AAMC Foundation Best Practices Guide for Artist Demographic Data Coordination

Association of Art Museum

Curators Foundation

BEST PRACTICES GUIDE FOR ARTIST

DEMOGRAPHIC DATA

COORDINATION

PREFACE

The Best Practices Guide for Artist Demographic Data Coordination was created as a freely accessible document to serve as a foundational resource, advocacy tool, and guide for those looking to move forward with artist identity surveys ethically and fairly. In recent years, there has been a growing recognition that this type of assessment needs to be undertaken for the sake of transparency, accountability, and internal reckoning. Simultaneously, there has also been a growing apprehension about institutions initiating surveys individually and without direct lines of communication between them. Therefore, in October 2020, the AAMC Foundation began assembling colleagues, curators and non-curators alike, who were seeking a space to candidly share questions and concerns about museums’ processes and goals for gathering and analyzing information on artist identities. The community became the Artist Demographic Consortium,

which included curators, collections and data managers, registrars, conservators, archivists, and more from over 40 institutions in the United States. As a full group and then in smaller working subgroups, these colleagues engaged in conversations that inspired and led to the framework for this guide. We are honored to have had the trust and candor of the consortium, many of whom participated in the making of Best Practices

Guide for Artist Demographic Data Coordination, and all of whom galvanized it. The consortium has expanded to merge with AAMC’s established Curator Gathering events, with the caveat that these gatherings vary from our traditional member-only format by continuing to welcome non-members from the consortium and AAMC members’ guests.

The creation of Best Practices

Guide for Artist Demographic Data

Coordination is indebted to conversations held over the past few years and to

The Mellon Foundation that has made the document a reality with their support. It should also be recognized that this undertaking is all possible because AAMC & AAMC Foundation are valued as conveners, supporters, and advocates for the curatorial community through our commitment to ethics, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility.

At AAMC & AAMC Foundation, ethical best practices within the curatorial sector are at the forefront of our mission, as evident in our Call to Curators: DEAI Practices: Collections and Exhibitions , Code of Conduct for Curators , and Professional Practices for Art Curators in Nonprofits . These pledges and the Professional Practices guide, along with the information that follows in this document, present ways forward that are relevant beyond the curatorial field, and that are helpful and impactful for all museum and visual-arts nonprofit spaces. We encourage sharing these resources with colleagues and students in the arts community at large.

Within this guide, the term “artist” is used as broadly as possible to include makers and creators in multitudes of mediums and traditions, without dividing them into the predetermined but outdated subdivisions such as craft, fine art, design, film, and the like. In its centering of the authentic voice and active participation of the respondent, the guide offers broader ethical and procedural insight for the surveying and statistical gathering of demographic data from all institutional constituents—staff, donors, boards, visitors—and recognizes that organizations may benefit from incorporating all artist data collection into one project and process. This document primarily addresses gathering data from living artists, but many museums and arts organizations are seeking to better identify the demographic information of nonliving artists as well, and some of the processes, guidelines, engagement, and discussion points can also be relevant for these studies.

This document is, as its title indicates, a guide, and we acknowledge that it

This document is a guide, and we acknowledge that it is by no means an exhaustive review of every possible detail or scenario that might be encountered. For curators working in differing locations, organizational types, and on varying scales of projects, experiences and policies will vary. However, it is our intent that this handbook provide an overview of as much information as possible, supplemented by relevant support material through case studies and additional resources.

is by no means an exhaustive review of every possible detail or scenario that might be encountered. For curators working in differing locations, organizational types, and on varying scales of projects, experiences and policies will vary. However, it is our intent that this handbook provide an overview of as much information as

possible, supplemented by relevant support material through case studies and additional resources.

In creating this guide, we also seek to outline the highest level of current best practices, as the collection of demographic information is even more fraught if embarked upon without these. Accurate information on artists, provided in their voice, can bring forth change to our collecting and exhibition practices, and with it new possibilities but also new challenges. The pressures on staffing, budgets, and artists in undertaking a demographic data collection process can be significant. The need for organizations to complete this project at the highest level of ethics might make it unattainable. For these reasons, it was evident in the process of creating this document that there is a need for a centralized, artist-centered, accessible yet secure, and diligently maintained database, and that the collection process and content should be aligned with that database across all organizations. Unfortunately, to

date this does not yet exist, but it is our hope that it will in the future.

We express our gratitude to all those who participated in the creation of this document. In particular, we are grateful to those who developed and spearheaded the project through all its stages: Briana Parker, Editor; Lucy Lydon, Project Manager, Director, Luce Productions; the AAMC & AAMC Foundation Board of Trustees and staff; the Artist Demographic Consortium; and The Mellon Foundation.

Judith Pineiro Executive Director, AAMC & AAMC Foundation

CONTRIBUTORS

LEAD

Judith Pineiro

Executive Director, AAMC & AAMC Foundation

PROJECT MANAGER

Lucy Lydon

Director, Luce Productions

WRITERS

Leslie Anderson

Director of Collections, Exhibitions, and Programs, National Nordic Museum

Daniel Belasco

Executive Director, Al Held Foundation;

Board of Trustees, AAMC & AAMC Foundation

Sarah Osborne Bender

Head of Library Technical

Services, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Wendy Chang

Director, Rennie

Collection; Board of Trustees, AAMC & AAMC Foundation

Amanda Dearolph

Head of Collection

Information and Digital

Assets, Los Angeles

County Museum of Art

Marissa Del Toro

Independent Curator

Jenny Gibbs

Executive Director, IFPDA, IFPDA

Foundation, IFPDA Fair

Gigi Gilliard

Gigi Gilliard Development

Kathryn Gunsch

Deputy Director, MIT Museum

Christine Kuan

President and Executive

Director, Creative Capital

Frances Lloyd-Baynes

Manager of Art

Information, Princeton University Art Museum

Jaye Melino

Collections and Exhibitions Information

Assistant, Museum of Modern Art, New York

Liz Munsell

Barnett and Annalee

Newman Curator of Contemporary Art, Jewish Museum, New York

Leela Outcalt

Director of Collections, Museum of the City of New York

Briana Parker

Assistant Managing

Editor, Publications and Editorial Department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Judith Pineiro

