Finding the Museum’s Humanity in a COVID-19 Future

During this year’s Association of Art Museum Curators Conference, which had to transition to a virtual format due to the novel coronavirus, Kaywin Feldman, Director of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., questioned museums defining “success” as one of growth and expansion. There have been and will continue to be serious consequences for museums in the wake of COVID-19, such as furloughs and layoffs, and even impending irreversible effects like permanent closures.^[1] For those who are privileged to continue their functions, we have to drastically shift the way museums have been working for decades, and in some instances—like Dartmouth College—for centuries. Rather than prioritizing growth, let us measure “success” by the museum’s humanity and take steps to change our inherently flawed structures.

Prior to the pandemic, many museums have attempted to address their white supremacist and colonial legacies by touting initiatives of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility but often without much critical dedication to these missions. Some colleagues have expressed concern that as institutions must contend with a new fiscal reality due to COVID-19, these previously publicized priorities will go by the wayside. However, it is precisely because we are on pause that museums need dedicated time and resources to identify tangible actions and entrench them in institutions’ DNA. In the early stages of COVID-19, many named the virus as the “great equalizer,” but it has in fact amplified the inveterate racial, economic, and social injustices in this country. Now, along with the pandemic, there is national and global organizing in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, instigated by the murders of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, and too many other Black individuals killed by racist and violent institutions in the United States, so this work is more vital than ever. With dedicated colleagues at the Hood Museum, we are in the midst of collaboratively composing action steps to do the enduring, necessary work, both on the museum’s internal structures, and external-facing presence.

These are some of the principles and ideas we are following:

For museums with collections, along with conducting backlogged cataloguing research and identifying conservation needs, they should begin to update outdated, colonial cataloguing practices, which means reassessing topics such as subject tagging and data management. For those with historic collections, this is the opportunity to identify works for deaccessioning as well as repatriation. Understanding that both processes require incredible labor, research, assessment, and often, additional support, at a time when many museums are unable to hire new positions, that suggests beginning by searching for related grants or funding sources to conduct this work. Additionally, museums should map out a plan considering the required guidelines as a foundation and prioritize ethical processes for deaccessioning and repatriation whenever the museum is able to resume these functions.

As museums continue collecting, they should draft collection strategies and priorities for the upcoming acquisitions cycles in order to find ways to diversify as well as decolonize its collecting practices. If acquisition funds are limited or depleted as a result of the pandemic, institutions can do a thorough collection assessment to identify areas that they should expand in the near future. Additionally, I imagine museums will rely heavily on their collections for forthcoming exhibitions programs, so these exhibitions could be the space to explore and recontextualize problematic collection works.

For public programs, this is an opportunity to provide agency to our publics, especially to those who have not felt welcome in museums. To provide one example, with the onset of the pandemic, our campus engagement coordinator and I reached out to Dartmouth’s Office of Pluralism and Leadership (OPAL)^[2] and talked about how students were feeling, what the needs were, and what the Hood can do in our limited capacity. We began these conversations right before Pride Month, so students told us they wanted a webinar on queer artists of color. They specifically asked for a webinar format, because they did not want the pressure of having to participate, since they’ve been tethered to Zoom this past term (and will continue to be). Museums must actively meet their publics where they are rather than only telling them what they should know, what they should hear, how they should think, and that we as the institution knows best, which is why many individuals and communities have felt unwelcome in these spaces for so long.

Though it is impossible to forecast the future, this period should be a prompt to museums to reflect, refocus, and think about the possibilities within limitations. It is no longer about the surface work but being intentional, thoughtful, and doing the deep work that museums have been promising. Growth as success has been an unsustainable model for museums and we will see what the future holds, but here’s hoping that museums can find their humanity—we must—as we move into a new paradigm.