MUSEUMS COMINGS AND GOINGS Winter 2021

1. Having known Charles Venable for over thirty years, I find this story disturbing on many levels. Without belaboring the point, the decision to sign off on the inclusion of the word "white" in the employment listing was clearly a mistake. Had there been any chance that this error was motivated by racism, I wouldn't be writing these comments. The implication that Charles is a racist is particularly infuriating to me. Anyone in Dallas, Indianapolis or who have worked with him would know that Charles and his husband Martin have, undoubtedly, dealt with their own challenges of discrimination over the years. It is particularly disappointing that no one on the Board had the sufficient courage to note that Charles is NOT a racist. Which brings me to the core of the "cancel culture". When INTENT, which is fundamental in judging the merit of these accusations, becomes irrelevant, unless you are on the team of the accuser, society can't function. If these teams are chosen by race, gender, sexual preference or political affiliation, the success of your group is destined to failure. Choosing a women or an African American, primarily because of their gender or race, is not only racist, it is insulting to all women and all African Americans. To tell a women or an African American that your qualifications are secondary to your gender or race is demeaning. And, if this truly is your focus, it is only a matter of time before the system unravels. Rhetorically, where is grace, forgiveness, and unity? But, maybe if you are a nihilist and destruction is your intent, I am being naive. The art world, that I have been a part of for 47 years, deserves better. And, Charles you certainly deserve better, as well. Good luck and stay safe.

INDIANAPOLIS - NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- After editing and then apologizing for an insensitive job posting that appeared on a recruiting site, Charles L. Venable, the president of Newfields, the 152-acre campus that is home to the Indianapolis Museum of Art, has resigned.

“We are ashamed of Newfields’ leadership and of ourselves,” the museum’s board of trustees and board of governors said in a statement on its website Wednesday, in which they said they had accepted Venable’s resignation. “We have ignored, excluded, and disappointed members of our community and staff. We pledge to do better.”

“We thank him for his service and agree that his resignation is necessary for Newfields to become the cultural institution our community needs and deserves,” the statement said.

Venable, 60, has led the museum as director and chief executive since 2012; he took on the newly created position of president of Newfields earlier this year. Jerry Wise, the museum’s chief financial officer, will serve as interim president of Newfields.

The employment listing, which had been posted on the search firm m/Oppenheim’s website since January but came to light only last Friday, said the museum was seeking a director who would work not only to attract a more diverse audience but to maintain its “traditional, core, white art audience.”

A group of 85 Newfields employees and members of the board of governors had released a public letter on Tuesday calling for Venable’s resignation. More than 1,900 artists, local arts leaders and former employees of the museum also issued an open letter over the weekend calling for his removal. They asked the museum’s major funders to pause financial support until reforms, including a more diverse board and curatorial staff, could be implemented.

Newfields said Wednesday that it would conduct an independent review of the museum’s leadership, culture and boards of trustees and governors, and add additional free or reduced-fee days to make the museum more accessible to the community. Other reforms include forming a citywide community advisory committee, expanding programming that represents people of marginalized identities and implementing anti-racist training for staff, board members and volunteers.

Venable said in an interview Saturday that the decision to use “white” in the employment listing had been intentional and explained that it was meant to indicate that the museum would not abandon its existing audience as it moved toward greater diversity, equity and inclusion. The museum subsequently revised the description linked in the listing, which now says that it seeks to “welcome and embrace a more diverse audience” while maintaining the museum’s “traditional core art audience.”

Venable said drafts of the description were written and edited by both the museum and the search firm.

Fallout from the original listing was swift. The two guest curators for the museum’s upcoming exhibition, “DRIP: Indy’s #BlackLivesMatter Street Mural,” in April, said in a statement on Saturday night that they could not continue organizing the exhibition unless the museum apologized to the 18 artists involved and agreed to “display more works from Black artists in perpetuity.” On Monday, a member of the board of trustees resigned.

The incident was the latest controversy for Newfields, which has faced accusations of excluding residents of the neighborhood, which has a large Black population, and criticism for trumpeting the work of Black artists without substantially supporting them during Venable’s widely debated tenure. (The members of the museum’s board of governors and board of trustees are overwhelmingly white.)

Kelli Morgan, a former associate curator who was recruited in 2018 to diversify the museum’s galleries, resigned in July, calling the museum’s culture “toxic” and “discriminatory” in a letter she sent to Venable, as well as to board members, artists and the local news media.

Morgan, who is Black, said in an interview Saturday that while the museum had begun training its leaders in diversity, equity and inclusion, she was disappointed that it had still included insensitive language in the job description.

“Clearly there’s no investment or attention being paid to what’s being learned or communicated in the training,” she said. “Because if there were, there’s no way a job posting would’ve been written like that, let alone for a museum director.”

Venable, a former deputy director at both the Dallas Museum of Art and the Cleveland Museum of Art, has had a controversial tenure during nearly nine years at the helm of the Indianapolis museum. He was criticized for introducing more popular experiences to the campus, including an artist-designed miniature golf course. His commitment to cost-cutting led him to reduce the staff by about 11% and to institute an admission fee at the museum.

Though Venable has a Ph.D. in American Studies from Boston University, it was his departure from traditional art experiences that made him unpopular in the community. He also shook things up by having his curators give every artwork at the museum a letter grade in an effort to pare down the collection and avoid paying for more storage.

His departure comes at a time when other institutions have been grappling with a reckoning around race, including how to diversify majority-white staffs, boards and collections.

Over the last year, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art has had to reckon with what employees called structural inequities. Gary Garrels, formerly its top curator, resigned in July amid staff anger, after he used the term “reverse discrimination” in an all-staff Zoom call.

