Friday, April 05, 2019: 2:00pm - 2:50pm
Republic Ballroom AB
Professional Forum: The Path to Diversity in Museums
- Haitham Eid, Southern University at New Orleans, USA, Jennifer Williams, New Orleans Museum of Art, USA, Vera Warren Williams, Community Book Center, USA
The current diversity initiatives in museums focus on training minorities to explore potential careers in the museum field. For example, Southern University at New Orleans and the Community Book Center received a grant from the Joan Mitchell Foundation to expose African American youth to the exciting work of museums. Also, the New Orleans Museum of Art received grants from the Ford Foundation and the Walton Family Foundation to offer paid internships to students enrolled in HBCUs. Building on the discussion started at MW18 in Vancouver, Canada, this panel will reflect upon the current diversity initiatives and provide an early evaluation of the effectiveness of of the training approach to the issue of diversity in museums.