Why is it essential to diversify institutional art collections?
There is no secret that a significant percentage of the works collected through history in private (institutional) and museum collections are composed by predominately "white" and male artists production. That poses difficulties in overcoming society's toxic and destructive tendencies that keep hurting the artistic ecosystem worldwide.
--the meaningful presence of diverse cultures is not a trend, its a reality.--
a well-explained set of arguments for diversifying the history held through objects (art/artifacts) in institutional collections:
Chimamanda ngozi adichie: The danger of a single story
"Our lives, our cultures are composed of many overlapping [Hi}stories. Novelist Chimamanda Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice -- and warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding."
Org efforts
Souls Grown Deep Foundation & Community Partnership are dedicated to promoting the work of Black artists from the American South and supporting their communities by fostering economic empowerment, racial and social justice, and educational advancement.
Bibliography
Curtis, Ariana A. “Afro-Latinidad in the Smithsonian’s African American Museum Spaces.” The Public Historian 40, no. 3 (2018): 278–91. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26504434.
Hankins, Rebecca, and Miguel Juárez. “Art in Special Collections: Latino and African American Fine Art and Photography Collections in Academic Institutions.” Art Documentation: Journal of the Art Libraries Society of North America 29, no. 1 (2010): 31–36. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27949536.
Articles
NPR 'Can I Make Sure That I'm Not The Only One?' Artist Helps Museum Diversify Collection September 16, 20204:06 PM ET by Emma Jacobs. Link to article.