When the coronavirus pandemic began, the museum was closed and the project was shelved. Now that the health crisis seems to be waning — and after the racial reckoning after the murder of George Freud — the museum is rejuvenating with a special focus: diversity, fairness, and inclusiveness.

The Connecticut museum has begun or restarted its efforts to diversify its collections, exhibits, board of directors, community plans, and other aspects of its mission statement.

"It's very late. I have been curator here for about seven years, and I have been thinking about it for about seven years," said Sam Quigley, curator of the Lyman Alling Museum of Art in New London. "We must serve the local community as our responsibility."

In November last year, Lyman Allyn's board of directors unanimously adopted a multicultural action plan, the goal of which is to "consciously take measures to address its historical lack of racial tolerance", the wording of the plan pointed out.

According to the latest data on census.gov, New London has a large non-white population: 33.4% Hispanic, 15% Black, and 2.4% Asian.

Quigley said that out of the approximately 20,000 items in the museum's collection, the proportion of non-white artists is "very small" and only one is on display. The museum’s board of directors consists of 18 members, one of whom is from Asia; the rest are white. Quigley said that as part of the Multicultural Action Plan, measures are being taken to address these two inequalities.

"This year, we raised our fundraising goal by $50,000. This money will be used exclusively for exhibitions and acquisitions of works by artists from marginal communities," he said.

Among these exhibitions, there will be an exhibition of Barkley Hendricks (1945-2017) in 2023. This new black resident of London is known for his large-scale portraits of black people. Hendricks's work is in Lyman Allyn's collection, as well as Romare Bearden's work, as well as works recently acquired by black artists Alonzo Davis, Kara Walker, and Yinka Shonibare.

Quigley said that the board of directors will add four positions, and non-white community members in the area will be specially invited to hold these positions.

"This will allow us to reach more than 20% of non-whites," he said. "For us, these are ambitious goals. We are working hard to develop and truly become the institution we have been talking about for the past few years."

Other elements of the Multicultural Action Plan include recruiting people of color, organizing plans on multicultural themes, and establishing community cooperation with groups that care about diversity.

The Fairfield University Art Museum is working on acquisitions. The museum announced in November that it had established a fund dedicated to the purchase of works by contemporary black artists.

"We believe that there is no better way to celebrate black history and cultural excellence than through art, so we decided to prioritize this aspect of our permanent collection," said Cary Webber, the museum's executive director.

The fund’s seed funding is US$20,000 and the fundraising goal is US$40,000. So far, US$25,000 has been raised. All funds raised by the museum during the most recent "Donation Tuesday" period went to the Black Art Fund.

Weber said that until now, the museum has not had a permanent purchase budget because almost every one of its approximately 2,000 collections was donated.

The acquisition of the fund has already begun. Purchased Roberto Visani's "Cardboard Slave Kit, Abolitionist Blend DIY", and Roberto Lugo's ceramic cup "Peaceful Protesters: Nina Simone II".

The focus on acquisitions tends to turn into focus on exhibitions, as in the case of Fairfield. Lugo's ceramic exhibition will be on display until December 18th, along with an exhibition by black photographer Carrie Mae Weems, her work focuses on the killing of blacks by police.

The creation of the Black Art Fund also inspired a donor to donate the work of a black artist. On Wednesday, Fairfield received a print by the African-American color gamut painter Sam Gilliam. It became the first print by a black artist to enter the series.

It was announced on Wednesday that the Yale University British Art Center in New Haven, in collaboration with the Yale University Art Gallery, has acquired Kehinde Wiley’s 2017 work, “Lynette Yiadom-Boakye of Copplethwaite, Portrait of Jacob Morland”. It depicts the artist Yiadom-Boakye dressed as a huntress in the 18th century Moran portrait style of British artist George Romney, replacing white men with black women.

Wylie is one of today's most outstanding black artists, known for reinterpreting classic works of art and inserting black characters. However, he is best known for his official portrait of President Barack Obama, which hangs in the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery.

Another work recently acquired by British Art is the work of Vietnamese-born photographer An-My Lê. Both Wiley and Lê are graduates of Yale University.

These acquisitions were made after the reinterpretation of another artwork owned by the British art company, which culminated in October 2020, when the museum replaced one painting with another.

