Timeline
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February 2023
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Whitney Union Members Protest Outside Museum Fundraiser
Protest, Unions
External Link 1
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Four Art Foundations Award $5 million for Latinx Curatorial Positions
Diversity, Staff
External Link 1
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December 2022
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Black Trustee Alliance releases report from art museum trustee survey
Boards / Trustees, Data, Diversity, Museum Boards
External Link 1
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MASS MoCA First Union Contract
Unions
External Link 1
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2022 Burns Halperin Report explores representation of female-identifying and Black American artists in U.S. museums and the international art market
Data, Diversity, Museum Collections
External Link 1
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November 2022
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Mellon Foundation Releases Latest Art Museum Staff Demographic Survey Results
Data, Diversity, Staff
External Link 1
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September 2022
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Philadelphia Museum of Art Union Workers Go on a One-Day ‘Warning’ Strike
Staff, Strike, Unions
External Link 1
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90% of Staff at Dia Art Foundation Vote in Favor of Unionization
Unions
External Link 1
External Link 2
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August 2022
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Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) announced Lynette L. Allston as next President of Board of Trustees
Museum Boards
External Link 1
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MASS MoCA Workers to Strike Amid Union Contract Negotiations
Staff, Strike, Unions
External Link 1
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Katherine Fleming takes the helm at the J. Paul Getty Trust as the Trust's first appointed female CEO
Leadership, Museum Directors
External Link 1
External Link 2
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July 2022
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New Database Shows Which Museum Job Boards Post Salaries
Equity, Pay / Compensation
External Link 1
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Impending Departure of Guggenheim Museum Director Richard Armstrong Announced
Departure, Museum Directors
External Link 1
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Departure of Chinati Foundation Director Jenny Moore
Departure
External Link 1
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The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago names Anslem Elumogo-Gardner as MCA's first Chief of Staff
Leadership, Staff
External Link 1
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June 2022
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Departure of Met President and CEO Daniel Weiss
Departure
External Link 1
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Departure of MoMA PS1 Director Kate Fowle
Departure, Museum Directors, Staff
External Link 1
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May 2022
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Departure of Met Curator and Chair of Modern and Contemporary Art Sheena Wagstaff
Departure, Staff
External Link 1
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April 2022
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Open Letter: "Asian American arts workers against White Supremacy"
Anti-Asian Hate, Open letter, White Supremacy
External Link 1
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February 2022
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Departure of Contemporary Arts Museum Houston's Senior Curator and Director of Public Art Allison Glenn
Departure, Staff
External Link 1
External Link 2
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January 2022
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Departure of Whitechapel Director Iwona Blazwick
Departure, Staff
External Link 1
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December 2021
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"Virginia's Massive Robert E. Lee Statue Has Been Removed"
Monuments, Protest
External Link 1
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MOCA Los Angeles employees still negotiating first contract with museum leaders after unionizing two years ago
Staff, Unions
External Link 1
External Link 2
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September 2021
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Departure of MOCA Los Angeles Director Klaus Bisenbach
Departure, Museum Directors, Staff
External Link 1
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July 2021
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Departure of Philadelphia Museum of Art's Director and CEO Timothy Rub
Departure, Museum Directors
External Link 1
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Departure of the Phillips Collection's Director and CEO's Dorothy Kosinski
Departure, Museum Directors
External Link 1
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Departure of Palm Springs Art Museum's Curator Rochelle Steiner
Departure, Staff
External Link 1
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June 2021
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Berlin Museum Board to Negotiate Return of Benin Bronzes
Repatriation
External Link 1
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Departure of Phoenix Art Museum's Director Tim Rodgers
Departure, Museum Directors
External Link 1
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Departure of Memphis Brooks Museum of Art's Director Emily Ballew Neff
Departure, Museum Directors
External Link 1
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May 2021
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Departure of PAFA's Director Brooke Davis Anderson
Departure, Museum Directors
External Link 1
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Departure of Winterthur Museum's Director and CEO Carol B. Cadou
Departure, Museum Directors
External Link 1
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March 2021
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Departure of MoMA Chairman Leon Black
Boards / Trustees, Museum
External Link 1
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Departure of Bellevue Arts Museum Executive Director Benedict Heywood
Departure, Staff
External Link 1
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Atlanta spa shootings
Anti-Asian Hate, Mass Shooting, Racism
External Link 1
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February 2021
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Baltimore Museum of Art receives $1M for equity initiatives
Diversity, Exhibitions, Museum Collections
External Link 1
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Departure of MOCA Los Angeles Human Resources Director Carlos Viramontes
Departure, Staff
External Link 1
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Departure of Newfield's Director and CEO Charles Venable
Departure, Museum Directors
External Link 1
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First Collective Bargaining Agreement with IUOE Local 30 Guggenheim Workers Union
Staff, Unions
External Link 1
External Link 2
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Cultural Workers address Indianapolis Museum of Art job posting controversy
Controversy, Racism, Staff
External Link 1
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Departure of SFMOMA's Director Neal Benezra
Departure, Museum Directors, Staff
External Link 1
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Metropolitan Museum of Art considers deaccessioning part of their collection to gather funds for care of their collection due to COVID-19 challenges.
