Curators, Community, and Institutional Relevance

Over the decades, art professionals across the globe have maintained an active whisper network. Fearing retaliation in a work culture built on relationships, they quietly share valid allegations of abuse and discrimination among themselves; many choose to either leave their positions or create their own pockets of care. Emerging art professionals navigate these environments that may feel unsafe or unwelcoming, highlighting the urgent need for systemic change. I, too, have stood at the edge of rooms where essential art staff are dismissed and mistreated, witnessing firsthand the challenges within the workplace and the fear of retaliation that keeps individuals from speaking up. Workplace abuse, discrimination, and job insecurity remain critical issues that deserve greater attention, and it is unclear how, or whether, institutions will create safe spaces that protect and support the voices of creative professionals. As DEI initiatives are halted or abolished, institutions must take responsibility and foster environments where artists and arts workers outside of the privileged center are supported, valued, and able to thrive. 

The traditional museum structure places a board of directors as the head of a hierarchy with museum director(s) as the neck and its departments—curatorial, educational, operations, development, and more—forming the body. Curatorial activism, alongside the concept of the commons, offers a path to meaningfully reorganize these outdated power structures and, in doing so, expand art’s role in shaping the world around us. Applying models of community care in the art world can serve as a rejection of these exclusionary practices and a scarcity mindset that pits art workers against one another. It means prioritizing mutual support, fair labor conditions, shared spaces, and ethical institutional practices over prestige and profit.  

Art institutions are not neutral and never have been. By valuing collaboration over competition, transparency over gatekeeping, and “common” resources over hoarded power, both the community and the global art sphere can become a space where artists and administrators thrive. These relationships between artists, curators, and art institutions should challenge us to reconsider the role of institutions today: Does their prestige come at the expense of the people who sustain them?

In his opening remarks, ICI Executive and Artistic Director Renaud Proch spoke to the interconnected ecosystems that sustain artists and the critical position of curators as a vital tool for reimagining societal structures. The discussions during the conference considered, in many ways, how shifts in the curatorial and museum fields over the past decade have shaped present work conditions.

Curating and the Commons encouraged participants to explore broader definitions of art practices, community engagement, and globally interconnected cultural landscapes. The term “commons” refers to the British Commons, a period in history when shared social goods and resources were accessible to all members of the community. In their influential 2013 text The Undercommons, Fred Moten and Stefano Harney repurpose the idea of the commons as a conceptual framework for resistance, solidarity, mutual aid, and collective freedom. Since then, scholars and artists have further reframed the commons as a curatorial tool that broadens the role of art and art professionals to include activists. In their 2018 book Curatorial Activism: Towards an Ethics of Curating, Maura Reilly and Lucy Lippard define curatorial activism as “subverting Eurocentrism in the museum or gallery.” Within well-funded cultural institutions, they argue, white supremacist culture often operates as a silent partner, and creativity can be a powerful force in challenging systems of domination. Curatorial work, therefore, is not limited to the gallery but can extend into broader conversations about equity, representation, and sustainability.

Across the globe, new curatorial models accentuate the importance of building communities and alliances. In his keynote lecture, curator Miguel A. López reflected on his past decade of artistic projects and curatorial interventions within Latin America. López challenged the concept of the curator as a celebrity and questioned the notion that success is defined by neoliberal values and the global market, exploratory inquiries that later became part of his co-curation of the 2025 Toronto Biennial. López also charted the relationships in institutions between curation, activism, and care, through his own experiences of Latin American arts initiatives. For example, he noted the gender dynamics at play during his time as co-director of TEOR/éTica alongside current directors Lola Malavasi, Paula Piedra, and Daniela Morales. Since 2018, the Costa Rica-based visual arts organization has operated with collective leadership and prioritized the health and wellness of staff over traditional exhibition models. Yet López found he was often treated as a lead over his colleagues as the only male co-director, and to combat this dynamic, he stepped away from the organization.

A slide from Miguel A. López’s keynote lecture, describing the shift in organizational structure from hierarchical to collective directorship.

I felt inspired by López’s willingness to set ego aside and put words and theory into action. The invited speakers of Curating and the Commons all offered concrete strategies and real-world examples for improving conditions in the art world. Curatorial activism emerged as a powerful force alongside the notion of the commons. It is dependent on those in positions of power using that power to uplift and benefit marginalized groups, not because it looks good, but because it is a morally ethical action.

Institutions

Beyond the efforts of individuals, institutions could model healthy professional cultures that benefit the marginalized artists and administrators they employ. Instead, a tense atmosphere lingers in the air. Many institutions breed competitiveness amongst art workers, maintaining a culture of scarcity over abundance, placing funders ahead of functional staff. The white supremacist culture of institutions leads them to hoard power, avoid accountability, and encourage individualism. 