Executive Director, AAMC & AAMC Foundation

Pavel Pyś

Curator of Visual Arts, Walker Arts Center

Lauren Vargas

Independent Researcher and Consultant, One by One, University of Leicester, United Kingdom, Your Digital Tattoo

Farris Wahbeh

Benjamin and Irma Weiss Director of Research Resources, Whitney

Museum of American Art

REVIEWERS

Myrtis Bedolla

Founding Director, Galerie Myrtis; Board of Trustees, AAMC & AAMC Foundation

Tiana Webb Evans

Founder, ESP Group LLC

Maria Elena González

Artist and Educator

Vivien Greene

Senior Curator, 19thand Early 20th-Century

Art, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

Lynda Roscoe Hartigan

Rose-Marie and Eijk

van Otterloo Executive Director and Chief

Executive Officer, Peabody Essex Museum; Board of Trustees, AAMC & AAMC Foundation

David Max Horowitz

Assistant Curator, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

Dakota Hoska

Associate Curator of Native Arts, Denver

Art Museum

Mia Locks

Independent Curator and Co-Founder, Museums

Moving Forward

Victoria Mattingly Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Mattingly Solutions

Eva Respini

Deputy Director for Curatorial Affairs and Barbara Lee Chief Curator, Institute of Contemporary

Art, Boston

Juliet Sorce

Executive Vice President, Resnicow and Associates;

Board of Trustees, AAMC & AAMC Foundation, Vice President, Advocacy

EDITOR

Briana Parker Assistant Managing Editor, Publications and Editorial Department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

PROOFREADER

Rachel Selekman

DESIGNER

Stephanie Rudig

LEGAL REVIEW

Katherine Wilson-Milne Partner, Schindler Cohen & Hochman LLP

The AAMC Foundation is grateful to The Mellon Foundation for their support of this project.

DISCLAIMER

The information in this document is subject to change or revision without notice. AAMC and/or AAMC Foundation, along with its contributors, assume no and disclaim any responsibility for any errors that may appear in this document. They shall not be liable for any damages, including but not limited to general, incidental, or consequential, that may arise from use of this document or other related material. Your use of this document indicates your agreement with this paragraph. This document and parts thereof are the intellectual property of AAMC Foundation and must not be reproduced, copied, or used in any manner other than for personal reference without AAMC Foundation’s prior written permission.

The information provided in this document and related materials are not intended to be the source of legal or other professional advice. You should not consider the information provided to be legal or professional advice and should not rely on the information herein/ therein as legal or professional advice for any purpose and should always seek the legal advice of competent counsel in the relevant jurisdiction as needed.

Links provided do not imply any association, endorsement, or sponsorship of any site or, with regard to protected content at any other site, any legal right, or authority. All rights are reserved.

LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The Association of Art Museum Curators (AAMC) and AAMC Foundation offices are in Manhattan, and our team also works remotely from Brooklyn. These locations are situated upon the unceded, seized territory of the Lenape and Canarsie peoples and benefited from the economies of enslavement and the labors of African-descended captives. We owe our existence and vitality to generations of people from around the world brought here against their will or drawn here to escape persecution and those who have lived on this land for more generations than can be counted. We pay respect to their communities past and present. This acknowledgment asks us to consider the many legacies of violence, displacement, migration, and settlement that bring us together.

INTRODUCTION

Conversations regarding the realities and consequences of exclusion and marginalization are happening globally. Topics of diversity, equity, inclusion, access, and belonging (DEIAB) within the arts have been a focal point for decades, with the lack of diversity across all areas of the visual arts highlighted as an unfortunate—yet inevitable—result of the system in which the arts operate. These conversations accelerated in 2020, with numerous panels, statements, and reflections throughout the industry (see examples in the Resources sidebar).

Striving to become more equitable organizations, arts institutions, nonprofit and for-profit alike, are undertaking investigations of DEIAB practices in staffing, fundraising, leadership, governance, and management to address the systemic bias and inequities embedded within all aspects of the industry. With these investigations happening, nonprofit arts organizations are also working to adjust collection and exhibition practices to seek more inclusive

representations within their holdings and exhibitions. Institutions are also seeking new visions for installation and interpretation policies to present an inclusive and expansive narrative within their historical and contemporary collections, special exhibitions, and through other platforms.

Tied to these institutional efforts, curators are also responsible for examining how their practices can contribute to equitable representation within the institutions they serve. These efforts may incorporate documenting their collection practices, facilitating discussions, and working to correct historical injustices in their sphere of influence. Curators can and should advocate for equitable hiring practices; culturally responsive programming; and exhibitions that welcome community voices, diverse artist representation, and fair interpretation and presentation of diverse histories and ideas; providing platforms for stories that have been overlooked or silenced; and looking critically at histories that have become broadly accepted.

RESOURCES

General

“Art Museum Staff Demographic Survey.” Mellon Foundation.

“Code of Conduct for Curators.” Association of Art Museum Curators.

Topaz Chad M., et al. (2019).

“Diversity of Artists in Major U.S. Museums.” PLOS ONE 14(3): e0212852.

“Inclusive Demographic Data Collection.” Office of Regulatory Affairs and Research Compliance (ORARC), Harvard University.

Professional Practices for Art Curators in Nonprofits. Association of Art Museum Curators Foundation.

Institutions have the responsibility to support them in these endeavors.

