Art Museum Collections: A Lack of Diversity
Gender and Ethnic Representation in Major Museums
A groundbreaking study published in the journal PLoS One has revealed a startling lack of diversity in the collections of major U.S. art museums. The study analyzed more than 40,000 works of art in 18 prominent museums and found that 85% of artists featured are white and 87% are men.
This lack of diversity has been a concern for decades. In 1989, the feminist collective Guerrilla Girls famously asked, “Do Women Have To Be Naked To Get Into the Met. Museum?” Their provocative question highlighted the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s lack of female representation.
Methodology of the Study
The recent study by Chad Topaz of Williams College and his colleagues is the first large-scale investigation of cultural institutions’ artistic diversity. They created lists of approximately 10,000 artists represented in the permanent collections of museums such as the Met, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the National Gallery of Art.
To determine the gender and ethnicity of the artists, the researchers recruited workers via Amazon’s Mechanical Turk crowdsourcing platform. Each set of names went through at least five rounds of classification, and responses were cross-checked to reach a consensus.
Findings: White Men Dominate
The researchers found that white men dominated the sample, making up a staggering 75.7% of the final data pool. White women trailed behind at 10.8%, followed by Asian men (7.5%) and Hispanic men (2.6%). All other groups represented in terms of both gender and ethnicity were recorded in proportions of less than 1%.
Disparities Among Museums
While some museums fared better than others, the disparities in representation were still significant. For example, African-American artists constitute 10.6% of artists in the Atlanta High Museum of Art’s collection, compared to just 1.2% across all museums studied. The Los Angeles’ Museum of Contemporary Art boasts a percentage of works by Hispanic artists roughly three times the national average.
However, other museums fell short. The National Gallery of Art had more than 97% of artists in its collection who were white, and 90% were male. The Museum of Modern Art in New York City, despite focusing on a period in art history with more diversity, had only 11% of female artists in its collection.
Limitations of the Study
The study has some limitations. The authors only included artists whose identities could be determined with near certainty, omitting anonymous creatives from centuries past, including those likely to have been people of color.
Collection Goals and Diversity
Interestingly, the study found little correlation between a museum’s stated collection goals and its level of overall diversity. This suggests that museums can increase diversity in their collections without changing their focus on specific time periods and geographic regions.
Call for Action
The lack of diversity in art museum collections is a persistent problem that needs to be addressed. Museums have a responsibility to represent the diversity of their communities and to make art accessible to all.
By increasing the representation of women, people of color, and other underrepresented groups in their collections, museums can create a more inclusive and equitable art world for everyone.
