DEI... Just a Façade?

What real support looks like

Ever since I started writing about women artists, I’ve noticed a phenomenon in museums: giving women and artists of color the “lobby commission,” a very visible installation of work made especially for the space, often seen or accessed for free. (I even wrote a very early LTH blog post on the subject, calling them “asterisk exhibitions”).

These projects are, in theory, great. They give an (often) young artist exposure, and the chance for their work to be collected by a museum (though this is by no means a guarantee).

They are not so great when you head up the stairs to the main exhibitions and permanent collection and realize what a leap it would be for the lobby artist to make it to these big leagues. If upstairs familiar (white, male) names are being fêted, while little risk is being taking in rewriting narratives of art history to include diverse voices, you know you’ve got a hobby commission on your hands.

hobby commission: (n.) a feeble effort by a museum to promote its commitment to DEI by commissioning a woman or artist of color to make work— to be displayed front and center in its lobby— while in its main galleries it dedicates little time to displaying, researching, or collecting women artists and artists of color

These installations symbolize a desire for easy solutions to entrenched problems: minimal budget, minimal work for your staff, minimal scholarship and research— maximum exposure. They send the message “we care about representation, diversity, equity, and inclusion,” while being little more than a photo op.