Inclusivity in Art: Addressing the Erasure of Queer Artists of Color in Museums

Abstract:
Art museums and cultural institutions serve as pivotal centers of knowledge and historical narratives. Yet, there's a rising concern over the exclusion, especially of queer artists of color, from these spaces. This paper aims to dissect the ethical implications of such omissions, diving deep into the institutional structures, biases, and decisions that foster this erasure. Drawing from Sandell's "Museums, Moralities and Human Rights" and several other academic sources, we underscore the pivotal role diverse representation plays in constructing inclusive histories. Through Payne's Decision-Making Model and power mapping, we chart a course towards inclusivity, advocating for robust collaborations with LGBTQ+ organizations, facilitating inclusive dialogues, and championing policy transparency.
Methodology:
Building on Payne's Decision-Making Model, our approach involves:
1. Defining the Problem: A comprehensive analysis of the underrepresentation of queer artists, fortified by qualitative interviews and surveys.
2. Identifying Alternatives: Mapping out diverse strategies for museums to enhance representation.
3. Evaluating Alternatives: An in-depth assessment of each strategy's merits and demerits.
4. Decision Making: Recommending an ethically robust and practical solution.
5. Implementation and Reflection: Designing a blueprint for execution, accompanied by periodic reviews.
Statement of the Problem:
Art museums, bearing the colossal duty of curating history, recurrently overshadow contributions from queer artists of color. This isn't mere inadvertence—it's an ethical quandary. Such exclusions not only marginalize entire communities but also dilute the authenticity of art history. For instance, [specific example or statistic] illustrates the magnitude of this problem.
Use of Ethical Principles and/or Values:
Sandell's discourse on the ethical obligations of museums highlights their duty towards inclusivity. Excluding queer artists not only robs them of their historical position but also impoverishes cultural narratives. The ethical pillars of justice, fairness, and individual rights stand compromised when we marginalize these artists.
Discussion of Stakeholders:
Directly Affected:
1. Queer Artists of Color: Facing erasure and diminished acknowledgment.
2. Museum-goers: Deprived of a holistic understanding of art history.
3. Art Historians and Scholars: Research constrained by the myopic resources available.
Influencers: 4. Museum Boards and Donors: Their inclinations significantly sway museum collections.
5. Media: Media narratives can either reinforce stereotypes or amplify inclusivity.
6. General Public and Allies: The collective voice of the public, combined with LGBTQ+ advocacy groups, can spearhead change.
Discussion of Problems and Implications:
Excluding queer artists of color isn't a passive act—it perpetuates harmful stereotypes, erases significant movements, and presents a biased history. Contemporary artists, bereft of role models, face demotivation, and society, at large, is denied the richness of diverse artistic expressions.
Use of Attribution, Evidence, and Citations:
Sandell's research forms the cornerstone, underscoring the museums' ethical duties. Carr's chronicle of David Wojnarowicz exemplifies the challenges queer artists grapple with. Works like Johnson’s ethical decision-making treatise and UCSUSA.org's guide on power mapping provide invaluable insights.
Decision-Making Model and Strategy for Change:
Identifying the underrepresentation of queer artists as an undeniable issue, we explore various solutions. These range from maintaining the status quo, proactively curating queer artworks, fostering dialogues, to forging collaborations with LGBTQ+ organizations. Among these, collaboration stands out as the most potent solution. Envisioning this change, a task force, representing queer artists, should be instituted. They would supervise exhibitions, ensure diversity, and champion the preservation of queer artworks.
Literature Overview:
To ensure an exhaustive analysis, the following literature is integral:
1. Sandell's "Museums, Moralities and Human Rights."
2. Johnson's "Organizational Ethics: A Practical Approach, 4th Edition."
3. Carr's "Fire in the Belly: The Life and Times of David Wojnarowicz."
4. UCSUSA.org's power mapping guide.
Various Cited Resource Overview For Examples of This Problem:
1) Hopps, Walter, Robert Rauschenberg, Susan Davidson, and Trisha Brown. Robert Rauschenberg, a Retrospective. New York: Guggenheim Museum, 1997.