Museum Collections, Staff
External Link 1
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Departure of Carnegie Museum of Art's Deputy Director Ronald Lee Newman
Departure, Staff
External Link 1
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January 2021
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Departure of MCA Chicago's Chief Curator Michael Darling
Departure, Staff
External Link 1
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Naomi Beckwith Named Deputy Director and Chief Curator at Guggenheim Museum
Leadership, Museum Directors
External Link 1
External Link 2
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Time's Up Museums changes its name to Museums Moving Forward
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November 2020
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Departure of Standford's Cantor Arts Center's Director Susan Dackerman
Departure, Museum Directors, Staff
External Link 1
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Founding of Milwaukee Art Museum IAMAW United Lodge 66 Union
Staff, Unions
External Link 1
External Link 2
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Ithaka S+R Art Museum Director Survey 2020
Internal Strategy, Museum Directors, Staff
External Link 1
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October 2020
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Balitmore Museum of Art suspends deaccession plan
Diversity, Exhibitions, Museum Collections
External Link 1
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Departure of PAFA (Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art) President and CEO David Brigham
Departure, Staff
External Link 1
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Founding of Black Trustee Alliance
Boards / Trustees, Museum Advocacy, Museum Boards
External Link 1
External Link 2
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Baltimore Museum of Art Curators address deaccession plan
Diversity, Exhibitions, Museum Collections
External Link 1
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Departure of Guggenheim's Deputy Director and Chief Curator Nancy Spector
Controversy, Departure, Staff
External Link 1
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September 2020
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Philip Guston exhibition postponed
Controversy, Museum
External Link 1
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Museum Workers from Portland Museum of Art in Portland petititon for a Union election
Staff, Unions
External Link 1
External Link 2
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Departure of Montreal Museum of Fine Arts's Director Nathalie Bondil
Departure, Staff
External Link 1
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July 2020
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Departure of MOCA Detroit's Director Elysia Borowy-Reeder
Departure, Museum Directors, Staff
External Link 1
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Marciano Foundation pays laid-off workers 10 weeks of severance as part of settlement
Staff, Unions
External Link 1
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Departure of Newfields Curator Kelli Morgan
Departure, Staff
External Link 1
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Departure of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art’s Chief Curator Gary Garrels
Departure, Staff
External Link 1
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June 2020
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Op-ed: Kelli Morgan "To Bear Witness: Real Talk about White Supremacy in Art Museums Today"
Racism, Staff, White Supremacy
External Link 1
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SFMOMA Staffers Condemn ‘Racist Censorship’ and Institutional Inequities in Letter Calling for Change
Racism, Staff, White Supremacy
External Link 1
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Departure of MOCA Cleveland's Director Jill Snyder
Departure, Staff
External Link 1
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Public Letter: Andrea Montiel de Shuman "No longer in extremis."
Racism, Resignation, Staff, White Supremacy
External Link 1
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Departure of Norton Museum of Art Director Elliot Bostwick Davis
Departure, Staff
External Link 1
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Founding of A Better Guggenheim
Equity, Staff
External Link 1
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Founding of Cultural New Deal
Racism, Staff
External Link 1
External Link 2
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Open letters from BIPOC staff and allies at SFMOMA, Guggenheim, Brooklyn, MFA Boston, etc.
