Provided by Newfields
A Newfields job posting in February included language that the ideal candidate attract a more diverse audience, while maintaining the museum’s traditional, core white audience. That was met with public accusations of elitism and racism.
Within days, Newfields s president resigned and leadership publicly admitted errors and vowed to implement change. Then Darrianne Christian was elected as the new chair of the organization s board of trustees. She is the first Black woman to lead the board.
WFYI’s Terri Dee spoke with Christian about the organization s response to the outrage and her vision that Newfields become known to be a welcoming place for all visitors.
More Than Insensitive : The architecture community responds to the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields job post archinect.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from archinect.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The Timesâ Sarah Bahr, who is based in Indianapolis.
However, any attempts by the museum to explain by this point were in vain.
A petition addressing âartists, cultural leaders, advocates, and allies against racismâ began circulating on Feb. 14, calling for signatures. The petition stated that the wording of the job description âblatantly detailed the way in which systemic racism permeatedâ Indianapolis.Â
Among the demands of the petition â just like the open letter from the group of Newfields staff and board members â was for Venableâs resignation. By 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 17, there were 2031 signatures on the petition.
Concrete steps
Feb 17, 2021 / 10:35 PM EST
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) Newfields’ president has resigned after a controversial job listing that explained one of the job duties as “maintaining the Museum’s traditional, core, white art audience.”
The boards of trustees and governors for the Indianapolis nature and arts museum said in an announcement that it accepted the resignation of Charles Venable on Wednesday morning.
The most recent tax filing on the Newfields webpage shows Venable made more than $750,000 per year. The filing covers July 1, 2018, to June 30, 2019, and was signed and filed in May 2020.
A former associate curator at the museum named Kelli Morgan resigned in 2020 after experiencing what she said was a toxic and racist environment. Morgan said these changes which came after a restructuring of the leadership announced in early February make her feel hopeful about the future.