In light of recent revelations surrounding the toxic and insensitive job description for the position of Director at IMA (Newfields), which included a line stating that one of the new director’s duties would be to, “maintain the Museum’s traditional, core, white art audience…”, we would like to express solidarity with community members and museum employees and join them in condemning the behavior of institutional leadership, including present director Dr. Charles Venable. Further, we would like to convey our support for meaningful and substantial change at an institutional level, both within the realm of cultural heritage management and beyond. In this, we agree with concerned Newfields staff, who assert that cultural and art management work “must be done for and in partnership with our community.”
We acknowledge that, although we are not directly affiliated with IMA (Newfields), we do possess materials that were donated to our collection by the museum. We would like to reemphasize that our mission from the very beginning has been to make classical materials, heritage, and history accessible to everyone. We recognize that we face an especially difficult challenge as scholars of the ancient world. We must reckon with our complicated, messy history and dedicate ourselves to constantly interrogating the relationship between the subject we love and the way it has been used in the past to support ideologies that oppress and silence others.
We invite you to lend your support to the employees of Newfields and add your signature to the petition from community members, allies, and advocates who demand change.
Further reading:
- Days of Future Passed at Newfields
- Pharos: Doing Justice to the Classics
- Reclaiming the Ancient World
- Reshaping the Field
AMCA Lab Co-Directors: Dr. Lynne Kvapil and Dr. Christopher Bungard
AMCA Lab Interns: Lilly Hinckley, Savannah Marchino, and Sophie Graham