Under the motto "MUSEUMS AND THE FUTURE," Doris Rothauer curated and organized a four-day museum tour in New York with the Foreign Trade Office of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber. With a group of 13 museum experts from Austria, we visited 10 museums and cultural institutions in New York and discussed future topics with senior staff. We also examined the current standards in accessibility and inclusion and explored innovative approaches to art education. The acronym DEIA – Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility – often represents clear strategies that are approached holistically.
In the Metropolitan Museum The welcoming culture, with which all visitors are equally welcome, is evident from the moment you enter. Wheelchairs are readily available for loan at the cloakroom, and the staff at the information deck in the center of the entrance hall are prepared and trained to accommodate all requests.
Large-print information booklets on special exhibitions for people with visual impairments are standard, as are Touch Tours and Touch Collection Sessions, which can be booked individually or in groups.
An audio guide, available free of charge via the Bloomberg Connects app, contains numerous specially created tours of the collection and collection rooms, from the “Director’s Highlights” tour to the “Spotlights”, which focus on a single work from the collection in order to place it in a contemporary context and discourse.
Digital accessibility is given considerable attention, not just through the app. Numerous other online resources allow people with diverse needs to choose from a wide range of digital offerings. Particularly fascinating are the stories of nurses about the healing effects of art on their patients or stories of blind artists describing their access to the MET collection.
Like the MET, many museums not only make their collections and educational resources accessible online, but also publish their respective DEIA strategies on their websites as part of their mission.
A commitment that is not only addressed to visitors, but is also cultivated and lived internally in employee culture and organizational development. We had the most impressive presentation in this regard at Morgan Library & Museum As part of its work on its overall strategy, the museum management launched a comprehensive, multi-phased DEIA process in 2017 and anchored it internally in the form of staff committees across four departments, which meet once a month.
The initial starting point was the company's own workforce. The results were a diverse selection process, equal and fair pay, anonymous employee surveys to assess their needs, space for mutual exchange and dialogue across hierarchies, and employee training.
In the area of outreach, the clear goal was to expand the conservative core audience and reach as many new target groups as possible through stronger collaboration between the marketing, curating, education, and research departments. For example, the proportion of Black visitors was tripled and inclusive outreach programs were developed for people with disabilities, who now make up 11% of the audience.
The collection is also part of the ongoing exploration of DEIA's themes. What do we collect, what do we exhibit, how can we represent marginalized voices in our program, how do we communicate our historical collection in a culturally respectful way, how do we need to rewrite certain narratives—these and other questions shape the internal discourse.
“DEIA is a lens on everything we do,” says Jessica Ludwig, Deputy Director The Morgan.
DEIA is similarly strategic in its core values and mission Brooklyn Museum anchored.
“We are not just a museum, we are a community place,” says Keonna Hendrick, Deputy Director of Learning and Social Impact. “Our mission is to bring people together through art and experiences that inspire celebration, compassion, courage and the will to act.”
The museum has defined four basic attitudes:
- We believe in the transformative power of art
- We inspire connection and belonging
- We support freedom of expression
- We embrace complexity
The comprehensive DEIA strategy is also embedded in these fundamental principles, and three departments are responsible for its implementation: Public Programs, Education, and Community Engagement. The basic principle is: "All our programs are for ALL people." This also means:
- Physical activities on site and personal contact and exchange are given more importance than online presence,
- Inclusion is lived in a very comprehensive sense, for all communities located in Brooklyn – “We have to stand up for our communities”,
- Activities also take place outside the museum, such as “Museum on Wheels,” an Airstream vehicle that travels to different communities.
An important and unmistakable aspect is the accessible design of exhibitions, which takes a wide variety of needs into account. Object labels, for example, are accessible via a touchscreen that provides further information and is designed to be accessible. A variety of seating options throughout the rooms is another design element that is consistent with visitor surveys. For example, a room with historical portraits was furnished with appropriately historicizing benches, and the paintings were hung unusually low, so that when seated, visitors are at eye level with the subjects.
The executive order issued by the current administration on January 20th "to end radical and wasteful government DEI programs and preferencing" has left most institutions unaffected, thanks to their largely financial independence from (federal) government funding. On the contrary, their values, missions, and strategies are being sharpened. We remain committed, We hear this everywhere, even under difficult conditions.