The Multiculturalism Policy in Museums a Case Study the Pensacola Museum of Art in Pensacola Florida

• Other Authors: Coker, Gylbert (authoraut)
• Format: Others
• Language: English; English
• Published: Florida State University
• Subjects: Arts; Humanities
• Online Access: http://purl.flvc.org/fsu/fd/FSU_migr_etd-3568

The purpose of this study was to identify a museum that has a multiculturalism policy to look at how that museum defines its policy, and how, when operationalized, the policy connects the museum to its increasingly racially and ethnically diverse population. To achieve this objective, the site area for this study included, the Pensacola Museum of Art (PMA) along with the three historic districts of Pensacola, a selection of Pensacola cultural institutions within the Downtown Historic District, and racially and ethnically diverse private businesses and cultural organizations were selected. The research design of this qualitative effort employed the case study framework. Social Constructivism Theory (Patton, 2002) was the theoretical approach and utilized interview responses, random casual conversations, participatory observations, self-guided tours, archival material, website material, field notes, and a reflective journal (Creswell, 2003). Participants consisted of ten professionals in the museum business, five racially and ethnically specific business and cultural organization representatives, and one Pensacola government representative. The analytical work of Stephen Weil (1995, 1998, 2000), coupled with the American Association of Museums (AAM) strategic framework for improving how museums connect to their racially and ethnically diverse populations (http://www.aam-us.org/aboutaam/strategic.cfm accessed 12/13/08), and the Canadian Museum of Civilization (http://www.travelandtransitions.com/interviews/ottoawa_museum_of_civilization.htm accessed 2/2/09) as a guide in the exploration of how a museum's multiculturalism policy, when operationalized, connects to a diverse population, were all utilized as the foundation for developing this study. The study showed that PMA's multiculturalism policy exhibits a strong, well established connection to one particular racially and ethnically diverse population and a weak and inconsistent connection to other racially and ethnically specific populations in Pensacola. The policy as currently used by PMA staff shows that the museum programming reflects the cultural interests and personalities of many of the diverse communities, but a lack of a diverse staff and a diverse network system reveals an inconsistent connection between the museum and the racially and ethnically diverse communities that does not encourage these populations access to the museum programs. Ideally, this research will promote the need for further study as it pertains to museum multiculturalism policies as a tool for connecting museums to growing racially and ethnically diverse populations. === A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Art Education in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. === Summer Semester, 2010. === June 1, 2010. === multiculturalism policy, museum multiculturalism policy, case study, Pensacola Florida === Includes bibliographical references. === Pat Villeneuve, Professor Directing Dissertation; Jeffrey Milligan, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; David Gussak, University Representative; Anniina Suominen Guyas, Committee Member.