Timeline
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December 2023
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Guggenheim Museum Lays off 10 Workers, Citing "Rising Costs and Inflation"
Staff
External Link 1
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July 2023
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Departure of Seattle Art Museum Director Amada Cruz Announced
Departure, Leadership, Museum Directors
External Link 1
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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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Black Trustee Alliance Releases Art Museum Trustee Survey
Boards / Trustees, Data, Diversity
External Link 1
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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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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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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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Detroit Institute of Art Action Group Calls for Director's Resignation
Protest, Racism, Staff
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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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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Founding of Cultural New Deal
Racism, Staff
External Link 1
External Link 2
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Founding of A Better Guggenheim
Equity, Staff
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 Telfair Museum's Director Robin Nicholson
Departure, Staff
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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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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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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Publication of Vision and Justice: Aperture 223
External Link 1
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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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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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December 2014
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Joint statement from museum bloggers & colleagues on Ferguson & related events
Museum Advocacy
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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