Open letter, Racism, Staff
External Link 1
External Link 2
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Launch of Change The Museum (@changethemuseum Instagram account)
Racism, Staff, White Supremacy
External Link 1
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May 2020
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Departure of Parrish Art Museum's Director Terrie Sultan
Departure, Museum Directors, Staff
External Link 1
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Murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis
Broader Culture, Racism
External Link 1
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Departure of Akron Art Museum Director Mark Masuoka
Departure, Discrimination, Harassment, Staff
External Link 1
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Departure of Telfair Museum's Director Robin Nicholson
Departure, Staff
External Link 1
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Launch of Museum Workers Relief Fund
Staff
External Link 1
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April 2020
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Indebted Cultural Workers Share Spreadsheet Highlighting Major Income Disparities at Cultural Institutions
Equity, Staff
External Link 1
External Link 2
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"Artists, Scholars, and Museum Workers Petition Museums to Retain Staff During Pandemic"
Equity, Staff
External Link 1
External Link 2
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US Museums allowed to use restricted funds for operational costs
Deaccessioning, Museum Collections, Staff
External Link 1
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Museum Endowments are reassessed after closures and layoffs
Equity, Staff
External Link 1
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Founding of Indebted Cultural Workers
Equity, Staff
External Link 1
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March 2020
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Murder of Breonna Taylor in Kentucky
Broader Culture, Racism
External Link 1
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"A Daily Report on How COVID-19 Is Impacting the Art World"
Equity, Staff
External Link 1
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COVID-19 pandemic begins in the US
Broader Culture
External Link 1
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February 2020
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Departure of Cooper Hewitt's Director Caroline Baumann
Departure, Staff
External Link 1
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Murder of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia
Broader Culture, Racism
External Link 1
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January 2020
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Report: CCLI National Landscape Study: The State of DEAI Practices in Museums
Diversity, Equity, Museums
External Link 1
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October 2019
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Departure of New York’s Cultural Affairs Leader Tom Finkelpearl
Departure, Staff
External Link 1
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September 2019
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Report: The Burns Halperin Report on female-identifying artists
Diversity, Exhibitions, Museum Collections, Sexism
External Link 1
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Departure of ICA Philadelphia's Director Amy Sadao
Departure, Museum Directors, Staff
External Link 1
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August 2019
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"A New Definition of 'Museum' Sparks International Debate"
Controversy, Museum
External Link 1
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July 2019
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Op-ed: Darren Walker "Museums Need to Step Into the Future"
Museum Boards
External Link 1
External Link 2
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"Warren Kanders Quits Whitney Board After Tear Gas Protests"
Museum Boards
External Link 1
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Organizing the Work of the Art Museum
Internal Strategy, Museum Directors, Staff
External Link 1
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Op-ed: Xaviera Simmons "Whiteness must undo itself to make way for the truly radical turn in contemporary culture"
Racism, Whiteness
External Link 1
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Art + Museum Transparency Shares Google Sheet Highlighting Unpaid Internships
Equity, Staff
External Link 1
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May 2019
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#AAM2019 Keynote: Kippen de Alba Chu and Kimberly Drew
Equity, Staff
External Link 1
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Art + Museum Shares Google Sheet of Salary Transparency
Equity, Staff
External Link 1
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Founding of Art + Museum Transparency
Equity, Staff
External Link 1
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March 2019
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Decolonize This Place launched 9 Weeks of Art + Action to address the crisis at the Whitney Museum of American Art
Artist-Driven Activism
External Link 1
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Nikki Columbus settles claim against MoMA PS1
Discrimination
External Link 1
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January 2019
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Report: Andrew W. Mellon Foundation's Study on Museum Staff Demographics
Diversity, Staff
External Link 1
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Founding of New Museum Union
Staff, Unions
External Link 1
External Link 2
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Survey: POWarts Salary Survey
Equity, Staff
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December 2018
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MoMA PS1 Art Handlers and Maintenance Workers Protest Unfair Wages
Staff, Unions
External Link 1
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November 2018
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Departure of Metropolitan Museum of Art's Social Media Manager Kimberly Drew
Departure, Staff
External Link 1
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Sarr Savoy report, "The Restitution of African Cultural Heritage: Toward a New Relational Ethics," released.
