A few months ago, as Black Lives Matter protests swept across the nation, the Chicago Museum Exhibitors Group (CMEG) started wrestling with a tough question: “how can we, a ragtag group of exhibit people, use our platform to not only make our organization more diverse, equitable, accessible, and inclusive, but also inspire action in Chicago museums?”
CMEG decided to start the journey by chatting with a few awesome museum folks about how they work on these issues in their organizations:
- Alex Pafilis, Early Childhood Educator and DEAI Consultant with a relentless commitment to anti-racist advocacy, activism, and all things involving joyful play and learning!
- Sara Phalen, Director of the West Chicago City Museum and the Warrenville Historical Museum & Art Gallery is a small museum advocate working towards equity in local history initiatives.
- Therese Quinn, Associate Professor and Director of Museum and Exhibition Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago, has worked as an exhibit researcher, developer, and evaluator for countless institutions.
I was lucky enough to moderate this conversation!
You can hear the conversation here:
Cover photo credit Photo by Christian Fregnan on Unsplash
American Perceptionalism 
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