Venable said at the time of Morgan’s resignation that the museum had been taking steps to become more diverse, but that it would take time. But now it will do so with a new voice at the helm.

“We pledge to make the necessary changes to ensure we can regain your trust and respect,” the museum’s board said in the statement on Wednesday. “We commit to being held accountable, as we hold the institution accountable, to ensure that Newfields is diverse, equitable, accessible and inclusive.”

The board said a detailed action plan, with specific deadlines, would follow within the next 30 days.

While members of Indianapolis’ Black art community see Venable’s resignation as a start, they are clear that it cannot be the end of the conversation.

“The CEO is just the head, and then there will be another head when he’s gone,” Josiah McCruiston, a local musician, told The Indianapolis Recorder, the city’s Black-owned newspaper, on Monday. “You have to address the root situation before you can start picking at the fruit.”

© 2021 The New York Times Company

https://artdaily.cc/news/133119/Charles-Venable-resigns-as-head-of-Indianapolis-Museum-of-Art#.YGIvCq9KhGM

2. INDIANAPOLIS - INDIANAPOLIS, IND.- Newfields’ Board of Trustees announced today an action plan that will focus Newfields on becoming an empathetic, multicultural and anti-racist institution.

Over the past 30 days, Newfields’ leadership and outside experts have listened to staff, volunteers, docents and community, including local artists. The resulting plan represents a set of initial actions, and a deep commitment to continue listening and bringing in new ideas.

The action plan includes the establishment of a $20-million endowment, the proceeds of which will be dedicated to the works of marginalized artists; more diversity on the Board of Trustees; organization-wide DEIA training; as well as a series of new programming, community partnerships and free membership offerings to bring Newfields to a wider, more diverse, audience.

To read the action plan in full and learn more about Newfields’ next steps, visit www.discovernewfields.org/together.

“Over the past month, we’ve listened, we’ve learned, and now we have acted to take Newfields in a new direction. The Board of Trustees believes deeply in this plan, and we will support it with real resources, energy, and investment,” said Kathryn Betley, Chair of Newfields’ Board of Trustees.

“This is a beginning, but it's only a beginning. Our goal is to transform Newfields into an inclusive and empathetic place where community engagement, critical conversations and collaboration define our path forward,” said Darrianne Christian, Newfields Trustee and Chair of the board’s Commitment Committee, which engaged stakeholders and drafted the action plan.

“This plan is about rebuilding trust and forming new partnerships. We intend to bring more voices into our decisions, reflect greater diversity in our offerings, and embed Newfields more deeply in the fabric of our community” said Jerry Wise, Interim President of Newfields.

On February 17, Newfields mapped out a series of immediate priorities to begin rebuilding trust with staff, volunteers, docents and the community; to demonstrate a renewed commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and access; and to establish a solid foundation for the transformative work ahead. Based on the past month’s outreach, today’s plan turns those priorities into concrete actions.

Highlights of Newfields’ Action Plan:

• $20-Million Endowment to Enhance Representation in Exhibitions and Programming: Newfields is establishing a $20-million endowment, the proceeds of which will be dedicated to the acquisition of art created by BIPOC artists and artists from other marginalized identities.

• New Community Advisory Committee: Led by Dr. Sean L. Huddleston, President of Martin University and a highly respected community leader, a new Community Advisory Committee will bring Newfields closer to its neighbors and bring community voices directly to leadership.

• Increasing Leadership Diversity: By May 2021, new appointments will result in nearly 25 percent of the Board of Trustees representing diverse backgrounds, an increase from the current 8 percent.

• Hiring a Leadership-Level Diversity Executive: Newfields will recruit a senior-level executive reporting to the President and CEO to help drive the work required to become an empathetic, multicultural and anti-racist museum, and to oversee Newfields’ procurement processes, helping foster diversity across vendors and suppliers.

• Top-to-Bottom Outside Review of Leadership, Culture and Policies: Outside experts including Ice Miller’s Racial Equity Solutions Group and PINK! Consulting are conducting exhaustive interviews and listening sessions with Newfields staff and stakeholders, and will recommend comprehensive ways to transform the institution.

• Organization-Wide DEIA Training: All staff, docents and volunteers will receive ongoing DEIA training, and board members will complete additional 2-day intensive training.

• Expanding Access, Partnerships and Free Memberships: Newfields will create a neighborhood pass to provide free memberships to area residents and expand free memberships with local community groups. Newfields will expand its complimentary student membership program, which already includes Marion County public schools and public and non-profit universities and colleges, to include Ivy Tech.

• 50,000 Free and Discounted Tickets Annually: Newfields will significantly increase free and discounted ticket distribution --including to signature programming such as Harvest, Winterlights, and THE LUME—accelerating this commitment from 2023 to 2021.

• Expanded First Thursdays: Effective April 1, Newfields will expand its popular First Thursdays program, providing free general admission to the IMA Galleries and The Garden on the first Thursday of each month, for the full day, year-round.

Some of these actions have already been set in motion while others will build upon each other. This list will continue to grow as new areas for action are identified by the community and Newfields’ staff and leadership.

Advancing diversity, equity, inclusion and access will be a key priority of the institution and for every member of the Newfields team, from its Board of Trustees and Board of Governors, to staff, docents and volunteers. It will be seen and felt across every aspect of Newfields - from the artwork in the collection and the admissions policies, to the way the Human Resources department engages employees, Newfields will sustain these commitments for the long-term future.

https://artdaily.cc/news/134043/Newfields-announces-promised-30-day-action-plan#.YGI4eK9KhGM