.
During
its
early years,
the museum col
lected Asian folk art and the works of artists
with links to the Pacific Northwest. When the
museum first created its
process
for devel
oping
exhibitions with the
community, many
of the individuals who
participated
were art
ists. These individuals have been involved
with the
development
of all of the museum's
exhibitions,
including
its
history
exhibits.
The museum is
currently focusing
on build
ing
its Asian-American art collection.
Museum staff learned that
just
as com
munity
members needed a forum to tell sto
ries that were
rarely
heard,
Asian-American
artists needed a forum for
showing images
that were
rarely
seen. At the
Wing
Luke Mu
seum, artists are
stakeholders,
storytellers,
and workers. Members of the
community
come to know
working
artists who
partici
pate
in the museums
planning processes.
They
come to the artists'
gallery programs
and
support
their work both within and out
side of the museum.
The new museum
facility
will have
gal
lery space
that will be
specifically
dedicat
ed for art exhibitions. The museum's staff
looks forward to
collecting
works
by
Asian
Pacific Americans and
adding
to its exist
ing holdings.
Lessons learned. The leaders and staff
of ethnic and
community-based
museums
are
constantly considering
their
obligations
to their home communities while simultane
ously considering
how
they
can
effectively
serve a more diverse
constituency.
Most
understand that
they play
a role in diver
sifying
the field and are
investing
in train
ing
staff with the
knowledge
that some of
their staff members will take their skills and
experience
to other institutions.
They
also
12
Claudine
.
Brown
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understand that their
programming may
have resonance for other communities and
they
are
constantly attempting
to
identify
these links.
However,
serving
as a
training
ground
for the field means that staff devel
opment
must be a
strong
value within the
institution,
and this
type
of intense
training
can be
costly.
Leaders
worry
that
they may
be
pushed
off the
map,
as older museums
with better resources are
encouraged
to do
more diverse
programming.
Though
the
Wing
Luke Asian Museum
has realized
great
success with its
approach
to
community engagement,
Chew believes
that
they
must remain
vigilant. They
must
continue to look
beyond
the boundaries
if
they
are to be creative and
imaginative.
They
must
constantly
ask: What do we col
lect,
and
why?
How much do we borrow as
opposed
to
collecting?
What is a
good
bal
ance between the
collecting
of oral histo
ries and the
collecting
of artifacts? How can
new
technology
advance our work? What
voices have we become comfortable
with,
and what voices are
underrepresented
in
our work?
The museum's
greatest
achievements
are
probably
also its
greatest long-term
challenges.
The first is
nurturing genera
tions of Asian-American museum
profes
sionals who will work to transform the field.
The museum has also been served well
by
its
community engagement
model. How
ever,
changing demographics,
economics,
and
public policy
can create new commu
nity challenges.
Each successive
genera
tion of museum
professionals
must be will
ing
to leave their comfort zone and take on
community
issues that test them and force
them to
grow.
Conclusion
The
Wing
Luke Asian
Museum,
the Nation
al Museum of Mexican
Art,
and the Inter
national Women's Museum all view artists
as valued members of their communities.
The
beauty
of these models is that
they
represent evolutionary practices
that af
firm each institution's mission and values.
These museums view artists as
thinking,
feeling, strategic
and creative
partners
who
have the
ability
to
help
them realize their
goals. They
create
opportunities
for artists
to understand the role of the museum in
society
and
they help
the
public
to under
stand the
special gifts
and skills that art
ists
bring
to the table. These institutions
do not view artists as
separate
from their
institutions,
but as
integral
members of their
staffs and communities.
They
view them as
visionaries, planners, designers, keepers
of
memory,
and sources of
inspiration. They
also see them as heroes and
heroines,
and
awesomely gifted neighbors, leaders,
and
friends.
Though
these institutions do not of
fer us
templates
for museums' and artists'
partnerships, they
do
suggest
that new con
versations between artists and museums
can lead to more
synergistic relationships.
References
About Creative
Capital.
Creative
Capitai
Foun
dation,
Retrieved March
12,
2008 from
http://
www.creative-capital.org/about/index.html
Maria Rosario
Jackson, Kabwasa-Green, F.,
Sw
enson, Herranz, J., Ferryman, K., Atlas, C,
et al.
(2003). Investing
in
Creativity:
A
Study
of the
Support
of U.S. Artists. The Urban In
stitute,
Retrieved March
10,
2008 from
http://
www.urban.org/publicaations/411311
.html
Michael
Kimmelman,
Art Review: A Black World
of Ins and Outs. The New York
Times,
April
26,
2002
Buitr?n,
M.
(2007,
October
27).
In Conversation
with Karin
Higa
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Japanese
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Declaration and Platform for
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Correspondence concerning
this ar
ticle should be addressed to Claudine
.
Brown,
Arts and Culture
Program,
Nathan
Cummings
Foundation,
Claudine.brown?
nathancummings.org.
Museum, Communities,
and Artists 13
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