Silencing the Solution: How Art Collectives Model the Change Public American Art Museums Must Make to Combat Capitalism Within the 21st Century
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Author
Brown, Caitlin M.Readers/Advisors
Ozbek, Anna O.Term and Year
Fall 2021Date Published
2021
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Public American art museums within the 21st century operate as capitalist entities through their increased focus on funding and board of directors. Public art museums were historically founded to serve the public by making art accessible to the public. However, due to their capitalist operations public American art museums have abandoned their intended function in pursuit of funding. As a result, public American art museums are met with art collective activism and resistance in response to their current operations, but continually choose to ignore or diminish these art collectives' efforts. This thesis aims at investigating the relationship between art collectives and public American art museums and analyzing their role and function to demonstrate how art collectives model the change public American art museums need to combat capitalism in the 21st century. This thesis utilizes activist art, museum studies, and art collective scholarly writings in conjunction to outline how art collectives' formation, purpose, operations, and function model how public American art museums can operate as anti-capitalist institutions and better serve the public. The results illustrate art collectives' historical and current formations, horizontal organizational structure, and collaborative and activist functioning demonstrate how public American art museums can utilize these operations in their own practices to combat capitalism and transform into a museum people need in the 21st century. Suggesting for public American art museums to work collaboratively with art collectives rather than continuing to silence the solution.Collections