2) Cotter, Holland. "Everything About Warhol But the Sex." Review. The New New York Times (New York City), July 14, 2002, Art/Architecture sec. Accessed October 9, 2016. http://www(dot)nytimes(dot)com/2002/07/14/arts/art-architecture-everything-about- warhol-but-the-sex.html?rref=collection/byline/holland- cotter&action=click&contentCollection=undefined®ion=stream&module=stream _unit&version=search&contentPlacement=4&pgtype=collection.
3) Kitzinger, Celia. "Heteronormativity in Action: Reproducing the Heterosexual Nuclear Family in After-hours Medical Calls." Social Problems 52, no. 4 (November 2005): 477-98. Accessed December 17, 2016. doi:10.1525/sp.2005.52.4.477.
4) Faderman, Lillian, Sarah Kate Gillespie, Richard Meyer, Lara Vapnek, and Laura Weller. "New Eyes on Alice Austen." Lecture, Alice Austen House Presents: New Eyes on Alice Austen, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City, March 31, 2016. Accessed October 22, 2016.
i) The Alice Austen House, known for its denial of Alice Austen’s queerness, is finally recognizing that Austen was a lesbian and are exploring that aspect of her work through the National Endowment for the Humanities grant. This research was recently seen at the panel discussion at the Whitney Museum in March 2016 on Austen.
5) Maplethorpe show that was shut down by mayor NYC FIND SOURCE
i) Major museums will show queer artists today, but in ways that deemphasize how their sexuality influenced their work, or they do not acknowledge it all. Artists such as Catherine Opie and Robert Mapplethorpe have broken the hetero-ceiling with having retrospectives and having their works included in major exhibitions. But artists’ more “extreme” or what some consider “vulgar” works are just now starting to be appreciated. An example of a more “extreme” queer artist would be Tom of Finland.
6) Portwood, Jerry. "The Second Coming of Tom." Out Magazine. March 19, 2015.
Accessed December 17, 2016. http://www(dot)out(dot)com/art-books/2015/3/19/second-
coming-tom-finland.
7) Clarke, Kevin. The Art of Looking: The Life and Treasures of Collector Charles Leslie. 2nd ed. Berlin: Bruno Gmuender, 2015.
a) For years people have hidden away their queer collections, with many being destroyed by family members and friends after the collectors’ deaths on their discovery. This was heightened during the AIDS epidemic of the 1980’s when queer people were dying at an alarmingly rate and their families came into their homes and threw away what they considered “offensive” memorabilia and artwork.
8) Anderson, John. "'The Art of Romaine Brooks' At the American Art Museum, Reviewed." Washington City Paper. July 14, 2016. Accessed October 09, 2016. http://www(dot)washingtoncitypaper(dot)com/arts/museums-galleries/blog/20828088/the- art-of-romaine-brooks-at-the-smithsonians-american-art-museum-reviewed.
a) An example of this at a museum, is the artist Romaine Brooks (b.1874-1970), where a majority of her work is housed at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington D.C. Brooks died in 1970 and she left most of her work to the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) in Washington D.C. She is a pivotal figure in queer art history, and her portraits foreshadow the gender performativity that we now see in many queer artworks. Yet, her first major retrospective put on by SAAM was in 1971. It was not until 2000, that another retrospective of her work was seen, at the National Museum for Women in the Arts.12 It was not until forty-five years later in 2016 that SAAM finally has created another major retrospective of her work, The Art of Romaine Brooks.
9) "Gay Gotham." Museum of the City of New York. October 07, 2016. Accessed October 15, 2016. http://www(dot)mcny(dot)org/exhibition/gay-gotham.
10) Fields, Jill. "Frontiers in Feminist Art History." Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies 33, no. 2 (2012): 1-21. Accessed December 26, 2016. doi:10.5250/fronjwomestud.33.2.0001.
11) Fields, Jill. "Frontiers in Feminist Art History." Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies 33, no. 2 (2012): 1-21. Accessed December 26, 2016. doi:10.5250/fronjwomestud.33.2.0001.
12) The Lesbian Herstory Archives. "History." The Lesbian Herstory Archives. Accessed November 25, 2016. http://www(dot)lesbianherstoryarchives(dot)org/history.html.
