Black women artists accuse Wisconsin Museum of racism
4 Min Read
Artists accuse the triennial's organizer, the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, of "shameful mistreatment of the Black artists, contractors, and staffers throughout the exhibition."
-
Nearly empty walls of the exhibition 'Ain’t I a Woman?' at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art (Emily Leach)
The Madison Museum of Contemporary Art (MMoCA) has been accused of "institutional racist violence" by black women artists participating in this year's Wisconsin Triennial, a regional exhibition organized by the museum.
In response, approximately half of the 23 artists featured in the exhibition have withdrawn their works. The allegations were made public in an open letter signed by "the MMoCA 2022 Wisconsin Triennial collective artists." The show debuted in April and is scheduled to run until late October.
In the letter, which was published on August 19, they accused the museum of “shameful mistreatment of the Black artists, contractors, and staffers throughout the exhibition.” In a statement issued after the letter was published, the museum denied the allegations, calling them "inappropriate and unfounded."
"Ain't I A Woman?" exhibition charges
The exhibition is titled "Ain't I A Woman?" after a book by bell hooks. It is organized by independent curator Fatima Laster. The triennial draws on Black feminist writings such as Sojourner Truth and bell hooks. The triennial has been held at MMoCA for more than four decades, but this is the first edition with a stated emphasis on the work of Black women artists in Wisconsin.
The charges revolve around the vandalism of an installation created by Madison-based artist Lilada Gee. In June, the work was defaced with paint and glitter that were available in the exhibition gallery while it was installed in an unfinished state at the museum. The museum claimed that a family with children visiting the museum misinterpreted the work as an interactive piece.
Read next: "Human Zoo" Exhibition in Belgium Displays Inherent Racism in White Settler Colonialism
Prior to the incident, the artist claimed that she and another Black worker at the museum were harassed by a white employee of Overture Arts Center, a neighboring exhibition space, in March during the installation period. Madison365, a local publication, reported that the Overture employee was later fired. Gee, who was attempting to re-enter the building at the time of the altercation, decided to abandon the installation in response to the attack.
Director of MMoCA, Christina Brungardt, decided in July to remove Gee's work and close the gallery space where it was displayed. That gallery had also housed a number of other works by triennial artists.
The triennial participants who withdrew from the show claim that the museum did not support Gee and other artists. They also claim that the museum did not adequately promote the exhibition through its social media channels and that no programming was organized around the triennial.
“The attack, institutional response from both MMoCA and the Overture, and the persistent security concerns that followed are clear examples of institutional racist violence,” the letter says.
The artists also claim that they should have been paid more in a section titled "Museum Failures". The $250 individual honorarium payment made to triennial artists is less than the percentage of the museum's $3 million operating budget suggested by the artist labor group W.A.G.E.'s artist compensation guidelines.
Read next: Racism has John James Audubon’s name dropped from Society chapter
This was not the first time the museum's leadership was asked to address issues of race and equity in the run-up to the triennial. A group of 20 artists, curators, and activists sent a letter to the museum in support of Laster's appointment months before the incidents involving Gee and her work. That letter addressed to Brungardt and the museum's board of trustees centered on allegations of "internal dissent" regarding Laster's participation as curator.
In a statement, the executive committee of MMoCA’s board apologized for the damage caused to Gee’s work acknowledging that “the situation has caused her pain.”
The committee defended Brungardt's handling of the incident, claiming that he was able to "de-escalate" the situation involving the alleged vandalism by not involving police.
It also refuted accusations that the museum mishandled security measures for the exhibition, saying, “The 16-minute period during which hired gallery attendants were not in one part of the exhibit space does not equate to disrespect for the Black artists or guest curator of the exhibit, nor does it point to institutional racism.”
