Mass. is rich with smaller, local museums. Let’s support them.
Museums are vital to our democracy. In a polarized world, they provoke us to question our assumptions and embrace complexities. It is heartening to read the recent article on curators, and I look forward to learning from them (“Museums in focus,” Sunday Arts, Oct. 16). These perspectives are crucial to meeting our challenges, particularly in a field long dominated by white curators, white donors, and white audiences. The old approach will not attract new audiences nor inspire justice.
Yet the Globe’s focus on four elite museums whose total annual budgets surpass $200 million sells short the diversity and value of museums. The Commonwealth is rich with smaller, community-based museums doing exciting work. Many stake their survival on stories that were historically ignored and underresourced. They do this without the safety net of towering endowments or the attention of major newspapers.
Visitors seeking more inclusive representations of our history and culture could attend local institutions that need our support. The Mansfield-based National Black Doll Museum’s exhibit at Wheaton College showcases the country’s largest collection dedicated to the art and preservation of Black dolls. Wistariahurst in Holyoke currently exhibits the work of Anthony Melting Tallow, Bo’taan’niis, (Flying Chief ), a member of the Blackfoot Nation of Alberta, Canada. This month, the Hull Lifesaving Museum welcomes a Smithsonian exhibit about changes facing rural America. These are but a handful of places where new visions are taking shape on shoestring budgets.
There are important conversations to be had about the future of museums. More people are walking into their local institutions and seeing themselves reflected in exhibitions, thanks to gifted curators. Placed alongside their colleagues at more storied museums, these professionals might even spark new ideas about how we live together. That is, after all, a key role of any museum.
BRIAN BOYLES