Newfields Director Charles Venable Has Resigned After Posting a Job Ad That Sparked Allegations of Racism
The museum came under fire for describing its traditional core, white art audience.”
Newfields director Charles Venable. Photo courtesy of Newfields.
Charles Venable has resigned as director and CEO of Newfields after the Indianapolis museum posted a job listing that sparked widespread criticism.
The post said the candidate for the director job should seek to “attract a broader and more diverse audience while maintaining the museum’s traditional core, white art audience.”
After immediately coming under fire, the museum apologized for the language and edited the description to refer instead to a “traditional core art audience.” Venable told the
His departure comes in the wake of a job posting, since corrected, that described the museum’s core audience as “white,” and amid criticism from a trustee, some staff and local artists.
The president of the The Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields resigned on Wednesday, days after the institution apologized for posting a job listing seeking a new director who would maintain the museum’s “traditional, core, white art audience.” The museum's board of trustees and board of governors said in a public letter that Charles Venable's resignation was “necessary for Newfields to become the cultural institution our community needs and deserves.” In the job posting, the museum said it was seeking a director to “attract a broader and more diverse audience while maintaining the Museum’s traditional, core, white art audience.”
The Indianapolis Museum of Art is looking for a new director. And in a regrettable job posting, it said that person would be working to maintain the museum's "traditional,.