Repatriation, Report
External Link 1
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September 2018
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Report: Andrew W. Mellon Foundation's and Ithaka S-R's Case Studies on Institutional Practices in Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion from Eight Art Museums
Diversity, Staff
External Link 1
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Report: The Burns Halperin Report on African American artists
Diversity, Exhibitions, Museum Collections, Racism
External Link 1
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Departure of California State Long Beach’s University Art Museum's Director Kimberli Meyer
Departure, Staff
External Link 1
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Departure of Palm Springs Art Museum's Executive Director Elizabeth Armstrong
Departure, Staff
External Link 1
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Report: Invisible no more an evalution of the Smithsonian Institution and Latino Representation
Diversity, Exhibitions, Museum Collections, Staff
External Link 1
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July 2018
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Founding of Time's Up Museums
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Nikki Columbus files pregnancy discrimination claim against MoMA PS1
Discrimination
External Link 1
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June 2018
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Departure of Brooklyn Museum's Deputy Director and Chief Curator Jennifer Y. Chi
Departure, Staff
External Link 1
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Departure of Munich's Haus Der Kunst's Director Okwui Enwezor
Departure, Museum Directors, Staff
External Link 1
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May 2018
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Departure of MOCA Los Angeles Director Philippe Vergne
Departure, Museum Directors
External Link 1
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April 2018
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Baltimore Museum controversy over selling "blue chip" works from collection
Controversy, Deaccessioning, Diversity, Exhibitions, Museum Collections
External Link 1
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Departure of Scottsdale Musuem of Contemporary Art's Director and Chief Curator Sara Cochran
Departure, Staff
External Link 1
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Open Letter: Brooklyn Museum "Your Curatorial Crisis is an Opportunity to Decolonize"
Diversity, Equity, Open letter
External Link 1
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March 2018
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Departure of MOCA Los Angeles Chief Curator Helen Molesworth
Departure, Staff
External Link 1
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Departure of Ghent Museum's Director Catherine de Zegher
Departure, Staff
External Link 1
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Departure of Bordeaux's CAPC Musée D'art Contemporain's Director Maria Inés Rodríguez
Departure, Staff
External Link 1
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January 2018
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Departure of Queens Museum's Director Laura Raicovich
Departure, Museum Directors, Staff
External Link 1
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Departure of VCU Institute for Contemporary Art's Director Lisa Freiman
Departure, Staff
External Link 1
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December 2017
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Departure of Jewish Museum's Curator Jens Hoffmann
Departure, Staff
External Link 1
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November 2017
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Departure of Artforum Publisher Knight Landesman
Departure, Harassment
External Link 1
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Departure of Walker Art Center's Executive Director Olga Viso
Departure, Museum Directors, Staff
External Link 1
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October 2017
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Petition: We are not surprised
Sexism, Workplace Harrassment
External Link 1
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Departure of Stedelijk Museum's Director Beatrix Ruf
Departure, Staff
External Link 1
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Departure of Aldrich Museum's Executive Director Alyson Baker
Departure, Staff
External Link 1
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September 2017
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Departure of MoMA Deputy Director Kathy Halbreich
Departure, Staff
External Link 1
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Departure of Carnegie Museum of Art's Director Lynn Zelevansky
Departure, Staff
External Link 1
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August 2017
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Founding of Museums Are Not Neutral
White Supremacy
External Link 1
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February 2017
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Departure of Metropolitan Museum’s Director Thomas P. Campbell
Departure, Staff
External Link 1
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ANTI-TRUMP PROTEST ERUPTS INSIDE MOMA
Artist-Driven Activism
External Link 1
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January 2017
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Founding of J20 Art Strike: an invitation to cultural institutions
Museums, Protest
External Link 1
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MeToo movement spreads virally as hashtag on social media
Broader Culture, Sexism
External Link 1
External Link 2
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December 2016
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Steve Mnuchin Resigns as MOCA Board Member
Boards / Trustees
External Link 1
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October 2016
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Decolonize This Place staged the first of four Anti-Columbus Day actions at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH)
Artist-Driven Activism
External Link 1
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Founding of MASS Action
Museums, Staff
External Link 1
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September 2016
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Opening of National Museum of African American History and Culture
Museums
External Link 1
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May 2016
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Founding of Decolonize This Place
Movement, Protest, White Supremacy
External Link 1
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February 2016
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Founding of Museums & Race: 2016 Convening | Reflecting on Museums & Race: Transformation and Justice
Diversity, Equity, Race
External Link 1
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Publication of Vision and Justice: Aperture 223
External Link 1
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January 2016
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Dakota Access Pipeline & Standing Rock protests
Indigenous Rights, Protest
External Link 1
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Founding of BIPOC Project
Racial Justice
External Link 1
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May 2015
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Detroit Institute of Art proposes to sell Van Gogh to off-set city's Chapter 9 bankruptcy
Deaccessioning
External Link 1
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January 2015
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AAMD/Mellon study on Art Museum Staff Demographics
Diversity, Staff
External Link 1
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"identity" named Word of the Year by dictionary.com
Broader Culture
External Link 1
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Founding of Museum Workers Speak
Diversity, Equity, Staff
External Link 1
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Founding of Museum Hue
Diversity, Equity, Staff
External Link 1
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December 2014
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Joint statement from museum bloggers & colleagues on Ferguson & related events
Museum Advocacy
External Link 1
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#museumsrespondtoferguson coined by Aleia Brown and Adrianne Russell
Museum Advocacy
External Link 1
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August 2014
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Murder of Michael Brown and subsequent nationwide wide protests in Ferguson, Missouri
Racial Injustice
External Link 1
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January 2013
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Founding of Black Lives Matter
Broader Culture, Racial Injustice
External Link 1