New Orleans Museum of Art | Source: Creative Commons
Days after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that colleges cannot consider race for admissions, a museum in New Orleans is defending its appointment of a white woman to curate African art following a social media backlash.
The New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA) recently named Amanda M. Maples as its newest curator of African art, touting her impeccable background working in the field for at least the past decade as among the reasons for making the hire.
“I am thrilled to join NOMA as the new Françoise Billion Richardson Curator of African Art,” Maples said in a museum press release announcing the appointment. “As I continue to immerse myself in New Orleans, I am considering how to fill historical gaps in the museum’s extensive collection to tell the fullest story of African art possible and how NOMA can highlight the work of contemporary artists in Africa.”
But the immediate response to Maples’ hiring, at least on social media, hasn’t been as pleasant with a chorus of detractors wondering if there wasn’t a person of color, particularly a Black person, whose race helped make them more qualified for the position than a white woman.
The backlash was pronounced on Instagram, where the New Orleans Museum of Art on Thursday posted the news of Maples’ new gig.
“No offense at all and congrats to her! She seems to be qualified given the brief history you all provided, but are there no African, black, or poc that can oversee endeavors like this at NOMA?” one response to the Instagram post asked in one of the top comments. “The efforts to showcase African history become very watered down and dampened when the very person appointed to oversee them isn’t at least a person of color and can by no means relate to the black or African experience.”
That comment embodied the broader sentiment expressed by other responses to the Instagram post.
But the New Orleans Museum of Art also took to the comments section to defend appointing Maples.
“We’re listening closely to feedback from New Orleans residents and the public on the appointment of the museum’s new Curator of African Art. We recognize the need for NOMA’s staff and the museum field at large to represent a diversity of backgrounds and perspectives. We take this priority very seriously for positions throughout the institution,” the museum said in part. “The search to fill this post was conducted with guidance from a national consulting firm that specializes in searches in the arts. Amanda Maples’s academic experience combined with her sustained relationships with organizations and artists in Africa, her work organizing groundbreaking exhibitions, and her leadership in addressing decoloniality and restitution led us to select her for this post.”
The museum also added: “We are committed to taking this moment to learn and take action. In the immediate future, we will host a town hall to openly discuss race and equity within museums. We recognize that listening is only a small part of honoring our commitment to being an inclusive and anti-racist institution.”
To be sure, a quick review of Maples’ professional experience suggests she is more than an able curator of African art, having served in similar capacities at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art, North Carolina Museum of Art and Stanford University.
Maples has a Ph.D. in visual studies with a focus in African art and museums and primarily researches “African and diaspora arts, contemporary and urban arts, intangible heritage and restitutions, and the politics of museum display,” according to her LinkedIn page.
There are at least two separate and current museum exhibitions on African art that she is responsible for curating.
However, social media critics still had questions about why a more diverse candidate wasn’t selected.
“[H]ave you considered WHY someone who is privileged was able to access all those opportunities to build the profile they have compared to others? This is what most HR misses when they attempt to understand DEI in hiring, especially for positions like this one,” one response to the museum’s Instagram post said.
Another comment put it in more blunt terms.
“So basically this white lady has connections and y’all want to have easy access to those resources instead of doing the leg work and actually building new bridges to help black curators expand their expertise in something they are culturally familiar with,” the comment said. “White privileged [sic] always comes out on top every single time.”
The museum’s announcement that it appointed Maples did not make any mention of affirmative action, the policy ended by the Supreme Court last week that for decades was aimed at increasing workplace and educational diversity for people who have been underrepresented in various areas.
This is America.
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