MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee Art Museum has been open again for about two weeks, but they have been hard at work in the four months they were closed.
They are opening up about an initiative that has been in the works for about 18 months: Racial Equity. Leaders want to build a stronger relationship with the African American and Latinx community.
Marcelle Polednik, the museum’s director says they are on the cusp of announcing who will fill a newly created position: Curator of community dialogue, “That is a position that we are putting in the highest seat of power in our leadership team.”
For the foreseeable future, the director says there will be a new focus on the art the museum collects, “To only focus on underrepresented artists for purchases and gifts to the collection.”
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Corey Fells says he was an artist in residence for six months at the museum, “I was able to take photos of families that usually don't get the opportunity to take family photos around Christmas time.”
Fells believes this is an important move by museum leaders, “It’s going to make leaps and bound in the art community here in Milwaukee because a lot of black and brown youth feel that they're underrepresented at the museum.”
The museum also plans to exclusively add underrepresented artists of color to their collection that are either purchased or donated for the museum.
Click here for hours and social distance guidelines the Milwaukee Art Museum has right now.
Corey Fells will be part of an event next month with Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design as part of their EPIC HUMANS series, a weekly meet up to chat with artists and professionals about their work or what they are passionate about. This is taking place Friday, Aug. 28 from 11:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Google Hangouts. Click here to learn more.