On White Privilege and Museums

This article from Nina Simon, author of The Participatory Museum and The Art of Relevance, takes a perceptive look at the need to understand and counterbalance many forms of privilege when engaging with community.

Simon's reflections on the challenges of changing the frame of privilege surrounding museums are particularly relevant to the practice of community engagement. In both museums and arts organizations, community engagement and inclusivity are often contained within a few one-off programs, rather than embedded in the foundational values of the organization:

"... increased efforts at inclusion have been treated primarily as add-ons and not as necessary changes to the heart of white institutions. Now, when asked about diversity, most white institutions can point to a particular program or initiatives and say, "we've got that covered."... They've added colorful patches to their garments when the whole cloth needs to change."

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