New York City Officials Demand Diversity in Museums, Will Remove Funds Otherwise

MOMA” by Liza licensed under CC BY 2.0

Source: New York Times

Last month, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announced as part of the city’s cultural plan, that funding for arts institutions would be linked to their efforts to diversify their leadership.

“This will be a factor in funding decisions by the city going forward,” de Blasio had announced.

Data collected by the New York Times indicates that the number of people of color serving on boards and in leadership positions are far fewer, compared to the number of white people.

The city said it would also consider diversity in gender, sexual orientation, age, and whether a person has a disability.

However increasing racial diversity has not been successful in many institutions.

Data collected by NY’s Department of Cultural Affairs indicates that while 67% of New York City residents identified as people of color, less than 40% of employees at cultural institutions did so. Furthermore, only 26% of senior staff identified as people of color.

Approximately 33 museums and arts groups will submit plans for diversity and inclusion in fall 2018, to be examined by the city, which currently distributes more than half of $188.1M in funding to these organizations.

Read full story at: New York Times

Arts Media & Culture, News
Arts, Media & Culture, News