In its inaugural iteration, Museums as Systems asks: How are museums systems of artistry, archives, education, labor, care, communication, and communities? By assembling curators, writers, educators, critics, creatives, and administrators in the arts, this convening seeks to spark connection, inspire collective action, and create an avenue for participants to engage with and be motivated by The Studio Museum in Harlem’s mission.

Museums as Systems aims to understand how to build toward a more collective, just, and care-centered museum landscape, and to begin a system of renewal and revitalization that bridges the departmental fragmentation that so often occurs in museum spaces.

Panel discussions will explore the theory and practices of curatorial, education, public programs, archiving, media, and communications within museums. By understanding the nuances of each department’s contributions, processes, ways of thinking and doing the work, Museums as Systems expands the possibilities of what it means to be a professional arts worker within the contemporary cultural institution.

The convening centers the work and interests of emerging Black arts workers and cultural producers, specifically current students, recent graduates, and early-career arts workers committed to the study of artists of African descent and Black cultural production.

The framework considers how museums are functioning now, reflects upon what never was that could potentially be realized, and imagines what comes next. The panel discussions that comprise the convening will provide systematic ways of thinking around these guideposts.

The sessions place established arts and cultural workers in dialogue with the next generation of thinkers and workers—though, everyone arrives with expertise regardless of years in the field. For this reason, the program offers a multivocal, multigenerational space of circular learning. To do this, Museums as Systems proposes an alternative mode of study and work that encourages interdisciplinarity, centers imagination and curiosity, and destabilizes dominant hierarchies.

Museums as Systems is presented by the Studio Museum Institute.

Live CART captioning provided by Stenocaptions and ASL interpretation provided by Pro Bono ASL.

I. Safeguarding Our History, 5 – 6:15 PM EST
What is our responsibility to the archive, or by extension, our responsibility to history? This session will look at the importance of safeguarding histories and the archive as a potential tool for envisioning the future. This session will examine curatorial and archival work, shedding light on specific examples where artists and communities have created art that rejects traditional standard-bearers—institutional legitimacy, figuration, and the singular artist’s voice in favor of artist-run alternative spaces.

Panelists: Eric Booker, Steven D. Booth, Jenee-Daria Strand

II. How Museums Speak to People, 6:30 – 7:45 PM EST 
How do museums communicate with people? Design, media, and communication systems act as translators of institutional values, visions, and missions, as well as mechanisms for problem solving, accessibility, and world building. From traditional print marketing to online exhibition resources, institutional communication and design have never been more multifaceted, expansive, and ripe for innovation in 2022. In an ever-expanding digital landscape, how can and do we meaningfully engage audiences interested in art and culture?

Panelists: Elizabeth Karp-Evans, Yume Murphy, Sebastien Pierre, Kandis Williams