When the Staff is All White: Building an Anti-Racist Curriculum for Part-Time Gallery Educators

In June 2019, <a href="https://massmoca.org/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">MASS MoCA</a>’s Kidspace gallery opened <a href="https://massmoca.org/event/still-i-rise/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Still I Rise</a>. The exhibition examines the misrepresentation of women of color in art history and offers counternarratives (1) through contemporary work by Gustave Blache III, E2 — Kleinveld and Julien, Genevieve Gaignard, Tim Okamura, and Deborah Roberts. Before the opening, we invited our Gallery Teachers — paid, part-time tour guides — to meet some of the artists for an informal conversation. Gaignard, whose photography practice centers around her mixed racial identity and the complexities of passing (2), looked at the group assembled and said, “I’m seeing a group of people who is pretty white, and I need you to get this right” (personal communication, 6/13/19). What does it mean to “get it right” when displaying and teaching works about race by artists of color? How do white museum workers hold ourselves accountable to artists of color and their goals for their work, particularly when museum audiences are still predominantly white (“Active Visitors,” 2019)? <a href="https://medium.com/viewfinder-reflecting-on-museum-education/when-the-staff-is-all-white-building-an-anti-racist-curriculum-for-part-time-gallery-educators-876d6a1b7a9d">Visit Now</a>