Recentering on Community

Acknowledge our Past | Engage Presently | Create a Sustainable Future

Recentering on Community is an initiative to engage, understand, and address barriers to participation that keep small museums and historical societies from meaningful progress on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion practices. This program takes small museums through three equity-centered growth phases designed to nurture an environment of diversity, equity, and inclusion at a scale and timetable that is approachable for the small museum. The outcome is a reimagined exhibit shared equally between the museum and new community partner and the beginning of a long-term collaboration.

Help us reach $1,000 this Give to the Max Day! Your gift will enable us to hire a designer to produce digital and print brochures to recruit participants and share with potential partners. Give to the max today and help Museum of Minneapolis implement the Recentering on Community program.

Utilizing existing DEI tools available to larger arts and culture organizations, MoM has scaled them down using an equity centered design approach that can accommodate the needs of the small museum. We considered the challenges a small museum faces such as being strapped for time, money, and staffing and incorporated that into our approach.

The goal of this program is to create the community infrastructure to sustain ongoing relationships that lead to meaningful DEI outcomes. For example, rather than look to “diversify the board,” the program takes the org. through steps to identify and work with prospective partners in their community who represent perspectives historically left out of the museum in order that a relationship is created that leads to these outcomes naturally.