As stated in the AAMC Foundation’s Professional Practices Guide for Nonprofit Curators : “The goals of any exhibition should include increasing public understanding of a given subject; forging new narratives that expand the art historical canon; and enhancing visitor experience. The principles of diversity and inclusion must guide exhibition planning at all stages. Additionally, curators must tailor their programming to serve the needs of their audiences, being consciously aware of differing perspectives. Curators need to gather together community voices in developing programming, texts, and other materials around an exhibition.” For acquisitions, the guide states, “Acquisition policies need to demonstrate the organization’s commitment to telling the most complete, inclusive, and multivalent narrative possible. New acquisitions should not only add depth to the collection but seek to fill and correct gaps within it, such as a lack of holdings by artists from

underrepresented communities and cultures, and to adjust linear and traditional histories.”

Demographic data, or information related to identity such as race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality, can be a compelling instrument for addressing

inequitable harms if used properly. Often collected by government agencies as well as by private entities, demographic information can provide a plethora of insights into surveyed populations. However, data is only reliable and usable when its collection, interpretation, and implementation are ethically and equitably obtained and used.

Pressure is mounting toward rectifying gaps and lack of holdings from underrepresented communities and cultures. As

such, institutions and their leadership are seeking to quantify and be transparent about the diversity of their collections and exhibitions by moving swiftly to secure demographic data identifying artists. Specifically for living artists, this process should be done through firsthand engagement with artists and not through secondhand research or conjecture. The development of questionnaires and data-gathering tools needs to engage curators, registrars, and conservators, and data and collection management, diversity, and digital teams, as well as other key members of internal staff, and it should also involve artists, external data experts, and additional outside consultants such as foundations. This type of information is about an artist’s identity more broadly and is not meant to be tied to a particular work or body of work, and demographic data should therefore not be linked to object data.

When possible, arts organizations should work together to gather this information to avoid repetitive efforts and to secure consistency and

Data is only reliable and usable when its collection, interpretation, and implementation are ethically and equitably obtained and used.

RESOURCES

DEIAB and the Arts

“Association of Art Museum Curators Statement on Systemic Violence and Racism.” Association of Art Museum Curators, June 2, 2020.

“Beyond Statements: Living It Out” webinar. Association of Art Museum Curators.

“Beyond Statements: People Power ” webinar. Association of Art Museum Curators.

“Beyond Statements: Taking Action” webinar. Association of Art Museum Curators.

“Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion.” American Alliance of Museums.

“Excellence in DEAI.” American Alliance of Museums.

“DEAI Practices.” Association of Art Museum Curators. Disrupting Whiteness in Libraries resource list.

accuracy. However, working collaboratively across institutions isn’t always feasible due to privacy concerns, differing data management systems and policies, and capacity. If in the future there is a centralized and accurate database with information collected with the highest ethics in place, and not utilizing secondhand research, this would help solve the issue of duplicative work and better facilitate public access to accurate artist data without overburdening both artists and staff across an already stretched sector.

Overall it is highly recommended that curators be vocal contributors in the process and reinforce open discourse,

internally and externally, about how collected data is secured, stored, and used. In addition, curators should make certain that the goals of artist demographic data collection projects are clear and shared, and that institutions establish and publish action plans based on their findings—for instance, changing acquisition and display policies and practices—to ensure organizations will be held accountable.

It is vital that the initiative to gather artist demographic data is not viewed as a project that has a beginning and an end, but rather as a continuous and evolving effort with modifications and adaptations welcomed. In no way can an artist demographic data collection project ever be deemed complete or considered set in stone. Artists may opt to change their responses, new terminology and ways of structuring identity may impact fields in the questionnaire, goals may change internally, and the capacity to maintain a project may shift (see Feedback and Updates). Both the questionnaires and the processes for creating, maintaining,

and using them should be considered organic, living projects.

The act of accumulating demographic data about people should center the critical voices of the people. Many artist constituents in an institution’s collection or exhibition program may not be alive to undergo this process of self-identification, which poses numerous issues and concerns. This guide centers on the capacity to collect information from living artists, which enables the voice of the artist to be part of the project in a way that is not possible for nonliving artists. However, while this guide does center on living artists, the stages, processes, and questions to raise are applicable for projects regarding deceased artists as well.

When using this guide, it is important to keep in mind that it largely employs U.S.-specific language and terminology. The general guidelines and information are, however, relevant across the nonprofit arts sector globally. In addition, this document offers a path forward for all team members working on artist demographic data projects.

GETTING STARTED

For nonprofit arts organizations, demographic data can be constructive information that offers insight into patterns among all their various constituencies, including staff, board, visitors, funders, and artists, as well as into their policies around collections, exhibitions, funding, and governance. In the aggregate, artists’ demographic data can reveal broader insights, including what groups or identities are equitably or inequitably represented and presented within an institution’s holdings and exhibition programs. An arts organization that analyzes demographic data of artists can make its exhibitions, permanent gallery displays, and acquisitions more inclusive. This is particularly true in considering living artists. The data collection process itself presents an opportunity to center equitable practices.

Any artist demographic study must begin with thoughtful, cross-functional discussions to develop a clear motivation or key purpose for the collection of this data. This motivation, and the process as a whole, should be transparent and shareable.

Artist demographic data collecting initiatives might be requested by institutional leadership or colleagues who have a particular need in mind or see the benefits of collecting this data more generally to help shape the organization’s mission and exhibition and collection programs. They may also be a response to external interest, such as questions from constituencies and media inquiries. Regardless, for many organizations, these are new projects and there are many questions on where to begin, how to best approach this type of enterprise, and even what artist demographic data is and how to collect it.

This section seeks to provide guidance for brainstorming, conceptualizing, assessing, considering the ethical ramifications of, and finally beginning (or

deciding not to begin) to create this type of project.

Navigating myriad unique identities, and numerous ways to define those identities, is complicated. It is imperative to implement a collaborative, mission -driven process that includes voices from across and outside of the institution. Any artist demographic study must begin with thoughtful, cross-functional discussions to develop a clear motivation or key purpose for the collection of this data. This motivation, and the process as a whole, should be transparent and shareable.