The removed painting is the college benefactor Elihu Yale and other white men in 1719, served by a enslaved black child wearing a collar. That painting was replaced by a work reimagined in 2016 by black artist Titus Kaphar from New Haven. Kaphar's "Enough About You" shows the boy-taking off his collar and framed in gold-with a crumpled canvas trailing behind him.

The research summary into the transition describes Kaphar’s motivations: “By literally redefining [the painting] and portraying the child as a unique individual, provoking and getting rid of his collar, Kaphar’s work shows how people of African descent are in Historical depictions of how the black Atlantic intersects with contemporary inequality and the continuing lack of representation of blacks today. In his own words, Kafar “wants to find a way to imagine the life of this young man, and this picture History painting never leaves room in the composition: his desires, dreams, family, thoughts, hopes. Those things have never been the subject that the original artist wanted the audience to think about. "

The conversion and new research on this painting was overseen by Courtney J. Martin, a black woman who took charge of the museum in 2019. Kaphar's work has been hung on the wall for six months. This 1719 painting is on display again under the new title "Elihu Yalu with his family and a child in enslavement". The previous title ignored the child or downplayed his conquest of the juvenile, calling him "a page" or "an enslaved servant".

Melissa Parsoff, a spokesperson for the Yale University Art Museum, said the gallery launched a strategic plan this year. "The gallery has expressed a collective belief in equality, tolerance, and racial justice throughout the plan, and most of their work in this area will be carried out in the next few years," Pasov said.

She said that YUAG works with community organizations in this predominantly non-white city to recruit interns, staff and artists in residence, and collaborates with multicultural experts to guide the interpretation of works of art and exhibitions. Parsoff added that these collaborations will guide future exhibitions, including "Bámigbóyè: Master Sculptor in Yorùbá Tradition", which will open in the fall of 2022.

The Connecticut Office of the Arts, the state's premier arts grant manager, asks organizations and entities applying for grants about diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies. The COA’s application for fiscal year 2022 reads: “According to regulations, the information provided cannot be used to evaluate your application. However, it can be used to provide information that helps support a fair future plan.”

Questions in the application include "Does your organization have a DEI policy approved by the board of directors to address targets, oppressed people and/or black, indigenous and colored people... employees, board members, and/or audiences?"; "You Does your organization provide professional development for its employees, board members, and/or volunteers...or other training related to diversity, equity, and inclusion?"; "Does your organization allocate funds for the DEI program within the organization? "; and "State the amount of funds allocated to the DEI program across the organization for a period of three... fiscal years."

The application also requires the applicant to specify the races of its board members, employees, and contractors. This part of the application starts with "What actions will you take to racially diversify the board of directors and employees of your organization?"

COA Art, Preservation and Museum Director Elizabeth Shapiro wrote in an email to The Courant: "We are working with CT Humanities to standardize the collection of data from our applicants so that we, as funders, can better understand Where are our grantees diverse in terms of board, staff, and visitors or patrons.... Once we have a better understanding of the industry scope of our organization, we can begin to promote cross-organizational Better and fairer practice."

The Hartford Public Endowment Foundation, another major funder, also started asking questions about DEI. Its visit grant program was created "to support organizations that work with us to eliminate structural racism, including the promotion of fair social and economic mobility by supporting sustainable solutions in Greater Hartford," the grant The title states.

The grant application asked questions about the racial makeup of the organization’s leadership and employees and the communities it serves, and “how the proposed work will directly and effectively promote the elimination of structural racism and/or fair social and economic mobility” .

HFPG spokesperson Chris Senecal called these questions "a good indication of the types of problems and qualifications we are looking for among all recipients."

The Griswold Museum in Florence, in the Old Town of Lyme, has recently collected works by black artists, including the image of cotton field workers by the late Winfred Lumbert of New Haven and the 19th and 20th century Rockville resident Charles Works by Ethan Porter. The museum has collected a porter.

Griswold curator Amy Kurtz Lansing said that of the approximately 1,500 visual art works in the museum’s collection, “very few, or even less than 1%” were created by artists of color. One of the works is Kaphar's work. The museum also collaborated with New Orleans artist Jackie Summel, who created the "Lonely Garden", reminiscent of a cell in solitary confinement.

