The Sesnon Gallery shares this statement in solidarity with Black Lives Matter and to affirm our commitment as an arts institution to become actively anti-racist. We share this statement explicitly as a moral imperative but also to further our Mission to provide programming that represents a broad range of media and cultures in service of a broad community.
As part of the university system, education is our responsibility. This includes a responsibility to continue to educate ourselves as we find our role in the effort to dismantle white supremacy. Museum institutions have been complicit in upholding Eurocentric values while minimizing Black contributions to arts and culture. We see the power of museums and their potential to create meaningful change when they can recognize that racial identity informs every aspect of our lives. Museums must abandon the facade of political neutrality and offer a space for pivotal conversations and transformation to take place.
The Sesnon Gallery is committed to confronting our policies and practices that uphold white supremacy. We are committed to change to meet the needs of our students and of our greater community. We are actively working on efforts to offer material support to our Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) students in the following ways:
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Organizing to secure funding to launch a new program to support BIPOC students in the form of microgrants that support creative practice. This program would provide use of the Sesnon Underground student gallery for exhibitions of art from the microgrant recipients.
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Devising strategies to develop and strengthen our Black Men's Initiative (formally known as the Men of Color Program) student internship position.
Creating partnerships with Ethnic Resource Centers and other campus leaders to support BIPOC students and BIPOC student-led programming.
We welcome your feedback and company in our efforts to dismantle systemic oppression. We can be reached at sesnon@ucsc.edu.
Sincerely,
Gallery Director Shelby Graham
Museum Preparator Louise Leong
We have collected a few resources for organizations to take action in their commitment to social justice. With gratitude to their original sources, we have shared them below.
A Moment for Accountability, Transformation & Real Questions
By Mike Murawski and Madison Rose, Museums Are Not Neutral
Museum Resolution: Dismantle the Myth of Neutrality
By Laura Raicovich, Walker Art Center Reader
White Supremacy Culture
By Tema Okun, dRworks
This is a list of characteristics of white supremacy culture that show up in our organizations. Culture is powerful precisely because it is so present and at the same time so very difficult to name or identify.