During the conceptualization process, as demographic data is highly sensitive personal information for which the institution will be responsible, it is important to be aware of the practical and ethical considerations for the project, such as resources, long-term investment, and privacy. Artist questionnaires are meant to affirm artists’ agency to define their own identity; however, if proper care is not taken, there is serious potential to create harm. The cognitive dissonance

between traditional expectations of open access to all information relating to an organization’s engagement with artists in their collection and/or exhibitions and the need to respect individuals’ right to privacy will need to be considered transparently and inclusively. It is not possible to guarantee the privacy of material collected due to the potential for human error and the fallibility of digital systems. Some information, such as citizenship status, may be considered sensitive enough that it should not be collected at all.

Discussions need to be had from the beginning on how this data will be used by the organization, which will affect the management and maintenance of the information within your organization. Collecting and reporting on sensitive, personal data requires an understanding of its use by all internal and external stakeholders. Usage should be the very first question in answering why a project is being requested, and one that should be constantly raised throughout the process. Each project should have a

mission statement that includes the why and the usage aspect and that is referred to throughout the process.

If an institution feels it does not have the capacity, support, or resources to carry out this work in accordance with the highest ethics and professional practices, consideration could be given to collaborate with other institutions, pool resources, connect with external colleagues, and/or reflect on other paths forward, such as a smaller-scale initiative that adds questions to a preexisting process. If the recommendation from the stakeholders is that the organization cannot, to the utmost best practices, create an artist demographic study that is fair and equitable, then honest discussions on postponing the project should be made. All uncertainties should be sorted through to full agreement by all engaged before proceeding.

PREPARATION

The impetus for an artist demographic data project may come from leadership, including the board, staff, and/ or external stakeholders. The first step is to assess the formative reasons and needs for this type of project before deciding to proceed. A few key factors to consider are:

• Request: Where has the request come from and what is that person’s/ group’s stakeholder role in the project?

• Goal: Why has an artist demographic data project been requested? What is the goal? Is the organization open to the data analysis process changing this goal?

• Timing: Is there a reason for the request at this specific time? What is the timeline expected for all stages?

• Mission and Vision: In what way does the project speak to the mission and vision of the organization?

• Motivation: Is the desire to move this project forward authentic? Is it a checkbox for data or is it seeking information from the data to forge a way forward with DEIAB work?

• Trust: What trust building would need to be done if the organization’s voice in DEIAB is not trusted or respected by internal or external constituencies?

• Voice: Will the project give voice to underrepresented constituencies?

• Additional Goals: Are there motivations and goals not discussed in the original request that should be considered?

• Intersection: How does the project intersect with other larger initiatives (e.g., strategic planning, capital campaigns) conceptually and in terms of bandwidth and timing? Is there openness to the project itself initiating programmatic shifts?

• Usage and Audience: How will the information collected be used? Is the intent for internal usage or public viewing? Is the original intent for it to be used for public relations, development, or education to advance the institution’s profile and funding and/or is it to change and meet directions of DEIAB goals? Will it be used to ensure equitable practices?

• Data Storage and Security: Is there a plan for storing the information? Does the plan take into account security concerns?

• Staffing: Is there a clear plan for staffing for the project? Who will it impact and how will their day-to-day schedules be balanced? Who is the project lead who will ensure that the work gets done and is coordinated across all staff and stakeholders?

• Funding: Are there specific funds allocated for the project or is it

expected to be executed within an existing budget? Are any additional staff members or consultants required?

Initial conversations can be informal and are meant for securing preliminary ideas about goals, purposes, and resources. All of these questions should be addressed in an iterative way throughout the process, and any changes to the original responses considered before taking further steps. Before moving beyond this point, document any topics, concerns, and questions that surfaced through these initial discussions. If the answers to these questions are in balance with best practices and ethics, proceed to the next stage. If there are gaps and/ or unclear information, pause and come to a mutual agreement on how to rectify these concerns before advancing.

CONCEPTUALIZATION

In the conceptualization stage, early conversations begin to be formalized through collaborative and crossdepartmental convenings, including one-on-one, roundtable, and/or focus group discussions.

Identifying key internal and external stakeholders to participate in the conceptualization process is important and ensures an open and productive dialogue throughout. Seek to garner representation across lived experiences and identity groups as well as to secure staff members who are known for their advocacy for equitable practices in the past. Even if the latter are not able to participate in the full project directly, they should be contacted to aid in this part of the conversation and/or recommend a colleague who might welcome the commitment. Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), women, LGBTQIA+, and other staff from historically marginalized groups should feel welcome and

be invited to participate; however, they should not be made to feel obligated and should never be invited solely for their identity. It should never be undertaken or even entertained that their voice in the process is to represent or speak for and/or on behalf of any affiliated group. Be sure to invite a team member from all departments at the start, regardless of whether they will regularly work with artist demographic data, to gather varying views and opinions.

Later in the process, key stakeholders in collecting and using the data will take on larger roles to negotiate the varied needs and potential data uses throughout the organization. Departments or roles that may be part of the initial conceptualization group that might continue as deeper stakeholders, which will later be referred to and work as a project team, are board relations, conservation, communications/ marketing, curatorial, development, education (perhaps in a facilitation role

as well), human resources, leadership office, library, membership, public relations, publications, registrar, and visitor services. Critical to the success of these efforts is a sole project lead who is responsible for the coordination and completion of all work across the entire project team. It is also recommended to invite artists and members from constituencies that the organization serves to participate at any and all stages. This involvement should ideally be compensated.

During these early conceptualization conversations, identify and discuss foundational questions and considerations for an artist demographic data project. The initial questions addressed should be asked again and the earlier responses presented:

• Request: Where has the request come from and what is that person’s/ group’s stakeholder role in the project?

• Goal: Why has an artist demographic data project been requested? What is the goal? Is the organization open to the data analysis process changing this goal?

• Timing: Is there a reason for the request at this specific time? What is the timeline expected for all stages?

• Mission and Vision: In what way does the project speak to the mission and vision of the organization?

• Motivation: Is the desire to move this project forward authentic? Is it a checkbox for data or is it seeking information from the data to forge a way forward with DEIAB work?

