“We all want to talk about this.” A Study of Freedom of Artistic Expression in Academic Art Museums and Galleries
6.4 Museum staff cannot take for granted that they will always enjoy support from campus administrators. Survey Questions Forty-Three and Forty-Four asked museum professionals how supported they felt by colleagues and supervisors when exhibiting artwork which might be controversial, and then asked what elements of their jobs contributed to feeling supported. A majority of decision-makers reported feeling very supported, with the top two answers attributing that to a shared commitment to freedom of artistic expression and “current supervisor is supportive.” How supported by colleagues and supervisors do you feel to exhibit art that is potentially controversial on the basis of its content and/or viewpoints? (N=72)
35%
Very supported Not very supported
60%
Moderately supported, with conditions 6%
Survey Question Forty-Three
44
2021-2022 Fellows Research
