The role of the museum in modern society and the community.

You may not know, but Attendants View is also on Tumblr (it seemed a strange thing at first, but a lot of museums and galleries use it in a very creative way) One of the peeps I follow posted such a thought provoking little commentary, I wanted to share it here too, for the benefit of those without Tumblr.

In response to this article: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/08/19/341651494/ferguson-teachers-use-day-off-as-opportunity-for-a-civics-lesson

School has been canceled for the week in Ferguson, Mo., as civil unrest continues. While the students are out of the classroom, teachers are helping to clean up the streets.

museums-etc wrote: http://museums-etc.tumblr.com/post/95247683255/ferguson-teachers-use-day-off-as-opportunity-for-a

"I’ve been thinking lately about the events in Ferguson and the apparent lack of response from St. Louis museums. (People from the St. Louis suburbs generally think of themselves as being from STL in general, more so than whatever smaller official town they live in (Ferguson, Florissant, etc.) and the problems that Ferguson is facing are problems that plague all of St. Louis.)

Earlier today I reblogged that picture of the signs from the Ferguson library offering itself as a place of respite and consolation. The library is serving and supporting its community.

In grad school, we talked endlessly about how museums need to serve and support their communities. And museums seem to want to be integral members of their communities. But I haven’t really seen anything meaningful from local museums. Where are the community forums? Where is the historical context for the city’s race problems? Is nobody taking oral histories? 

Ferguson teachers are trying to provide support and help their kids make sense of these events. Are their local arts and culture institutions doing anything to help?

If museums want to claim they care so much about their communities, they need to act like it a little more."

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