13) https://hcommons(dot)org/deposits/objects/hc:32596/datastreams/CONTENT/content
a) Notes on Queer María Paloma Velázquez Philosophy and Theory of Art May 2019
14) https://www(dot)tandfonline(dot)com/doi/abs/10.1080/1362704X.2019.1687807
a) Mark O’Connell (2022) Sweetarts: The Politics of Exclusion, and Camping Out with Susan Sontag at the Met, Fashion Theory, 26:1, 27-65, DOI: 10.1080/1362704X.2019.1687807
15) Goodman, Elyssa. “‘Camp: Notes on Fashion’ Doesn't Forget Its Queer Roots.” them. Them., May 7, 2019. https://www(dot)them(dot)us/story/camp-notes-on-fashion-review.
https://www(dot)nytimes(dot)com/2017/08/23/arts/design/review-leslie-lohman-museum-of-gay-and-lesbian-art-found-queer-archaeology-queer-abstraction.html
16) Alexandria Deters (2017). “We Were There, We Are Here: Queer Collections and Their Repositories and Legacies (Master Thesis)”, Sotheby’s Institute of Art, New York, NY.
17) Nicole Robert (2014) Getting Intersectional in Museums, Museums & Social Issues, 9:1, 24-33, DOI: 10.1179/1559689314Z.00000000017
18) https://www(dot)artforum(dot)com/features/julia-bryan-wilson-on-queer-and-trans-artists-museums-250430/
19) https://books(dot)google(dot)com/books?id=F8WvAwAAQBAJ&lpg=PA245&ots=BwFyIHmMH_&dq=missing%20queer%20color%20art%20in%20museum%20collections&lr&pg=PA245#v=onepage&q&f=false
20) https://www(dot)museumsassociation(dot)org/museums-journal/opinion/2014/05/01052014-lgbt-centred-work-many-benefits/
21) https://museum(dot)bc(dot)ca/brain/gender-and-sexuality-toolkit-for-museums-heritage-and-cultural-institutions/
22) Business pros for including QPOC work in collections
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5. Topaz, C., Klingenberg, B., Turek, D., Heggeseth, B., Harris, P., Blackwood, J., … & Murphy, K. (2019). Diversity of artists in major u.s. museums. Plos One, 14(3), e0212852. https://doi(dot)org/10.1371/journal.pone.0212852
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7. Camarero, C., Garrido, M., & Vicente, E. (2011). How cultural organizations’ size and funding influence innovation and performance: the case of museums. Journal of Cultural Economics, 35(4), 247-266. https://doi(dot)org/10.1007/s10824-011-9144-4
8. Mottner, S. and Ford, J. (2005). Measuring nonprofit marketing strategy performance: the case of museum stores. Journal of Business Research, 58(6), 829-840. https://doi(dot)org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2003.06.004
9. Topaz, C., Klingenberg, B., Turek, D., Heggeseth, B., Harris, P., Blackwood, J., … & Murphy, K. (2019). Diversity of artists in major u.s. museums. Plos One, 14(3), e0212852. https://doi(dot)org/10.1371/journal.pone.0212852
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Previous Work and Preparation:
My prior engagements with curatorial projects spotlighted the glaring gaps in queer artists' representation. Through dialogues with museum enthusiasts, scholars, and artists, I gathered extensive anecdotal evidence highlighting this trend. Such firsthand experiences offer me a distinctive vantage point.
Power Mapping:
Stakeholder engagement is pivotal. Influential stakeholders like museum boards and media should be made aware of the ethical imperatives of inclusivity. Art historians and curators, integral to authenticity, need inclusion in dialogues. Above all, maintaining policy transparency will keep the public informed and involved.
Conclusion:
Museums, as history's sentinels, bear immense power. Their ethical responsibility mandates representation for all artists. By embracing inclusive policies and fostering collaborations with LGBTQ+ organizations, they can curate a more holistic narrative.
Expected Outcomes:
This research endeavors to:
1. Illuminate the ethical ramifications of museums' exclusionary tendencies.
2. Suggest tangible solutions for museums to redress this oversight.
3. Catalyze a discourse on the significance of inclusive representation in art domains.