Timeline
-
-
December 2021
-
"Virginia's Massive Robert E. Lee Statue Has Been Removed"
Monuments, Protest
External Link 1
-
MOCA Los Angeles employees still negotiating first contract with museum leaders after unionizing two years ago
Staff, Unions
External Link 1
External Link 2
-
-
-
September 2021
-
Departure of MOCA Los Angeles Director Klaus Bisenbach
Departure, Museum Directors, Staff
External Link 1
-
-
July 2021
-
Departure of Philadelphia Museum of Art's Director and CEO Timothy Rub
Departure, Museum Directors
External Link 1
-
Departure of the Phillips Collection's Director and CEO's Dorothy Kosinski
Departure, Museum Directors
External Link 1
-
Departure of Palm Springs Art Museum's Curator Rochelle Steiner
Departure, Staff
External Link 1
-
June 2021
-
Berlin Museum Board to Negotiate Return of Benin Bronzes
Repatriation
External Link 1
-
Departure of Phoenix Art Museum's Director Tim Rodgers
Departure, Museum Directors
External Link 1
-
Departure of Memphis Brooks Museum of Art's Director Emily Ballew Neff
Departure, Museum Directors
External Link 1
-
May 2021
-
Departure of PAFA's Director Brooke Davis Anderson
Departure, Museum Directors
External Link 1
-
Departure of Winterthur Museum's Director and CEO Carol B. Cadou
Departure, Museum Directors
External Link 1
-
-
March 2021
-
Departure of MoMA Chairman Leon Black
Boards / Trustees, Museum
External Link 1
-
Departure of Bellevue Arts Museum Executive Director Benedict Heywood
Departure, Staff
External Link 1
-
Atlanta spa shootings
Anti-Asian Hate, Mass Shooting, Racism
External Link 1
-
Artists pull out of Chicago MCA Exhibition in Protest of Worker Layoffs
Artist-Driven Activism, Protest, Staff
External Link 1
External Link 2
-
February 2021
-
Baltimore Museum of Art receives $1M for equity initiatives
Diversity, Exhibitions, Museum Collections
External Link 1
-
Departure of MOCA Los Angeles Human Resources Director Carlos Viramontes
Departure, Staff
External Link 1
-
Departure of Newfield's Director and CEO Charles Venable
Departure, Museum Directors
External Link 1
-
First Collective Bargaining Agreement with IUOE Local 30 Guggenheim Workers Union
Staff, Unions
External Link 1
External Link 2
-
Cultural Workers address Indianapolis Museum of Art job posting controversy
Controversy, Racism, Staff
External Link 1
-
Departure of SFMOMA's Director Neal Benezra
Departure, Museum Directors, Staff
External Link 1
-
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
-
Departure of Carnegie Museum of Art's Deputy Director Ronald Lee Newman
Departure, Staff
External Link 1
-
January 2021
-
Departure of MCA Chicago's Chief Curator Michael Darling
Departure, Staff
External Link 1
-
Naomi Beckwith Named Deputy Director and Chief Curator at Guggenheim Museum
Leadership, Museum Directors
External Link 1
External Link 2
-
Time's Up Museums changes its name to Museums Moving Forward
-
-
-
November 2020
-
Departure of Standford's Cantor Arts Center's Director Susan Dackerman
Departure, Museum Directors, Staff
External Link 1
-
Founding of Milwaukee Art Museum IAMAW United Lodge 66 Union
Staff, Unions
External Link 1
External Link 2
-
Ithaka S+R Art Museum Director Survey 2020
Internal Strategy, Museum Directors, Staff
External Link 1
-
October 2020
-
Balitmore Museum of Art suspends deaccession plan
Diversity, Exhibitions, Museum Collections
External Link 1
-
Departure of PAFA (Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art) President and CEO David Brigham
Departure, Staff
External Link 1
-
Founding of Black Trustee Alliance
Boards / Trustees, Museum Advocacy, Museum Boards
External Link 1
External Link 2
-
Baltimore Museum of Art Curators address deaccession plan
Diversity, Exhibitions, Museum Collections
External Link 1
-
Departure of Guggenheim's Deputy Director and Chief Curator Nancy Spector
Controversy, Departure, Staff
External Link 1
-
September 2020
-
Philip Guston exhibition postponed
Controversy, Museum
External Link 1
-
Museum Workers from Portland Museum of Art in Portland petititon for a Union election
Staff, Unions
External Link 1
External Link 2
-
Departure of Montreal Museum of Fine Arts's Director Nathalie Bondil
Departure, Staff
External Link 1
-
-
July 2020
-
Departure of MOCA Detroit's Director Elysia Borowy-Reeder
Departure, Museum Directors, Staff
External Link 1
-
Marciano Foundation pays laid-off workers 10 weeks of severance as part of settlement
Staff, Unions
External Link 1
-
Detroit Institute of Art Action Group Calls for Director's Resignation
Protest, Racism, Staff
External Link 1
-
Departure of Newfields Curator Kelli Morgan
Departure, Staff
External Link 1
-
Departure of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art’s Chief Curator Gary Garrels
Departure, Staff
External Link 1
-
June 2020
-
Op-ed: Kelli Morgan "To Bear Witness: Real Talk about White Supremacy in Art Museums Today"
Racism, Staff, White Supremacy
External Link 1
-
SFMOMA Staffers Condemn ‘Racist Censorship’ and Institutional Inequities in Letter Calling for Change
Racism, Staff, White Supremacy
External Link 1
-
Departure of MOCA Cleveland's Director Jill Snyder
Departure, Staff
External Link 1
-
Public Letter: Andrea Montiel de Shuman "No longer in extremis."
