Raising the Voices of People of Color in Museums and Exhibitions, with Sierra Van Ryck deGroot and Jinelle Thompson

Making the Museum

How can we raise the voices of people of color in museums and exhibitions — and what stands in the way?

What is Museum Hue? What constitutes a sustainable museum job, a sustainable career? What percentage of staff at museums are folks of color, and what roles do they have? What do we see happening in the exhibitions that museums create? Many cultural organizations began their DEI initiatives after the tragic events of 2020; how are those programs doing now? Could exhibitions be one of the best places to make visible change happen?

Sierra Van Ryck DeGroot (Deputy Director, Museum Hue) and Jinelle Thompson (Research and Partnerships Manager, Museum Hue) join host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners) to discuss “Raising the Voices of People of Color in Museums and Exhibitions”.

Along the way: the power of networking, Front of House vs. Back of House, and the Museum salary transparency spreadsheet.

Talking Points:

1. What Museum Hue does, and how it all started.

2. The challenge of raising the voices of people of color in the museum and exhibitions field.

3. The real numbers: percentages of museum staff who are people of color.

4. How we can bring students into sustainable careers in the arts (and what “sustainable” means here).

5. Ways to help raise the voices of people of color: Exposure, Mentorship, Support, and Networking.

6. How listeners can get involved: Museum Hue is looking for Speakers, Collaborators, Sponsors, and Partners.

How to Listen:

Apple Podcasts

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-the-museum/id1674901311

Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/show/6oP4QJR7yxv7Rs7VqIpI1G

Everywhere
https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/

Guest Bios:

Sierra Van Ryck deGroot is the Deputy Director of Museum Hue. A proud alumna of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Program at Seton Hall University and Bank Street College of Education. Sierra has her BA in Art, Design and Interactive Media; Fine Arts; and Art History and M.S.Ed in Museum Education. A child of Guyanese immigrants. She is proudly born and raised in Central Jersey (NJ) which does exist and it is pork roll, not Taylor Ham. She is also half of the former Sierras co-presidential leadership team of the National Emerging Museum Professionals Network, a current board member for the New Jersey Association of Museums and participating in many side quests related to advocating for change in the GLAM sector, especially in museums, around salary transparency, actionable equity, in higher in practices, the abolition of unpaid internships, and the practice of rest for all museum workers.

Jinelle Thompson is the Research & Partnerships Manager at Museum Hue. She is an arts administrator and cultural strategist working with cultural institutions to establish equitable partnerships and programming with communities across NYC. Through qualitative research, collaborative visioning, and anti-oppressive facilitation, Jinelle develops engagement strategies for the inclusion and empowerment of communities of color. She has organized workshop and public programs with artists, organizers, and activists concerning civic engagement, immigration, voting rights, and mass incarceration. In addition to her work with museums and arts organizations, Jinelle has worked with libraries, social impact organizations, and elected officials in state and municipal government providing operations and administrative support through project and client management, strategic communications, and event administration. Jinelle holds a Bachelor’s with honors in Sociology & Political Science with a concentration in Public Law and a Masters in Museum Studies.

About MtM:

Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger. This podcast is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture. Learn about the firm's creative work at: https://www.cgpartnersllc.com

Show Links:

Museum Hue: https://www.museumhue.org/
Museum Hue on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/museum-hue/
Museum Hue on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/museumhue/
Museum Hue on Twitter / X: https://twitter.com/museumhue

Sierra’s Email: [e-mail]
Sierra on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sierravrd/
Sierra on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sierragoesthere/
Sierra on Twitter / X: https://twitter.com/sierra_vrd

Jinelle’s Email: [e-mail]
Jinelle’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jinellethompson/

MtM Show Contact:

https://www.makingthemuseum.com/contact
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanalger
[e-mail]
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com

Newsletter:

Like the episode? Try the newsletter. Making the Museum is also a one-minute email on exhibition planning and design for museum leaders, exhibition teams and visitor experience professionals. Subscribe here: https://www.makingthemuseum.com