About
What is a museum? Though this is a seemingly simple question what you think a museum is might not be considered one by definition. The International Committee of Museums (ICOM) has a specific defitnion of what they consider a museum. “A museum is a non-profit, permanent institution in the service of society and its development, open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and its environment for the purposes of education, study and enjoyment.” Trying to navigate the wordiness of this definition and address a modern inclusive take we consulted Maura Reilly, a museum activist (?) to insure that all parts of creating a museum were met. Reilly emphasizes the inequality of artists’ work displayed in most museums. Most museums are very “Westernized” and predominately male, so white male artists. In recent history museums have become more inclusive but progress continues. To insure we displayed an exhibit that was inclusive and diverse we divided the exhibit into three parts. Each part had a different take on inclusivity with portraiture (and its definition) being the original basis for the exhibit.