Curatorial Considerations of Identity in Art Museums: Examining Equity and Inclusion Practices From Exhibiting Artist Perspectives

Abstract

This dissertation is a critical intervention of curatorial practices focusing on theperspectives of living visual artists’ (hereby “artists”), their identities, and their experiences with museum art exhibitions and their curators. Its design follows a theoretical framework and analytical methodology based on intersectionality (Collins & Bilge, 2020) subscribing to the majority-inclusivity principle (Staunæs, 2003) and is conceptually augmented by the Dimensions of Curation Competing Values Model (Love & Villeneuve, 2023). The research serves dual objectives: to provide a platform for artists to be heard and understood, and to consider the evolving position of the curator and the challenges that practitioners face. The methodology centered on narrative inquiry using semi-structured, in-depth interviews and written reflections from five artists across the United States who have exhibited in multiple art museums. The main areas include understanding the artists’ social, political, and cultural worldviews concerning power and oppression, how their identities and artworks were considered in their exhibition experiences, and their relationships with curators or similar museum staff. Autoethnographic experiences and reflections of the author as a practicing art museum curator, or curator-researcher, were incorporated to further contextualize data. The artists’ stories revealed how their identities can be marginalized, tokenized, exploited, and erased in exhibitions, leading to a call for curatorial reflexivity and self-policing. They helped inform the current state of curatorial practice and how power, control, expertise, trust, communication, ethics, and competing values influence relationships between curators and artists as well as museums and the communities they serve.