• Trust: What trust building would need to be done if the organization’s voice in DEIAB is not trusted or respected by internal or external constituencies?

• Voice: Will the project give voice to underrepresented constituencies?

• Additional Goals: Are there motivations and goals not discussed in the original request that should be considered?

• Intersection: How does the project intersect with other larger initiatives (e.g., strategic planning, capital campaigns) conceptually and in terms of bandwidth and timing? Is there openness to the project itself initiating programmatic shifts?

• Usage and Audience: How will the information collected be used? Is the intent for internal usage or public viewing? Is the original intent for it to be used for public relations, development, or education to advance the institution’s profile and funding and/or is it to change and meet directions of DEIAB goals? Will it be used to ensure equitable practices?

• Data Storage and Security: Is there a plan for storing the information? Does the plan take into account security concerns?

• Staffing: Is there a clear plan for staffing for the project? Who will it impact and how will their day-to-day schedules be balanced? Who is the project lead who will ensure that the work gets done and is coordinated across all staff and stakeholders?

• Funding: Are there specific funds allocated for the project or is it expected to be executed within an existing budget? Are any additional staff members or consultants required?

Differing views should be reviewed and discussed with the original team, though it is probably better that they simply be part of this phase, as long as it does not hinder open conversation. Advancing a deeper dive into additional questions and discussions will be useful at this stage. While developing and considering new questions to ask, ensure they center on authenticity, trust, capacity, service, and reflection as much as the path forward. A few examples are listed here, with some repeated due to importance:

• Review and discuss openly who is initiating the project and why was it first considered.

• Ensure it is clear why you are collecting this information.

• How does the project concretely relate to the mission and the values of the organization?

• How will the artist demographic information be used, internally and/or externally? Will the data be used for internal benchmarking, accountability, and/or tracking progress in diversifying the

collection? Will it impact existing labels and object records? Who will then manage updating information across physical and online platforms for this variety of uses?

• How does this type of information benefit the organization and/or its constituents?

• Which departments are needed to realize a project like this?

• What are the roles needed to execute it?

• What is the time commitment from the staff and additional voices involved?

• Does the request take into consideration the capacity of current staff?

• What guidelines need to be set up for those working on the project (conflict of interest, fair and equitable voice regardless of title, agreement of nonretribution, etc.)?

• Which artists or community constituents does this initiative impact?

• What would constitute a misuse of data based on the organization’s values and its obligations to artists and the public?

• What are the organizational strengths and weaknesses that could benefit or undermine the success of this project?

• Does the institution currently support and acknowledge unique and varied visible and invisible expressions of identity? Does this support and acknowledgment align with the purposes of the artist demographic data collection?

• Does the institution actively demonstrate inclusivity in building spaces of belonging, in particular for artists?

• What is the capacity of the organization to not only undertake this project but also maintain and update it indefinitely? Does the organization need external consultants to help with this assessment?

ASSESSMENT

Current Practices

It is crucial to survey current documentation practices across your organization as well as to understand workflows, standards, tools, and stakeholders already involved in demographic data collection. Development, education, human resources, and visitor services departments often collect data on fundraising efforts, visitors, program attendees, staffing, and more. It is also possible that there already are efforts to collect demographic data from artists, for example, for exhibitions, loans, and acquisitions. This should all be reviewed to determine who is requesting demographic information internally or externally, what types of information they are looking for, and why, in addition to how it is being stored and shared, internally or externally.

As you examine the organization’s history in demographic data and current collection processes in regard to artists, also look at what is already being

shared publicly, for living and nonliving artists, e.g., object identification labels in the gallery or on the organization’s website. It is important to know what is being publicly shared, so that the group can discuss if that information will need to be reconsidered in its presentation. Determine how a new artist demographic data collection process and results would impact how, where, and what is already outwardly presented. If the intent is to include new information in all locations, then, for example, new labels and object records will need to be created throughout the organization, which has an impact on staffing and finances.

If demographic data collection already happens in the organization, an indepth investigation into why, how, and by whom this information is collected, stored, and used should be undertaken, and similarly, if there are other forms or questionnaires already in place they

should be reviewed too. Consider if legal counsel was utilized in implementing any current data collection practices, as it is possible that they were not, particularly for a small study. Reflect not just on the who/why, but also consider how new information gathered in this initiative will impact the preexisting workflows, records, and data. It would be rare for an organization not to have collected any type of survey from visitors, members, donors, and/or program attendees. That said, if no demographic data is currently being collected, investigate why the organization hasn’t embarked on a project like this before, in any capacity, and the potential issues or opportunities that might then exist with this one.

Tools

Communicate with all departments to review any preexisting technologies, such as databases or online applications, used in the organization that could

support this endeavor. Speaking with development, education, library, registrar, and visitor services staff can lead to a discovery of resources and helpful feedback. Evaluate the currently utilized resources for their suitability, including their technical and security capabilities. It would also be helpful to consider approximately how many artists or data points the institution has or plans to track in the future to get a sense of a tool’s ability to be used sufficiently and accurately. In terms of questionnaires, Google Forms is widely used, but it is necessary to figure out how the information gathered is then integrated into the organization’s data, and what are the capacity and security abilities of the platform. Other commonly used survey platforms include Wufoo, Airtable, Typeform, and SurveyMonkey.

Resources

Having sufficient resources in the areas of technology, staffing, and budget

is critical to successfully delivering on the initial objectives and long-term maintenance of an artist demographic project. Budgets that include funding for the ongoing process are essential, and a commitment to sustainable resources is necessary before moving forward. This is not a two- or three-year endeavor to be left behind, but one that will require financial support and resources throughout the life of the organization. Therefore, the next step should be to determine the necessary funding to carry out and maintain the artist demographic data collection over the short and long term, including budgetary implications. Investigate and decide what software or programs will be used, and if there are new acquisition and subscription costs involved in gathering and storing the information. Ensure that data is stored on a secure database, ideally using encryption to prevent against any leaks. Because changes and advancements in technology are a given, ensure to the best of your ability that the programs are malleable and capable

Communicate with all departments to review any preexisting technologies, such as databases or online applications, used in the organization that could support this endeavor. Speaking with development, education, library, registrar, and visitor services staff can lead to a discovery of resources and helpful feedback.

of adjusting to future changing needs in tracking, reporting, and integration and that any technological tools are feasible within the organization’s timeline and budget. Determine if preexisting databases already require updates to

encompass more expansive identity options (see Questionnaire Structure).

