The Madison Museum of Contemporary Art (MMoCA) apologized to an artist whose work was damaged, with parts of it taken home by visitors, during the museum’s 2022 Wisconsin Triennial. However, the museum rebuffed allegations made by the majority of participating artists in the exhibition, accusing the institution of “racist violence” and “shameful mistreatment of the Black artists, contractors, and staffers.” At least 12 participating artists withdrew their work from the exhibition and demanded the resignation of MMoCA Director Christina Brungardt.
The triennial’s theme, Ain’t I A Woman?, represents one of the first exhibitions in Wisconsin to feature primarily Black women and nonbinary artists, and is the first triennial in MMoCA’s history to bring in a guest curator. An open letter authored by a coalition of artists in the exhibition under the name “FWD:truth” decried two incidents involving the same artist, Lilada Gee: one in which she was verbally attacked by the former employee of an adjoining arts center, and another in which her art was damaged by visitors. Following the second incident, the museum director allegedly intervened to “de-escalate” the situation by asking Gee if those same guests who had just marred the work could keep it, heightening artists’ frustrations that leadership was acting unprofessionally and disrespectfully.
In a statement by the executive committee of MMoCA’s board of trustees to Hyperallergic yesterday, August 24, the museum expressed that it was “deeply sorry” about the defacement of a participating artist’s work and called the lapse in security that permitted the damage “an anomaly.”
“The damage to Lilada Gee’s artwork inside the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art (MMoCA) is unacceptable and we know the situation has caused her pain,” the statement reads.
The museum’s leadership also explained their near-silence on the brewing controversy as a result of their “sincere intent … to work privately, outside of public view, with those directly impacted to resolve the issue and ensure Ain’t I A Woman? achieved the positive impact originally envisioned by the guest curator and the artists.” But the leadership’s response also called the collective’s accusations of institutional racism “inappropriate and unfounded,” and reaffirmed its support of MMoCA Director Christina Brungardt, expressing gratitude for her “leadership, professionalism, and vision for growing MMoCA as an impactful, globally recognized institution that prioritizes equity and inclusion.”
“We are disappointed in this response, and to call it inadequate would be an understatement,” the collective of artists responded to the museum’s statement. “We regret the continued impact on featured artists, the guest curator, the community of Madison, and the credibility of Madison’s contributions to the arts.” They continued that “the overwhelming documentation provided on fwdtruth.com stands in clear contrast with your claims that our experiences and concerns are unsubstantiated or disproportionate.”
In an email sent by the exhibition’s guest curator Fatima Laster to leadership in response to their latest statement and shared with Hyperallergic, she alleged that leadership had been propagating a “newly conjured up lie” that she ordered the security and gallery to be unstaffed, leading to the damage and theft of Gee’s work. She countered that she alone had requested full security for the life of the exhibition. “Please remember you chose to supply minimal security for the opening reception only because you didn’t want to pay for the fully requested security and staff needs or value the work and people most vulnerable in the space,” she wrote.
“I told you from the onset, when organizations talk about DEI and being anti-racist, I sigh as it’s usually a mask for the strong undercurrent discord and racism already being practiced,” Laster wrote. “Needless to say, you failed the DEI test.”
“It’s an incredibly unsatisfying response,” said Emily Leach, a participating artist who had up until yesterday kept her works on show, adding that it was “dismissive.” Unconvinced that she can meaningfully communicate with leadership following this response, she decided to withdraw her contributions from the triennial. “I feared that withdrawing might encourage the museum leadership’s choice not to engage with the featured artists, but now I see the institution and its leadership treat that decision to remain with as much care as the rest of this exhibition,” she wrote in an email to leadership on Wednesday afternoon that she shared with Hyperallergic.
