Pie chart courtesy of the American Alliance of Museums
Are art museums far too white? Well, yes. According to the American Alliance of Museums, about 80% of museum workers are white, and 50% are men. Okay, so it’s clear to see there’s not a lot of diversity in the field. In order to help change this situation, the Andrew K. Mellon Foundation has initiated a two-million-dollar diversity fellowship to help students from underprivileged backgrounds receive hands-on curatorial training in major art museums across the United States.
Chicago-based critic Jason Foumberg just published a pretty thorough report on this fellowship in advance of its debut next year at the Art Institute of Chicago; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (Kansas City); the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; and the High Museum (Atlanta). No New York institutions are involved. Outlining how the program will work, Foumberg writes:
The pilot program establishes a paid fellowship for twenty college undergraduates. That’s four students in each participating city. In addition to the one-on-one mentoring and academic advising with established curators, the students will receive $10,000 each summer, for four summers, to work a museum …read more
Source: Art Fag City