Staffing costs are another big factor to consider for the long-term success of the project. Staff overtime, regular anticipated salary increases for cost of living and promotions, training courses (tech, DEIAB, data management), and employee benefits should all be taken into account. Review if new hires are needed for designing the survey; collecting, entering, storing, and updating the data; as well as overall maintenance. The full timeline—from the design phase through the open-ended timeline for updates, changes, and maintenance—needs to be laid out in order to have reliable staffing expenditures in place. Other factors to consider are the institution’s size and resources and how those affect the project’s scope and feasibility.

Communication

Ensure ongoing support from leadership by checking in and sharing the findings of the initial assessment clearly, openly, and transparently with them,

including the board if appropriate. Provide a clear understanding of why you are undertaking the project, how you are doing it, and what purpose it will serve. This process should be repeated at each stage or milestone, with findings and progress shared with all the stakeholders, including the originators of the project, if internal, and with leadership (see Accountability). Ensure that everyone involved, from the board to the staff, understands the goals, data usage, and relationship to the organization’s mission and values of the artist demographic data project in the same way. Underscore the importance of resource allocation for such an endeavor. Consider providing opportunities for anonymous staff feedback, and communicate transparently with all the impacted departments and build consensus and understanding around the goals of the project and how it will affect staffing and workloads.

One department or function cannot take sole ownership of the progress, updates, or impact. While a singular

lead is critical, the project should not be owned by one department within the organization to prevent their particular profession’s point of view becoming too dominant in the process. In addition, there should not be multiple angles to the project presented to different constituencies to appeal to their desires. All descriptions, motivations, and anticipated results presented to different internal constituencies should be shared in the same format and with identical information.

If uncertainties and/or questions arise that affect capacity, support, best practices, and more, there should be a pause before moving forward. Alternative options should be investigated, such as partnerships and collaborations to pool resources.

LEGAL IMPLICATIONS

Lack of clarity about the legality of collecting and using artist demographic data has been cited by many nonprofit organizations as a reason for not engaging in such a process. In general, in the United States, there are no legal barriers to such a project if the artist demographic data collection is executed in a way that protects the subjects’ privacy rights, as those are defined in various laws and regulations. The data privacy considerations will vary from country to country. The information provided here is largely focused on statutes and regulations for the United States. It is the organization’s responsibility to ensure all stakeholders have familiarity with applicable laws concerning data privacy. Even basic knowledge of these legal matters can help inform the project parameters and enhance institutional focus on equity, inclusivity, and privacy. Legal review and advice must be garnered at the onset of the project to prevent future,

NOTE

Civil rights are personal rights protected in the United States by the constitution and federal laws enacted by Congress such as Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and the Age Discrimination Act of 1975. While these civil rights statutes prohibit discrimination on the basis of protected statuses including age, race, disability, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, religion, sex, and sexual orientation, they do not prohibit the collection of data documenting the demographics of those protected statuses.

RESOURCES

International Data Laws

Farkas, Lilla. “Data collection in the field of ethnicity.” European Commission, 2017. York, Joanna. “France debates legality of collecting ethnicity data.” The Connexion, June 16, 2020.

“Ethnic Origin and Disability Data Collection in Europe.” Open Society Foundations, 2014.

“Guidance note on the collection and use of equality data based on racial or ethnic origin.” European Commission, September 2021.

otherwise unfounded legal concerns. Regardless of the funding source for any project, arts organizations also have an obligation to work with and coordinate with the individuals responsible for securing, maintaining, and/or reporting on the usage of the financial support.

Data Privacy Rights

The comprehensive privacy law of the European Union (EU), General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), applies to all organizations that collect the data of EU residents, requiring them to ask for permission to share data and outlining the rights of individuals to access, delete, or control the use of that data. While the United States does not have a comparable federal data privacy scheme, GDPR will apply to arts organizations that collect data from EU residents. While there are several U.S. laws (e.g., Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule [COPPA], Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act [HIPAA], and Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act

[FERPA]) designed to protect specific types of data from specific classes of individuals, most of these fall outside the normal practice of museums and other arts organizations. Additionally, at the time of this writing, five states— California, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, and Virginia—have enacted comprehensive data privacy laws, and several others, including New York, have privacy bills in various stages of committee review. Most museums and arts organizations will fall below the thresholds of revenue, the number of employees, and/or the number of individual records containing Personal Identifiable Information (PII) processed by the organization that would trigger the need for compliance with state privacy laws.

Nevertheless, to ensure the protection of participants’ rights and privacy, project leaders should review the proposed methodology for data collection, usage, storage, and privacy with their organization’s experts, including information technology, human resources, and/

or legal counsel, to ensure compliance with the organization’s policies and with applicable laws. Laws governing data privacy and the sharing of PII should also be evaluated prior to sharing demographic data externally. Note that the law is the minimum level of protection that the organization must enact, however going beyond the current legal statutes is advisable ethically—securing data is essential to maintaining trust and respect.

RESOURCES

U.S. Data Laws

“Data Protection Laws and Regulations 2022.” International Comparative Legal Guides.

Frankfurt, Tal. “ What Does GDPR Mean for U.S.-Based Nonprofits?”

Forbes, May 25, 2018.

RESOURCES

U.S. Data Laws continued

“Implementation Guidance on Data Collection Standards for Race, Ethnicity, Sex, Primary Language, and Disability Status.” U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, October 30, 2011.