The Art Workers’ Coalition was formed in April of 1969 after the Greek artist Takis protested the display of his 1960 sculpture Tele-Machine at MoMA in New York City as part of the exhibit The Machine as Seen at the End of the Mechanical Age. Asserting that he did not consent to the use of the artwork, Takis staged a removal of his sculpture from the exhibit “as a symbolic act to stimulate a more meaningful dialogue between museum directors, artists, and the public,” and with his fellow demonstrators, relocated the artwork to MoMA’s Sculpture Garden. They then refused to move until Takis was allowed to speak to director Bates Lowry; following this collective action, MoMA was forced to respect the rights of the artist, and the sculpture (gifted to the museum by patrons John and Dominique de Menil) was removed from the exhibit. Over the following year, Takis joined forces with other artists and arts workers—including Hans Haacke, Carl Andre, and John Perreault—to form the Art Workers’ Coalition, a non-hierarchical organization seeking to “redefine for a modern period the question of what the reality of art consists in.”  The AWC went on to protest the lack of transparency in art institutions and pushed museums to be accountable for their roles in political oppression around the world.

Takis's action in The New York Times, 1969.

Artist Carl Andre's open letter on behalf of Art Workers' Coalition, 1969.

An art gallery director once told me that unionizing gallery or museum employees would lead to the erosion of the art sphere. For change to happen, however, we must be willing to think beyond the structures and rules left behind by previous generations and, like Takis and the Art Workers Coalition, dare to imagine new methods of resistance. Otherwise, we are telling countless aspiring and current art workers to accept hierarchical abuse in the name of art. Trade union representation offers crucial support for art workers, helping them advocate for fair conditions across the cultural sector and strengthening the future of the institution.

Today, the internet offers a platform for visibility for workers in the creative and cultural sectors, who are often precariously employed and spread across various institutions. Online organizing helps to surface issues that might otherwise remain hidden, from unsafe working conditions to inequitable pay structures, and further the reach of activism beyond “traditional” workplace issues.

Despite winning a majority vote, the studio has yet to recognize the union formally. Pewabic Workers United’s online presence continues to provide a critical spotlight toward obtaining recognition. As institutions increasingly rely on public image and community goodwill, digital advocacy has become not just a supplement to union action, but a central tactic in the fight for fair labor practices. 

Sustained public-facing pressure can, and does, produce outcomes for organizers in cultural institutions. In July 2020, past and present employees of the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD) launched MOCAD Resists, a now-defunct website that detailed staff members' personal experiences at the museum. An online petition was submitted to the Board of Directors detailing the “toxic work environment [that] reinforces racial hierarchies” put in place by former Director and Senior Curator Elysia Borowy-Reeder. I was among the signers of the petition. Throughout 2017, I was employed as a Café/Bar employee and then as an Exhibitions Intern, where I witnessed and heard the many ways the (former) director disregarded employees. 

Over the years, numerous incidents led to high turnover for full-time positions. Within six months during 2019-2020, three Black curators either resigned or were laid off from the Museum, including Larry Ossei-Mensah and Maceo Keeling (MOCAD’s second Ford Foundation Curatorial Fellow, who resigned after only three months). When Jova Lynne was promoted to Susanne Feld Hilberry Senior Curator in November of 2019, following Ossei-Mensah’s departure, Elysia Borowy-Reeder quietly absorbed the title (and raise increase) of Chief Curator for herself. In several individual letters of complaint, reviewed by Hyperallergic, former workers at the museum recount instances of violent verbal outbursts, racist micro-aggressions toward staff and vendors of color, tokenization, retaliation, and intimidatory tactics by Borowy-Reeder. Staff members also accused Borowy-Reeder of mismanaging the COVID-19 crisis, alleging that laid-off employees (who were all but six full-time staff members during the shutdown period) were pressured to work while collecting unemployment benefits, rather than remaining on the museum payroll.

In their letters, MOCAD Resists called for: Borowy-Reeder to step down as Executive Director; urged for a national search prioritizing BIPOC candidates committed to Detroit, and demanded structural reforms that included an employee-elected Board seat; greater racial and economic diversity on the Board; rehiring of former staff whose positions were eliminated; and stronger parental leave and support for working families. This was organizing done not in opposition to, but in service of, the creation of a stronger and more accountable institution. As of October 2020, the museum has dedicated itself to all requests by employees. A vocal member of MOCAD Resists, curator Jova Lynne, alleged that Borowy-Reeder underpaid local vendors of color, threatened critics/community members, and pressured staff to inflate diversity data in grant proposals. Lynne returned to the institution in April 2023 as MOCAD’s first Artistic Director and co-leads the museum alongside Marie Madison-Patton, the Chief Operating Officer.

