Abstract
Facing multiple unprecedented calamities throughout 2020—a global pandemic, economic upheaval, social turmoil, and climate crisis—museums shuttered, decimated their staff, and gutted their organizational structures. Now, they seem to struggle to maintain outward relevance in these bleak and uncertain times. What if, instead of being reactive, museums are proactive; instead of being defensive, they model social change? What if this change comes first from within? What if they rebuild differently, not guided by an insidious corporate model but one that places access, diversity, community, care, and people at its center? What if overhauling the internal staff structure—the static, hierarchical power dynamic, departmental silos, and over-bureaucratization of larger institutions—results in a museum that reflects twenty-first-century ideals of democracy? Let’s envision a different museum staff structure inspired by feminist theory, social entrepreneurship, and grassroots organizations.
Highlights
When the wave of social protests rippled around the globe at the end of May 2020, American institutions appeared to play catch-up, publishing performative statements of solidarity and allyship with
The Philadelphia Museum of Art laid off 85 staffers and accepted 42 voluntary separations, totaling a 23 percent reduction in workforce
To build a culture where each person is valued and aligned with the collectively decided museum mission and values, every employee crafts a Colleague Letter of Understanding (CLOU), outlining their role and activities and how they integrate with the larger institution
Summary
I acknowledge that museums have roots in, and still operate as, Enlightenment and colonial institutions that exercise authoritative knowledge, inscribing a Eurocentric culture founded on hierarchies of race, class, and gender This is especially true of the hierarchical staff structure within museums’ internal operations. There is a paradox between museums’ institutional structures and where they say they want to be in terms of sociocultural shifts, a crippling contradiction between entrenched, hierarchical, and corporate-minded internal operations and civic-minded outward ambitions to support democratic ideals This gap appears to be widening, compromising these institutions’ best efforts to be inclusive spaces that genuinely embody diversity.
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