Decanonizing the Gallery: Case Studies from University Museums

Sarah Magnatta, Assistant Professor, Global Contemporary Art at the University of Denver School of Art and Art History, and I are part of the College Art Association Museum Committee and the team organizing this panel for the 2011 College Art Association virtual conference (no travel involved). We would love to hear from our museum professional friends who could take part. Feel free to share and pass this information along:

Please consider submitting a paper to the College Art Association Museum Committee panel for the 2021 online CAA conference.

Decanonizing the Gallery: Case Studies from University Museums

As classrooms address inequities and institutional biases inherent in the art historical canon, museums and galleries are rethinking best practices for presenting canonical works. If the current art historical canon – along with the celebrity art market machine and wealthy collectors – is indeed forging a narrative of quality and significance, what opportunities are at hand to reframe the canon and at what cost? What can we make of institutions that contribute significantly to the shaping of the canon, such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York, which has inspired the content of modern art history survey textbooks? MoMA juxtaposes multiple Pablo Picassos with one Faith Ringgold in a single room: does this reinforce the centrality of Picasso’s work and marginalize Ringgold, as some critics claim, or does it achieve the goal of decanonization and for whom?

Participants on this panel will examine strategies of decanonization used by museums on the front lines of this discussion: museums at academic institutions with missions of diversity and inclusion. We seek exhibition and programming case studies from academic museums that have used or will employ decanonizing strategies. What have or could academic museums or galleries do to rethink the art history canon, however this is defined, and its history of presentation? Does rethinking the so-called canonical works in university collections lead to more inclusive and accessible spaces? Conversely, how have these programs or exhibitions been limiting?

Instructions for paper submissions can be found at collegeart.org. You can also contact Sarah Magnatta at [email protected] with any questions.