“We all want to talk about this.” A Study of Freedom of Artistic Expression in Academic Art Museums and Galleries Political Leaning of campus/state (N=86)
31% Aligned Not Aligned 69%
Survey Question Seven Survey data analysis showed that political alignment significantly (p < 0.05) increased the likelihood of some future constraints on the exhibition of art. The number of respondents in the R/R category was quite small, however, this finding is supported by another significant finding of survey data analysis: Compared to being rural, being urban significantly (p < 0.05) decreased the likelihood of reporting one or more past constraints on the exhibition of art. A reasonable conclusion we may draw from these several findings is that greater diversity on campus in general (whether through political difference and/or urbanicity) predicts fewer instances of constraints on the exhibition of art.
6.3 The effect of educational gag orders could be devastating. Although conservative legislators can huff and puff all they want, it is very unlikely that the prosecution of campus museum professionals would be successful. Legal protections (which will be discussed further in Takeaway Six) are, for the moment, “settled law.” However, a new threat is emerging via the much less protected domain of K-12 education, thanks to the recent wave of educational gag orders which could interfere with the significant contributions academic museums and galleries make to public education. Out of 91 respondents answering Survey Question Fourteen, “Audience,” 58 museum professionals selected K-12 students. Professional staff organizing frequent visits from these groups already think about those audiences when curating. In many instances, decision-makers reported that their institution had several gallery spaces, so it was easy to invite school groups to see exhibitions appropriate for them while also using other spaces for content appropriate to higher education.
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2021-2022 Fellows Research