Ver Ploeg, Michelle, and Edward Perrin, eds. “Private-Sector Collection of Data on Race, Ethnicity, Socioeconomic Position, and Acculturation and Language

Use. Cover of Eliminating Health Disparities” in Eliminating Health Disparities: Measurement and Data Needs. National Research Council

(US) Panel on DHHS Collection of Race and Ethnic Data, Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press, 2004.

“State Laws Related to Digital Privacy.” National Conference of State Legislatures.

“ U.S. Privacy Laws: The Complete Guide,” Varonis, September 2, 2022.

COMMENCING THE PROJECT

Assembling a Project Team

The first step to initiating the project itself is to put together a formal team to work on the full endeavor. Utilize the participants secured in the earlier step, with their interest and commitment, or expand to additional ones. The project should be an inherently interdepartmental effort and include representatives from all teams involved with gathering, administering, or utilizing the data and that are entrusted to accurately represent artists and artworks and to archive related data and records. Follow the United Nations’ human rights principle of participation that affected parties should be included in the process and outcomes.

Ideally, at least one representative from each department or function involved in the effort should participate to ensure that all perspectives are included, taking

into consideration, however, that the group does not become too large and unwieldy. Selected representatives at this stage should have a working knowledge of the needs and priorities of their respective departments and some authority to implement decisions, as well as the capacity to participate. These departments may include board relations, conservation, communications/marketing, curatorial, DEIAB staff or committee members, development, education, human resources, leadership office, library, membership, public relations, publications, registrar, visitor services, and others, depending on the organization’s structure and staffing. The work of data coordination should be acknowledged as part of each employee’s position description and workload, if not already included. It is

RESOURCE

Universal Values

strongly recommended that one person is assigned to lead the project and be held accountable to its completion and success. Without this centralization, responsibilities and ownership can become unclear, leading to dropped balls, timeline delays, and inconsistencies across the various work streams. Appoint additional project managers if needed to ensure consistent administration, accountability, and communication for all members of the project team and advisory group.

At this point, the project team, along with leadership, should create a purpose statement and work plan for the project, along with a document that highlights commitment, transparency, and

equitable distribution of work and resources among the project team. Review notes and findings from earlier phases as part of this process (see Preparation and Conceptualization).

Simultaneously, create a stakeholder advisory group to be consulted at milestone phases. This group could include external community members, artist representatives, those from diverse backgrounds, members of underrepresented groups, and especially those who participated in the conceptualization process (see Conceptualization).

As a reminder, the initial individuals who requested the project, such as leadership and the board, must be regularly and consistently updated, while the full staff should be apprised at key stages, likely at less frequent intervals. New discoveries or ideas that impact the project at differing stages, along with planning and policy documents, assessment reports, and external research, should be shared with the advisory group as well as organizational leadership and affected departments. Securing

“Human Rights-Based Approach.” United Nations.

leadership approval and acceptance of each stage is important, as is ensuring that they are provided deadlines for responses. It is necessary to incorporate feedback and thoughtfully document and discuss why information from these sharing opportunities should or should not be incorporated.

Before proceeding at any stage, make sure the project team remains true to the purpose of the project and to the mission and vision of the organization. Ensure adherence to policies and procedures, which may vary depending on the size and structure of your organization.

Training the Project Team

Participants need to have diversity, equity, inclusion, access, and belonging (DEIAB) training before starting the project. This should be above and beyond standard annual human resources trainings and cover race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and any other identity marker related to the project, as well as fluidity and intersectionality—the overlap, intersection, and changeability of these

RESOURCES

DEIAB Training

“13 Diversity Training Programs to Kickstart DEI in 2022,” 360 Learning.

“Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Workplace Certificate, University of South Florida.

NOTE

Project management templates from the Management Center or project management tools such as Airtable, Asana, or Monday may prove helpful in developing a timeline.

categories. This training will give project team members a shared vocabulary for and a deeper understanding of DEIAB concepts before developing the questionnaire and working with community members and artists.

Due to the fluidity of terminology and understanding around these topics, the project team should keep up with the latest literature, including from sectors outside the arts, such as publishing, education, and media, and additional training will be needed throughout the project development and implementation. This is not a one and done training, but ongoing learning should be part of the project throughout its development and execution. All participants should also have a clear outline of accountability, engagement, and obligations around issues of conflicts of interest, safe spaces, and equitable practices. In addition, they should have an understanding of the basic legal issues around data gathering (see Legal Implications) as well as data collection methodologies at the beginning of the project.

Grounding Research

Team members should acquire an understanding of demographic data collection more broadly. Begin by researching well-established external efforts, such as relevant censuses, local government agencies, nonprofits, etc., to understand how this type of data is defined, gathered, organized, and used. Consider also the literature problematizing these sources (e.g., there is significant debate around U.S. Census categories). It might also be helpful to consult external groups who have undertaken similar projects. (See Case Studies.)

Accountability

Critical to the success of this initiative will be careful messaging on the why of this project internally, ensuring that staff and other organization community members are clear about the goals of the initiative, the desired outcomes, the overall lift, and the broad timeline and motivated to execute on the significant associated workload. Provide space for reporting back to leadership, affected

Participants need to have diversity, equity, inclusion, access, and belonging (DEIAB) training before starting the project. This should be above and beyond standard annual human resources trainings and cover race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and any other identity marker related to the project, as well as fluidity and intersectionality—the overlap, intersection, and changeability of these categories.

departments, and the full staff at milestones in the project. These presentations may consist of new discoveries or ideas that affect the project, planning and policy documents, assessment reports, and external research. Incorporate and respond to feedback thoughtfully, with documentation and discussion.

Once the mission and vision for the project is finalized, the organization

should publicly share that they are embarking on it. The project team working on it does not need to be identified nor does every step need to be outlined, but leadership should release a short statement on the organization’s website that outlines the purpose. Within that statement should be a clear concession that the process is ongoing and that there is no set start nor end, and that updates will be provided as they are available and relevant. This public admission ensures that the organization will be transparent and authentic in the process, while also creating accountability for the execution of this work.

