A Funder Collaboration Works to Diversify Art Museums

Last November, the Walton Family Foundation and Ford Foundation announced they committed $6 million over three years to support creative solutions to diversify curatorial and management staff at art museums across the United States.

Seven months later, an article in the Stanford Social Innovation Review looks at how this initiative is working towards the development of a more inclusive art museum leadership.

The effort funded 20 programs, including those at the Art Institute of Chicago; the Pérez Art Museum in Miami; the New Orleans Museum of Art, and the Oakland Museum of California.

"The primary focus of our collaboration is to support and develop qualified talent from underrepresented backgrounds. The goal of the initiative is to help American museums fulfill their promise of serving as inclusive 'anchor' institutions in their communities," write Jeff Dean, Marc Holley, and Drew Jacobs, who work at the Walton Family Foundation.

As Darren Walker, Ford’s president, said in a recent article on curators of color in The New York Times, “museums can’t be excellent if their staffs are not diverse.”

Read about this initiative's work here.

Image: The Studio Museum in Harlem / Facebook

The Diversifying Art Museum Leadership Initiative funds 20 programs in art museums, including The Studio Museum in Harlem.