An art museum curator has resigned from his post at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art after outraging members of his staff by refusing to exclude white male artists.
Gary Garrels, the senior curator of painting and sculpture, was the target of a petition that garnered just over 250 signatures this month demanding that he resign after he refused to exclude white male artists. The petition stated that Garrels offended many members of the staff by mentioning that the museum would “definitely still continue to collect white artists” during a presentation about diversifying collection efforts to include more work from nonwhite artists.
“Through actions and words, Gary has been obtuse (at best) to the point of offense or deliberately racist (at worst) in his retorts to criticism. When pressed on the museum’s collecting policies he has repeatedly said some variation of ‘don’t worry, we will continue to collect white male artists.’ Amongst SFMOMA staff as well as in public view, Gary has used and continued to use white supremacist and racist language such as ‘reverse racism.’ This has been documented,” the petition said.
“Gary’s removal from SFMOMA is non-negotiable,” it added. “Considering his lengthy tenure at this institution, we ask just how long have his toxic white supremacist beliefs regarding race and equity directed his position curating the content of the museum? … In light of the above, the most appropriate path toward the change SFMOMA has committed itself to is for Gary Garrels to no longer be part of the institution.”
Garrels apologized to the staff via email on Saturday and announced that he would no longer be working for the museum.
“I want to offer my personal and sincere apology to every one of you. I realized almost as soon as I used the term ‘reverse discrimination’ that this is an offensive term and was an extremely poor choice of words on my part. I am very sorry at how upsetting these words were to many staff,” he wrote in the email, which was obtained by Artnet News.
Garrels offered a slight defense of himself, telling the staff, “I do not believe I have ever said that it is important to collect the art of white men. I have said that it is important that we do not exclude consideration of the art of white men.”
He called racism and the goal of “true diversity” the “important battle of our time.”
Several people have lost jobs as companies, universities, and other organizations respond to nationwide protests that aim to end racial injustice and police brutality following the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man who died after an officer knelt on his neck for several minutes during an arrest in Minneapolis.
Among those who have lost jobs during the protests include Leslie Neal-Boylan, the former dean of the University of Massachusetts Lowell nursing college. Neal-Boylan was removed from her post as dean of the nursing college because she said “everyone’s life matters” while addressing the Black Lives Matter protests.
