Are You Just Checking Boxes?
This month, we feature three resources about the need for moving beyond performative gestures toward meaningful shifts to address social problems and inequities.
April Coffee Break Picks
STEPHANIE’S PICK
How did museums’ anti-racism statements in 2020 measure up?
“Remember in late spring of 2020 after the murder of George Floyd when organizations across the country expressed solidarity with the Black community by putting out statements opposing racism? Museums were among those organizations. So, how did they do? Three museum professionals, Juline Chevalier, Gretchen Jennings, and Sarah Phalen, tell us in a new article. Through a rigorous (and completely voluntary!) examination of all AAM-accredited museums’ statements using a set of standards and a grading system, the authors conclude that the vast majority of museums failed to see themselves as part of the problem of racial inequity and addressed racism on only a surface level.”
CATHY’S PICK
What’s wrong with design thinking?
“I’ve always been cautious about ‘design thinking,’ a process widely touted in the corporate and nonprofit worlds as a way to approach seemingly any problem and arrive at a creative solution. I struggled to articulate my hesitations until I read this article by Rebecca Ackerman in the MIT Technology Review, which takes a sober look at how design thinking has failed to live up to the hype. Ackerman offers the context necessary to understand the promise and perils of a process that has come to shape everything from apps to education to healthcare, all while uplifting marginalized voices previously excluded from the design narrative. A must read!”
LINA’S PICK
Can you engage in dissent through public art?
“SAAG Anthology (a South Asian dissident literary magazine) published an interview with feminist researcher Tehani Ariyaratne, COO of Fearless Collective, in 2020. Fearless Collective is focused on creating public art interventions with women and misrepresented communities, especially those in South Asia. I enjoyed the conversation in the interview about the reclamation of public spaces for women and other marginalized communities to showcase their powerful existence and resistance through art!”
What’s New At Kera?
Amanda will be in Texas to attend the annual National Art Education Association conference this month and will co-present a session titled, “The Ethics of Care: Love, Morals, and the Future of Museum Education.” Check out the scheduled sessions and say hi to Amanda if you’re attending!
Cathy had a great time visiting the Fashion Institute of Technology a few weeks ago for her annual talk with graduate students in the Exhibition and Experience Design program. She spoke to the class about how evaluation and user research strengthen exhibition design.
On our Learning Hub last month, UX researcher and guest author Rachel Jackson shares five tips on creating engaging digital content for museums, and Stephanie wrote about the benefits of clearly stating budgets in Requests for Proposals (RFPs).
Moment of Wonder
“In February, I visited the Heard Museum with my family during the second day of the 2023 World Championship Hoop Dance Contest. It was really beautiful to visit the museum on a day where the cultural traditions of multiple Indigenous communities were being shared. It was a familial event with children of dancers hanging around the lawn, and tents and chairs all around.”
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