A Message for Our CommunityA Message for Our Community

A Message for Our Community

A Message for Our Community
Jun, 03, 2020

Community

A Message for Our Community

Dear Phoenix Art Museum Friends and Family,

Phoenix Art Museum grieves, with our community, for the brutal deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, and countless Black men and women who have lost their lives to the senseless violence caused by systemic racism.

We mourn with Black families who have lost sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, each the victims of persistent, unchecked brutality at the hands of those who swore to protect them.

We condemn the culture of white supremacy that has plagued our nation for centuries.

But it is not enough.

It is not enough to grieve, to mourn, to condemn. It is not enough for us, nor any cultural institution, to simply mute ourselves in an effort to provide a temporary space for Black voices. We recognize that, as part of the larger art world, cultural institutions must address decades-old inequities that prevent us from being strong allies to Black women and men, to people of color, to Indigenous peoples, to the LGBTQIA+ community, and to women. We have not done enough to use our incredible privilege and platform in ways that could impact real change.

As we navigate this period of tumult amidst the profound impact of COVID-19, we resist the temptation to dispense empty platitudes, and instead strive for robust action. We seek to understand and examine our own complicity in structural racism. With the full support of new leadership and the Board of Trustees, we commit to identifying, designing, and executing upon real, actionable solutions to dismantle systemic racism within our own institution, including in the areas of exhibitions, collections, employment practices, board recruitment and training, community programming, and marketing and communications. We will listen to the feedback of our community, and will work to ensure that Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and LGBTQIA+ voices, along with the voices of other underrepresented groups, are not ignored but centered.

We will be better. We will do better. We begin today.

With gratitude,
Your Phoenix Art Museum

#BlackLivesMatter
#AmplifyingMelanatedVoices
#MuseumsAreNotNeutral

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