This disregard for art workers creates fractures within art communities, where we are expected to prioritize the institution above all else. Yet in an email interview, Monique Brinkman-Hill, Executive Director of the South Side Community Art Center in Chicago, offered a perspective on what institutions should stand for. In her view, art will always be relevant to communities; it holds the honor of capturing the history and legacy of a neighborhood. For most of its history since 1940, the South Side Community Art Center has been a small arts organization; over the last five years, the Center has been able to expand and grow, allowing for additional employment opportunities and programming. There, I held a curated archival exhibit that centered my research on a Black Bottom Detroit photography studio, Adler & Adler, in July of 2024, at the South Side Community Art Center. Brinkman-Hill highlights the Center's crucial role in nurturing Chicago’s African American artists, citing its mission to conserve, preserve, and promote the legacy and future of Black art and artists while educating the community on the value of art and culture. “The […] goal is to hire qualified individuals and let them thrive.” Brinkman-Hill asserts.

Installation view, Adler and Adler, South Side Community Art Center, 2024. (Photo: Clay Kerr Studio)

Community

It’s important to remember that our cultural institutions are made of people, and successful resistance is dependent on community care and trust. Community care in the art world is a form of curatorial activism in its own right, which can be as simple as coming together to engage openly and meaningfully. Art is meant to build community, to inspire people, and to allow access to the stories that make up the collective. Through art and study as acts of resistance, we can learn from the many ways people have already challenged institutions.

To learn how these values are operating in non-traditional institutions, I spoke with saylem m. celeste and Triniti Watson of Midnight Care Collective about their goals and the relationship between community and art. saylem m. celeste is a Detroit-born Care Practitioner who uses art, conversation, and sound for collective liberation and healing, and was a 2022–23 Artist in Residence at Detroit Justice Center, where they met Triniti Watson, a writer and community facilitator based in Michigan. celeste founded Midnight Care Collective (MCC) as a Detroit-based Black feminist and transformative justice group dedicated to supporting communal well-being through creative methods. For MCC, community care is not solely an aspect of art, but an essential element that fosters collaboration and shared experiences. The collective emphasizes that care and art should not be transactional, but an intrinsic part of life and a direct means of building connection and making clear commitments to each other. 

Midnight Care Collective, left: Triniti Watson, right: saylem m. celeste

Since February of 2023, MCC has held a series of community activations centered around the intuitive resilience of Detroiters and examining the role communal care plays in our collective resistance. These efforts emphasize social justice movement work, communal relationships, and healing beyond limiting ways of being, as well as meaningfully moving beyond traditional institutional spaces. celeste's experiences in environmental science, combined with their disillusionment with traditional art institutions, especially during the crises of 2020, motivated them to seek a more community-centered approach to art. Here, I see my own experiences reflected. From 2017 to 2020, I worked as a farmhand at an urban commercial farm. I left my position only because of the intense emotions I felt during the George Floyd protests while working on white-owned land. Participating in the protests and witnessing how little the institutions in majority-Black cities spoke up was disturbing beyond words.

The challenges that I, like many other employees of traditional museum institutions, faced were reflected in a lack of institutional support for local artists and staff, the absence of supportive (or non-existent) HR departments, and a culture that prioritizes capitalism over collaboration. celeste believes that building a trustworthy community requires a commitment to transformation, patience, and truly seeing and supporting each other. They have faced challenges related to navigating the politics of art spaces, where the focus is often on individual success rather than collective growth and support. "Institutions are not neutral; they are often tied to power dynamics and can perpetuate white supremacist culture," celeste remarks. “It's essential to recognize this and seek  alternatives that prioritize community and mutual support.” Midnight Care Collective has found solidarity in projects such as the Free Black Women's Library in New York and the Black School in New Orleans. The pedagogy and practices of these organizations focus on community and shared values rather than just the outputs. Art institutions, celeste suggests, could learn from these models and shift their practices to actively dismantle oppressive structures while prioritizing inclusivity and genuinely engaging with the communities they serve. 

Resisting institutional power requires not just reimagining how cultural spaces can operate, but taking action behind theory. Traditional museum hierarchies uphold values that exclude, rather than empower, discourage accountability, and isolate individuals rather than encourage collective progress. Yet, curatorial activism and the commons offer alternative models that center community care, trust, and shared abundance. Cultural organizations are made up of people, and their success depends on prioritizing those who sustain them. These relationships form the foundation of vibrant and responsive art communities. More than an object or an institution, art is a social language, a tool for building community, and a means of collective storytelling. By engaging in the arts and using research as acts of resistance, we can meaningfully imagine new possibilities for the future of creative workers. 

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