Racism, Resignation, Staff, White Supremacy
External Link 1
-
Departure of Norton Museum of Art Director Elliot Bostwick Davis
Departure, Staff
External Link 1
-
Launch of Change The Museum (@changethemuseum Instagram account)
Racism, Staff, White Supremacy
External Link 1
-
Open letters from BIPOC staff and allies at SFMOMA, Guggenheim, Brooklyn, MFA Boston, etc.
Open letter, Racism, Staff
External Link 1
External Link 2
-
Founding of Cultural New Deal
Racism, Staff
External Link 1
External Link 2
-
Founding of A Better Guggenheim
Equity, Staff
External Link 1
-
May 2020
-
Departure of Parrish Art Museum's Director Terrie Sultan
Departure, Museum Directors, Staff
External Link 1
-
Murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis
Broader Culture, Racism
External Link 1
-
Departure of Akron Art Museum Director Mark Masuoka
Departure, Discrimination, Harassment, Staff
External Link 1
-
Departure of Telfair Museum's Director Robin Nicholson
Departure, Staff
External Link 1
-
Launch of Museum Workers Relief Fund
Staff
External Link 1
-
April 2020
-
Indebted Cultural Workers Share Spreadsheet Highlighting Major Income Disparities at Cultural Institutions
Equity, Staff
External Link 1
External Link 2
-
"Artists, Scholars, and Museum Workers Petition Museums to Retain Staff During Pandemic"
Equity, Staff
External Link 1
External Link 2
-
US Museums allowed to use restricted funds for operational costs
Deaccessioning, Museum Collections, Staff
External Link 1
-
Museum Endowments are reassessed after closures and layoffs
Equity, Staff
External Link 1
-
Founding of Indebted Cultural Workers
Equity, Staff
External Link 1
-
March 2020
-
Murder of Breonna Taylor in Kentucky
Broader Culture, Racism
External Link 1
-
"A Daily Report on How COVID-19 Is Impacting the Art World"
Equity, Staff
External Link 1
-
COVID-19 pandemic begins in the US
Broader Culture
External Link 1
-
February 2020
-
Departure of Cooper Hewitt's Director Caroline Baumann
Departure, Staff
External Link 1
-
Murder of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia
Broader Culture, Racism
External Link 1
-
January 2020
-
Report: CCLI National Landscape Study: The State of DEAI Practices in Museums
Diversity, Equity, Museums
External Link 1
-
-
December 2017
-
Departure of Jewish Museum's Curator Jens Hoffmann
Departure, Staff
External Link 1
-
November 2017
-
Departure of Artforum Publisher Knight Landesman
Departure, Harassment
External Link 1
-
Departure of Walker Art Center's Executive Director Olga Viso
Departure, Museum Directors, Staff
External Link 1
-
October 2017
-
Petition: We are not surprised
Sexism, Workplace Harrassment
External Link 1
-
Departure of Stedelijk Museum's Director Beatrix Ruf
Departure, Staff
External Link 1
-
Departure of Aldrich Museum's Executive Director Alyson Baker
Departure, Staff
External Link 1
-
September 2017
-
Departure of MoMA Deputy Director Kathy Halbreich
Departure, Staff
External Link 1
-
Departure of Carnegie Museum of Art's Director Lynn Zelevansky
Departure, Staff
External Link 1
-
August 2017
-
Founding of Museums Are Not Neutral
White Supremacy
External Link 1
-
February 2017
-
Departure of Metropolitan Museum’s Director Thomas P. Campbell
Departure, Staff
External Link 1
-
ANTI-TRUMP PROTEST ERUPTS INSIDE MOMA
Artist-Driven Activism
External Link 1
-
January 2017
-
Founding of J20 Art Strike: an invitation to cultural institutions
Museums, Protest
External Link 1
-
MeToo movement spreads virally as hashtag on social media
Broader Culture, Sexism
External Link 1
External Link 2