Cover Letter Writing - Indiana University South Bend: Fill & Download for Free

Your question points out yet another way in which Black folks are discriminated against. The museums would take exception to that statement and would say something like, “We focus on the types of art our visitors want to see.”. Their visitors have been shown the same types of art (read “mostly art by white folks” here) for as long as museums have been operating. They have not seen quality exhibits of African art, which is remarkable and often full of brilliant color and is very different from what they are used to seeing. The many ways we are set up to ignore a huge segment of the population (the Black population) is an epidemic in its own right which we have been exposed to for many hundreds of years. It is going to take questions like yours to point out the “quiet ways” racial prejudice is common in our society. We must work to change these very harmful habits we experience every day. It is going to take a concerted effort to make the vital changes needed to truly impact the experience of Black folks, and the injustices and the changes we must make to our own thinking to effect change. I am a museum lover from way back and can say I have never thought about the lack of African art in museums and galleries in American museums and I suspect in most areas of the world. It will take a concerted effort to tell the museums what we wish to see. A letter writing campaign (at the very least) could be helpful. While you are thinking about it, take a moment and print out a few letters telling your local museums and the major museums of our country to make a concerted effort to include African art in their collections and put them in the mail.Something like:“I have visited your museum many times and have become aware that you routinely under represent the work of African and Black artists. I find this to be a disturbing fact and will curtail my visits to your museum in the future unless this is corrected. I want to see the work of Black artists and to learn more about the impact of Black art and the impact the lack of representation of Black art has on our society. It is time to rid ourselves of the “quiet racism” we experience in our society. Please add a significant amount of Black art to your permanent collection and plan a show of African art in the near future. Thank You, Your Name Here”Please put it in your own words but I think that pretty much covers it. Send a note like this to your local museums on a regular basis and encourage them to add Black art to their collections and show schedules.This is one of many hundreds of ways we are subtly taught to undervalue African and Black folks. Make a point of looking at the many ways this is shown to us. Make a point of confronting these “lessons in racism” wherever you encounter them. Mail lots of letters. Make lots of phone calls. Go Ahead - Act Up… Speak out… Help make the changes we need to better our society.UPDATE: I did further research online and came up with the following list of museums with current or past exhibits of African art:Museums in the United States with Collections of African ArtMuseums are listed alphabetically, by stateKey ** = major collectionsAlabamaBirminghamBirmingham Museum of ArtArizonaPhoenixHeard Museum of Anthropology and Primitive ArtSedonaSedona Arts CenterTempeArizona State University Art CollectionsCaliforniaBerkeleyPhoebe A. Hearst (formerly Robert H. Lowie) Museum of Anthropology, University of California **Los AngelesLos Angeles County MuseumFowler Museum of Cultural History, UCLA **San DiegoSan Diego Museum of ArtSan FranciscoFine Arts Museums of San FranciscoSanta AnaBowers MuseumSanta BarbaraUniversity Art Museum, University of California, Santa BarbaraStanfordIris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University formerly known as Stanford University Museum of ArtColoradoDenverDenver Art MuseumConnecticutNew HavenYale University Art GalleryDistrict of ColumbiaWashington, DCHoward University MuseumNational Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution **Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian InstitutionFloridaGainesvilleSamuel P. Harn Museum of Art **MiamiLowe Art Museum, University of MiamiGeorgiaAtlantaHigh Museum of Art **Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory UniversitySpelman CollegeHawaiiHonoluluHonolulu Academy of ArtsIllinoisChicagoArt Institute of Chicago **David and Alfred Smart Museum, University of ChicagoDuSable Museum of African-American HistoryField Museum of Natural History **May Weber Museum of Cultural ArtsNormalEwing Museum of Nations, Illinois State UniversityUrbana-ChampaignKrannert Art Museum, University of Illinois, Urbana-ChampaignSpurlock Museum of World Cultures, University of Illinois, Urbana-ChampaignIndianaBloomingtonIndiana University Art Museum **IndianapolisHerron Gallery at the Herron School of ArtIndianapolis Museum of Art **South BendSnite Museum of Art, University of Notre DameIowaIowa CityUniversity of Iowa Museum of Art **KansasChanuteMartin and Osa Johnson Safari MuseumNorth NewtonKauffman MuseumKentuckyLexingtonUniversity of Kentucky Art MuseumLouisianaNew OrleansAmistad Research Center, Tulane UniversitySouthern University at New OrleansNew Orleans Museum of Art **MarylandBaltimoreBaltimore Museum of Art **College ParkUniversity of Maryland Art GalleryMassachusettsAmherstUniversity of Massachusetts Art GalleryBostonMuseum of Fine Arts**CambridgePeabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology **SalemPeabody Museum of SalemMichiganAnn ArborUniversity of Michigan Museum of ArtDetroitDetroit Institute of Art **East LansingKresge Art Museum, Michigan State UniversityMinnesotaMinneapolisMinneapolis Institute of ArtsSt. PaulMinnesota Museum of ArtMissouriColumbiaUniversity of Missouri-Columbia Museum of Art & ArchaeologyKansas CityNelson-Atkins Museum of Art **St. LouisSt. Louis Art MuseumNew HampshireHanoverHood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College **New JerseyMontclairMontclair State CollegeNewarkNewark Museum**PrincetonPrinceton University Art MuseumTenaflySociety of African MissionsNew MexicoSante FeMuseum of International Folk ArtNew YorkBrooklynBrooklyn Museum **Brooklyn Children's MuseumBuffaloBuffalo Society of Science **New York CityAmerican Museum of Natural History **Metropolitan Museum of Art, Michael C. Rockefeller Wing**Schomberg Center for Research in Black CulturePurchaseThe Neuberger Museum of Art, State University of New YorkQueensQueens MuseumRochesterUniversity of Rochester Memorial Art GallerySyracuseSyracuse University School of ArtNorth CarolinaChapel HillWilliam Hayes Ackland Memorial Art Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel HillCharlotteMint MuseumDurhamNasher Museum of Art, Duke UniversityGreensboroMattye Reed African Heritage Center, North Carolina A & T State UniversityRaleighNorth Carolina Museum of ArtOhioCincinnatiCincinnati Art MuseumClevelandCleveland Museum of Art**Cleveland Museum of Natural HistoryCleveland State University, Afro-American Cultural CenterDaytonDayton Art InstituteToledoToledo Museum of ArtWilberforceNational Afro-American Museum and Cultural CenterOklahomaOklahoma CityKirkpatrick CenterStillwaterOklahoma State University Museum of ArtOregonPortlandPortland Art MuseumPennsylvaniaCarlisleDickinson CollegeLincoln UniversityMerionBarnes FoundationPhiladelphiaUniversity of Pennsylvania, University Museum **PittsburghCarnegie Institute, Department of Fine ArtsRhode IslandBristolHaffenreffer Museum, Brown UniversitySouth CarolinaOrangeburgStanback Museum & Planetarium, South Carolina State CollegeTennesseeMemphisUniversity of Memphis Art MuseumNashvilleFisk University GalleriesTexasDallasDallas Museum of Fine Arts **Fort WorthKimbell Art MuseumLubbockTexas Tech University MuseumHoustonMenil Collection**Museum of Fine ArtsVirginiaCharlottesvilleUniversity of VirginiaFairfaxGeorge Mason UniversityHamptonHampton University Museum **Richmond Virginia Museum of Fine Arts ** Washington Seattle Seattle Art Museum ** Wisconsin Madison Elvehjem Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee Milwaukee Public Museum