Asheville Art Museum to host interdisciplinary symposium on diversity in small museums

Announcement from Asheville Art Museum:

The Asheville Art Museum invites the community to participate in the virtual Interdisciplinary Symposium 2020: Diversity in Small/Midsize Museums on Saturday, October 17 from 10am to 1pm. The program features keynote speaker Darin Waters, PhD, and presentations by four undergraduate and graduate students. 

The symposium reflects on questions of importance to small to midsize public institutions around the country: How is diversity defined? What is the importance of diversity for museums, science centers, historic houses, and other collecting institutions? How have they addressed questions of diversity? For this convening, undergraduate and graduate students present short presentations that consider these questions and more from a variety of perspectives. The symposium will be held on Zoom, and is free for Museum Members and a $10 donation is suggested for non-members. Space is limited; attendees can register at ashevilleart.org. 

Presentations include: 

• Keynote: Darin Waters, PhD, UNC Asheville’s executive director of community engagement, assistant professor of history, and special assistant to the chancellor for community outreach and engagement 
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• Joel Crothers, BA candidate, Appalachian State University: “The Importance of Collections in Local Museums” 
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• Megan Flattley, PhD candidate, Tulane University: “Diversity Through Engagement: A Community-Driven Exhibition at the Newcomb Art Museum” 
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• Lydia See, MFA candidate, Western Carolina University: “Decolonizing the Archive for Museum Diversity: Engaging Marginalized Narratives within Collections for Wider Representation in Museums and Archives” 
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• Virginia Weaver, MA/PhD candidate, UNC Greensboro: “Difficult Transitions: Curating Transsexuality, and the Purpose of Uncertainty” 

This symposium is sponsored by the Henry Luce Foundation and is presented in conjunction with the Museum’s exhibition Intersections in American Art, and in partnership with UNC Asheville’s Seventh African Americans in Western North Carolina & Southern Appalachia Conference. 

About the Asheville Art Museum 

The Museum’s galleries, the Museum Store, and Perspective Café are open with limited capacity. Art PLAYce, our intergenerational makerspace, and the Frances Mulhall Achilles Art Research Library remain temporarily closed. The Museum welcomes visitors Wednesday through Monday from 11am to 6pm, with late-night Thursdays from 11am to 9pm. The Museum is closed on Tuesdays. General admission is always free for Museum Members, UNC Asheville students, and children under 6; $15 per adult; $13 per senior (65+); and $10 per student (child 6–17 or degree-seeking college students with valid ID). Visitors may become Members at the welcome desk during their visit or online at ashevilleart.org/membership. The Museum is also offering both onsite and virtual programs and a full calendar can be found at ashevilleart.org/events. 

Established by artists and incorporated in 1948, the Asheville Art Museum is committed to being a vital force in community and individual development and to providing lifelong opportunities for education and enrichment through the visual arts. The Museum’s mission is to engage, enlighten, and inspire individuals and enrich community through dynamic experiences in American art of the 20th and 21st centuries. The Museum is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, accredited by the American Alliance of Museums which receives support for its programs from Museum Members; other generous individuals, corporations, businesses, and foundations; the North Carolina Arts Council; the Institute of Museum and Library Services; the National Endowment for the Arts; and the National Endowment for the Humanities.