Art made by women accounted for just 11 percent of all acquisitions by 26 prominent American museums and 14 percent of all exhibitions in the last decade, according to a New York Times article in which Associate Professor of Art History Susan Jarosi was quoted. As part of a “broader vision to address race and gender diversity gaps within the museum field,” the Baltimore Museum of Art will offer “a year of exhibitions and programs dedicated to the presentation of the achievements of female-identifying artists.”
In responding to this decision, Jarosi noted that the museum’s decision “takes full advantage of the ‘future is female’ trend in marketing art to the public.
“The museum clearly wants the public to know that it knows what feminists have been saying for half a century now — that issues of parity can only be addressed through structural change and institutional policies ...
“The biggest questions, then, are what perceptible or demonstrable impacts these initiatives will have on the institution going forward, she said.”
The Nov. 30 article is titled Museum Showcases a Neglected Segment of the Art World: Women.
