The O’Keeffe Begins Grant-Funded Diversity and Inclusion Program in October
The $177,542 grant supports two years of
diversity and inclusion training for all Museum staff.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—September 30, 2020 (Santa Fe, NM)— This October, the
Georgia O’Keeffe Museum begins a two-year training program focused on diversity, equity,
accessibility, and inclusion (DEAI). The program is the result of a $177,542 Institute of
Museums and Library Services (IMLS) Museums Empowered Professional Development
Opportunities for Museum Staff grant award for diversity and inclusion training.
“We are so grateful to IMLS for this support,” says Liz Neely, the Museum’s Curator of Digital
Experiences, and the project’s leader. “When we applied for this grant opportunity last year in
November, we did not know how prescient this award would be in light of the current dialogue
about ongoing equity struggles. Our hope at the O’Keeffe is to become a greater asset to all of
our communities as we learn how to embody diversity and inclusion principles on all operational
levels. This training lays the groundwork in helping us reach this goal.”
The O’Keeffe staff will explore DEAI principles through rigorous workshops led by facilitators
in organizational change, inclusive design methodologies, and accessibility. The diverse roster of facilitators will include Sina Bahram and Corey Timspon of Prime Access Consulting, Inc., and
Dina Bailey of Mountain Top Vision, LLC. Kate Livingston from ExposeYourMuseum will
track progress and guide sustainability planning. In later stages of the program, the Museum will
host collaborative workshops with community members.
“This work can be difficult and complicated in that it puts people face-to-face with societal
inequities and biases,” says Neely. “In order for our team to address these issues meaningfully,
we have to put in focused, sustained effort and generate systemic change.”
The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum’s training program begins October 1.
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ABOUT THE GEORGIA O’KEEFFE MUSEUM
Since 1997, the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum has shared the art, life, and story of Georgia O’Keeffe to visitors from around the world. Located in New Mexico, where Georgia O’Keeffe lived the final decades of her life, the O’Keeffe has sites and experiences in two historic destinations, Santa Fe and Abiquiú. For more information, please visit okeeffemuseum.org.
