Latinos in Museums:
>
>From: Miguel
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>
>Robin Gilliam's post regarding her/his reasons for Latinos not
>participating in museums runs the gamut from amusing...
>
>Robin said:
>Thank you for bringing this subject up in Museum-L, as I deal with it at
>work, and in talking to colleagues in California and across the Southwest.
>The Latino Interests Network, affiliated with the AAM, has probably
>responded to your questions by now.  They have kindly sent me their mailings
>although I am not a member (since I can't afford to join AAM, an official
>requirement).  Our two curators and one administrator are not Hispanic, but
>we do have two Mexican-American women in the volunteer coordinator and
>office manager's jobs.
>
>Yes, museums in El Paso reflect the national state of the absence of
>Latinos in the profession.  Latinos are mostly found in the lower rungs
>of operations, someti mes at the front of house, as receptionists, or they
>oversee volunteers, etc.  In El Paso, the Hispanic population numbers
>over 70 percent, thus the lack of Latinos in administrative positions
>is a glaring omission, to say the least.
>
>Robin said:
>We have no Latino curators in this local history museum, in a community that
>is half Anglo and half Hispanic, because none applied for the jobs.  We look
>for people with an M.A. in history or museum studies, and most qualified
>applicants have been youngish Anglo women from somewhere else.  From this I
>conclude that neither locals (of any cultural background), nor Hispanics
>from around the Southwest, are particularly interested in getting advanced
>degrees to pursue museum work.
>
>I beg to differ with this broad generalization that "neither locals (of
>any cultural background), nor Hispanics from around the Southwest, are
>particularly interested in getting advanced degrees to pursue museum
>work."  There is interest, but museum studies is probably not high on
>lists of potential study programs because museums themselves have done a
>poor job of promoting the career.  Also, among people of color, museums
>have been these austere, cold places.  Who would want to work there to begin
>with?  Museums, in their austere forms, clash with varying forms such as
>centros or casas de la cultura-type of centers found in many major cities.  These
>"centros" have been the Latino non-collecting answers to collecting
>institutions.
>
>Robin said:
>And as many of us Anglos know, it [the museum profession] does not
>pay very well.  We would accept student interns of any ethnic origins who
>worked for free, whether representative of our regional cultures or not.
>
>Latinos, like what you refer to as "Anglos" don't dedicate themselves to
>careers in museum studies because of the pay.  So denoting "payment" as a
>reason why Latinos don't pursue careers in museums is a feeble excuse.
>Latinos like myself who have an intense interest in museum studies know
>how what's at stake if some of us don't buckle up and get that education
>so we can part make our contributions in museums.
>
>Robin said:
>Schools can be blamed for not encouraging students from varied backgrounds
>to consider work in the less common arts, science and humanities jobs.  But
>our office manager, who is a Chicana, also believes that the cultural
>climate in many Hispanic homes and communities is not one that highly
>esteems, or even recognizes, museums as important.
>
>It's one thing to ask co-workers for their opinions and it's another thing
>to do research and find solutions to the problem.  Part of the problem
>involves the paradigm that people of color and certainly Latinos
>misconstrue museums as annointer s of culture.  Yet to say that Chicanos
>do not esteem culture is erroneous.  In n umerous cities, cultural centers
>and programs fill the needs of La Raza in their search for the celebration
>of culture.  The church, also plays an integral part in the celebration
>of culture.  I think we are coming upon a time, when the paradi gm will
>shift and institutions like museums who have lagged far behind other
>social structures will experience the drawbacks of having maintained
>a certain elitism and control.
>
>Robin said:
>Does it matter if kids can tell frogs from toads, a Whistler
>from a Warhol, or the Mexican Revolution from the Mexican War if their
>friends are pregnant and dropping out of high school, struggling to get by
>working at fast-food jobs, or simply more interested in watching major
>league sports on TV?
>
>Of course, Robin is presenting us with more stereotypes of what Latinos
>represent to mainstream culture and because the education over culture
>hasn't taken place,it's easy to pass off entire generations as lacking
>"culture" or being insensitive to the arts.  Every group maintains a
>certain culture.  It may not JIVE with what's being shown at your
>museum and you may not care to display it, but it doesn't mean it
>doesn't EXIST.
>
>Robin said:
>I don't believe in forcing museums upon others, even when our exhibits cover
>"their" history.
>
>I think it's all OUR history, we cannot detach ourselves from the human
>experience, but we can agree to pretend to be IGNORANT of other cultures.
>
>Robin said:
>I also object to tokenism in museums, whether it is hiring
>someone because of their cultural background in lieu of experience, or
>installing slightly condescending shows extolling the virtues of some "cute"
>cultural group-of-the-month. My best exhibits have been inclusive looks at
>our community that treat all the participants according to a shared
>experience (WWII veterans or ranch life), rather than cultural separations.
>
>I also object to museums and museum persons claiming that they KNOW BEST
>what is important and worth presenting and preserving and what is
>worthless.  Museums are public trusts afterall, not private galleries.
>There's a certain responsibility that goes with the job, of course, it's
>all IN THEORY.
>
>Another factor which hasn't been addressed in the role of collectors in
>the museum soup.  Quite frankly, individuals from lower economic groups
>don't usually serv e as part of the informal museum culture, they aren't
>collectors of objects museums crave, they don't know the varying levels
>and bureaucracy associated with museums, they're OUT of the loop.  And
>few museums have taken the time to socialize persons as to what they
>actually do, in both the front and back of the house.
>
>Robin said:
>So Miguel (the initial posting's author), is El Paso similar, or am I
>describing a totally different atmosphere here in New Mexico, 150 miles to
>your west?  Is your local Mexican-American community more attuned to the
>arts and humanities, science or natural history?  Thanks again for bringing
>up the topic!
>
>The Mexican-American border community, is keenly aware of how culture and
>history has shaped the region.   The institutions may not reflect this
>history, but the collective memories are there, in the stories of its people.
>
>Robin makes a interesting topic (Latinos in Museums) even more
>interesting.  In discussing Robin's comments, we have to ask ourselves
>who decides who's culture will be celebrated and who's will be
>overlooked.  I'm just at a point where I believe that the histories of
>maids and gardeners and all working class persons and ma rginalized
>communities, for that matter, are as important as exhibits of WWII
>veterans or ranch life.
>
>Miguel Juarez, Author, cultural arts historian
>El Paso, Texas
>
>This discussion is far from being over...
>
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>