Lansing said that the history of the Griswold Museum-which is located on the site of a legendary art colony and is dedicated to inheriting a legendary art colony with all white members-has dominated its decision in the past, but the museum hopes to expand at this point.

"We have a lot to make up for. In its decades of existence, it has not been a comprehensive collection of American art," she said.

Griswold is working with the community organization Public Art for Racial Justice Education (PARJE) to promote the work of artists of color. Griswold also plans to offer a course on African American art in the upcoming winter research project.

Also cooperating with PARJE is the Slater Museum in Norwich Free Academy. "The museum is still working hard to adjust its collection and planning goals to bring new visibility and interpretation to artists of color, including Norwich artist Ellis Luley," Slater spokesperson Dane Ruger ( Dayne Rugh) said.

Jessica Kelley, spokesperson for Hartford Wadsworth Atheneum, said that it plans to reinstall the galleries in a "massive" manner to "better allow visitors of all backgrounds to see their representatives." She said the focus is on historically neglected properties in Africa, the Caribbean, Mexico, and indigenous people, "to reassess their importance and develop plans for display as needed."

In 2020 and 2021, Wadsworth Atheneum will add works of artists of color to its collection through gifts or purchases, such as Leonardo Drew, Peter Bentzon, M. Hoyris, Todd Gray, Los Carpinteros Cuban Artists Collective, Manuel Álvarez Bravo, Ali Banisadr and Edgar Heap of Birds, as well as works by women such as Lee Krasner, Ellen Carey, Linda Stark, Liliane Tomasko, Shona McAndrew and Medrie MacPhee.

Another marginalized art community—women—has been the focus of the New Britain Museum of American Art, which specializes in the works of women in 2020 and 2021. NBMAA spokesperson Lisa Lappe said that last summer, the council approved the acquisition of 19 works consisting of 13 female artists. No other purchases were made during this period. Rapp said that the focus on women overlaps with the focus on non-white artists.

"As a result of the acquisition, we doubled the number of black...female artists, increased the number of Asian American female artists, and increased the number of Latin American female artists represented in our permanent collection. Twice," Lappe said. "In addition, two paintings by Jaune Quick-to-See Smith are the first works of Native American women to enter our collection."

The Aldridge Museum of Contemporary Art in Richfield also plans to focus on women. "52 Artists: Feminist Milestones" will open in June and will be Aldridge's largest exhibition ever. Aldridge spokesperson Emily Devoe stated that it will focus on the evolution of feminist art. These artists participated in the landmark exhibition in 1971, “and 26 women with or A new roster of Yuan Xing emerging artists".

“Of the emerging artists selected for this exhibition in 2021, nearly three-quarters are considered to be black, aboriginal, or people of color,” Devo said.

In addition to focusing on women, it also focuses on non-white artists. Currently on display in Aldridge are exhibits by artists of color, "Hugo McLeod: From Where I Stand", "Lucia Hiero, Marginal Cost" and "Adriana Eyre Liz Tarver: Sun, Moon and Truth". Coming next year is the first solo exhibition of indigenous artist Duane Slick, "The Coyote Makes the Sunset Better".

The Matatak Museum in Waterbury leads the DEI. Museum spokesperson Stephanie Harris said: “When looking back at the acquired works from 2012 to present, we found that nearly 70% of the works were made by women and/or BIPOC artists.” These artists include Faith Ringgold, Elizabeth Catlett, Michael Cummings, Nathaniel Donnett, Nicholas Galanin, and F. Luis Mora.

Harris said that in the same period, Matatak has produced 30 solo exhibitions of female artists, 6 group exhibitions of female artists, 10 individual exhibitions of color artists, and 13 group exhibitions of color artists. The most recent one is "A Face Like Mine", which is a 100-year retrospective of African-American representative art held in 2021.

Mattatuck’s latest strategic plan released in October listed “intentionally increasing the diversity of museum human resources (including staff and board)” as a goal. It also includes land confirmation:

"The Matatak Museum is named after the East Algonquin where it was built. Through our historical mission, we interpret this land as the'Matatak Plantation', which is Tunxis, Paugussett, Pequanock and Potatuck tribal country. We recognize the painful history of being forced to leave this territory. We respect and respect the indigenous people who were and are still connected to this land. We recognize the past and present impact of colonialism and seek through this recognition cure."

You can contact Susan Dunn at sdunne@courant.com.