Darrianne Christian in May became the first Black woman to chair the Newfields board of trustees, just months after the art museum and gardens faced an uproar over its handling of race and inclusion issues.
Newfields Board Chair Darrianne Christian, the first Black woman to serve in the role, talks about the museum’s efforts to become more diverse and inclusive.
The museum accepted an offer for the home at 3744 Spring Hollow Road that was above the $2.2 million asking price.
The museum has used the the four-bedroom, eight-bathroom Tudor-style home built in 1922 to house its leader. It’s the first time the property has been on the market since the 1930s.
The initiatives include creating a $20 million endowment for the acquisition of works by marginalized and underrepresented artists, and diversifying the board of trustees so it can be more representative of the city.
Charles Venable, who came to Newfields in 2012, stepped down Wednesday amid controversy over a job posting.
The letter said staff members spent four hours Monday “listening to members of senior leadership attempt to explain themselves, their actions and their plans,” but were left feeling “more distrustful and confused” about their future after the meeting.
The letter comes in the wake of a controversial job listing in which the Indianapolis art museum and nature center described a need to diversify its patrons while “maintaining the museum’s traditional, core, white art audience.”
Cultural development startup GangGang, which was enlisted to curate an exhibition highlighting a local mural celebrating the Black Lives Matter movement, said it has stepped away from the initiative.
The museum said the description—part of a post seeking a new director for the Indianapolis Museum of Art, which is part of the complex—comes out of an effort by Newfields to be “truly inclusive.” However, it said the wording was “divisive rather than inclusive.”
The annual Museum Store Sunday event, to be held on Nov. 29, is expected to have extra impact this year because many other sources of museum revenue, including admissions and special events, have been disrupted due to the pandemic.
Hired in August, Fred Wallace leads a team that ensures the priceless works at the Indianapolis Museum of Art art kept in tip-top shape.
The Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields on Wednesday announced the largest exhibit in its history. It is expected to occupy the museum’s entire fourth floor starting in June 2021.
Though the city will allow museums and cultural institutions to operate at 50% occupancy starting June 19, many are planning to wait a few days or test the waters with a select group of members.
The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis are joining hundreds of other orchestras, performing arts groups and cultural institutions across the country by suspending operations temporarily during the coronavirus outbreak. However, some local cultural institutions remain open.
Morgan’s specialty is to identify how artists and museums create narratives about American culture that belittle, deemphasize or oppress black populations and other ethnicities.
The art and nature campus is launching an array of projects to upgrade its offerings and public access, highlighted by an autumnal festival this fall including culinary attractions, horticulture displays, musical performances and films.
The grant from the Indianapolis-based Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation is designated to improve infrastructure such as bike paths and walking trails, add parking and bathrooms, and create an endowment for maintenance and new art commissions.
The improvements are part of a masterplan that aims to bring hundreds of thousands more visitors to the complex, which includes the Indianapolis Museum of Art.
The title elements aren’t quite given equal weight in “Sensual/Sexual/Social: The Photography of George Platt Lynes.”
