Kimberly Drew took the fine art establishment’s racist and sexist biases to task in September, when she tweeted that she would leave her job as a social media manager for The Metropolitan Museum of Art:
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now is a good time to share that i’ll be leaving the met soon. much more to say, but working on this video was one of my great joys during my tenure here. https://t.co/5vShlKS3mt
rnt— kimberly rose drew (@museummammy) September 13, 2018
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it’s also a great time to share that my outgoing pay is still less than that of the white man who previously held my role. museums y’all got to do better.
rnt— kimberly rose drew (@museummammy) September 13, 2018
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i left to take a break from working full-time (not because of the pay)… but now that i’m on my way out… i just have to say i loved working at the met, but honey… being a woman, a black woman in museums is just as exhausting as it looks.
rnt— kimberly rose drew (@museummammy) September 13, 2018
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rntThe outspoken blogger and arts activist discussed her career and views on the art world on yesterday’s (November 7) episode of "What’s Good with Stretch & Bobbito." Drew specifically addressed how museums like The Met need to radically change the ways they engage with audiences from marginalized communities:
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A lot of the change that I’m particularly obsessed with right now is especially along the lines of accessibility, in terms of making sure that people of all levels of ability feel like they can come into a museum. So that’s not just socioeconomic, that’s not just racial. That’s physical ability as well. One thing is a marketing issue, and I’m also an ex-marketing professional as of Friday. But I do think that there’s a way that museums don’t have the tools for talking about themselves really well. A lot of press releases are like, "we’re the first and the best!" And it’s like, "No one cares! What do you have and how do I get there?" Just looking at the lack of information for real people, a curious audience, I don’t think there’s always that extension in a way that is necessary.
Listen to the full episode for more of Drew’s reflections: