INDIANÁPOLIS (DESIRE) – A petition published on Sunday calls for the immediate removal of a Newfields leadership member after the museum was criticized on Saturday for a job listing that explained one of the job’s functions as “keeping the public of traditional white art of the Museum. ”
The job description of director of the Indianapolis Museum of Art, posted sometime in January, was changed between Friday night and Saturday morning, according to the online list, to remove the word “white”.
Among the demands in the Newfields petition are the immediate removal of director and CEO Charles Venable, changes to the museum board to represent the composition of the neighboring community, a change in the fee structure, changes in curatorial representation and anti-racist training for employees .
Petitioners are also asking Lilly Endowment and other groups that provide funding to the museum to keep funding pending or future until changes are made and for the city of Indianapolis to maintain Arts Council grant funding until a third party audit is done .
The petition also requires the city to form a Community Accountability Council for the museum and an “Equity Clause” across the city to hold any organization that obtains municipal funding accountable.
More than 1,000 people signed the petition online on Monday night, including several former Newfields employees, as well as local artists and supporters of local art.