Project Timeline

At the first gathering of the formal project team, it is critical to set up a regular cadence of meetings with a commitment by the participants to prioritize them. For the group, a basic strategy for effective execution of meetings should be followed for equitable and respectful practices, agendas, summaries, action points, updates, deliverables, and dialogue.

Begin by reviewing the current or anticipated timeline set out at the initial stages. It is vital that a detailed, clear, and structured project timeline that highlights roles and responsibilities for each team member be established. Ensure that time is also built in for leadership review and feedback at regular intervals. Due to the sensitivity of the data, the project needs to proceed carefully and correctly, without artificial time pressures. Anticipate and build into the timeline known large events (such as galas, new exhibitions, or holidays), and ensure every stage has, as noted, time for review, input, and modifications by all involved, including leadership. Build in flexibility given that the need to do things ethically and equitably is paramount, above meeting deadlines, and also anticipating that there could be turnover or leaves among staff.

Goals may shift over the course of the project and the working team should build in moments to periodically assess that its process is aligned with institutional objectives as well as with the artist demographic data project’s vision and

goals. Points for reflection may be based on the calendar (e.g., quarterly) or on key milestones, such as the completion of an organizational assessment, significant feedback from stakeholders, the first draft of a questionnaire, etc.

The exact timing will vary depending on the size and scope of the project, the size and capacity of the organization, and various internal and external factors. This will not be a one-timeline-fits-all effort, but regardless of size or internal structure, every institution embarking on this type of project needs to give it ample time to recognize the magnitude of the effort.

Some possible key milestones are listed here, which together could take 24 months or more to complete.

• Finalizing the scope and type of artist demographic data to be collected.

• Selecting the format of the questionnaire and any software needed to create or support it.

• Selecting the repository for the data (existing or newly created or adopted database).

• Authoring the questionnaire, including its introduction and cover sheet.

• Assembling contact information of artists and/or their representatives.

• Setting communications standards and protocols.

• Distributing questionnaires.

• Collecting and processing responses, including entering data.

• Interpreting and analyzing data.

• Incorporating data into the publications and procedures of all departments.

• Reviewing the impact of the data on acquisitions and exhibition planning policies, and incorporating necessary adaptations.

• Presenting findings to stakeholders.

Planning and Policy Documents

First analyze the reports compiled from the assessment phase (see Assessment) and any updates that have occurred since before drafting planning and policy documents. Ensure that they still clearly lay out the purpose of the project and the

tasks, timelines, and resources needed to complete, implement, and maintain it. Then review the mission and vision statements for the project to ensure they center transparency, equity, and inclusion. These should include:

• Goals and aims of artist demographic data collection across functions and departments.

• Outlines for sharing aggregated and disaggregated data both internally and externally. Begin to identify where exactly the data will be used— collections management systems, interpretive materials and scholarly publications, digital and print collateral, grant applications and reports, etc. (See Data Use.)

• Plans to report out internally and externally about the project itself— history, process, implementation, participation rates, etc. (See the SFMOMA example in Case Studies.)

• Processes for data integration into existing workflows related to growing and refining collections, documentation and cataloging

practices, exhibition and program planning, fundraising, marketing and public relations, and public outreach and partnerships.

• Options provided for artists’ participation in or feedback on the data collection process, as well as opportunities to edit responses. (See Feedback and Updates.)

• The implementation of the questionnaire, such as timing and workflow. (See Implementation.)

• Question development that specifies which data serves research and/or collection needs on specific projects or the larger interpretation of an artist’s work. If there is no practical application for the data furnished by a proposed question, the project team may opt to omit it to maintain

the participants’ privacy. (See Questionnaire Content.)

• Institutional policies for management of and access to data. This language may also appear in an abbreviated form on the questionnaire. Determine reasonable expectations of confidentiality for the institution. Who will have access to this information in the database? What information will be shared publicly? Is there any that will be kept for internal use only? (See Data Use.)

• The process for and frequency of questionnaire revision initiated by the staff (e.g., to introduce current and preferred terminology), as well as removing or redacting previously collected data if needed. (See Feedback and Updates and Data Management.)

CREATING AND IMPLEMENTING A QUESTIONNAIRE

When embarking on designing and implementing an artist demographic data questionnaire, it is important that there is institutional agreement and recognition that the questionnaire is a living document and that identities are not fixed. It will never be complete or final, as questionnaires must be responsive to changing terminology and newly considered facets of identity. Similarly, artists should be allowed to amend responses or redo the survey as needed, as well as feel respected and included rather than othered by the questions the survey asks and the possibilities for response—for instance, not seeing their identity reflected in the response options, feeling like an identity facet they consider minor is made overly prominent, or that their identity is being tokenized.

When designing a questionnaire, it is important to consider the colonial legacies that have informed understandings of identity and demographic markers. As mentioned earlier, for example, the U.S. Census form is considered out of date and reflective of historical biases.

Questionnaires should use language and vocabulary that is current, understandable, and that respects artists and their identities. It is also important that the questions are adaptable to situations of cultural and linguistic difference. While it is helpful for there to be alignment between database structure and survey structure, be aware of replicating any

When embarking on designing and implementing an artist demographic data questionnaire, it is important that there is institutional agreement and recognition that the questionnaire is a living document and that identities are not fixed. It will never be complete or final, as questionnaires must be responsive to changing terminology and newly considered facets of identity.

RESOURCES

Developing Surveys

“Better Practices in Surveying Demographic Information,” Society of Industrial Organizational Psychology.

“Creating Inclusive Surveys,” Penn Libraries.

“Guide to Demographic Survey Questions,” National Center for Women and Information Technology.

“How to ask inclusive demographic questions in your market research,” Voxpopme.

“Inclusive Demographic Data Collection.” Office of Regulatory Affairs and Research Compliance (ORARC), Harvard University.

“Recommended Demographic Survey Items,” Society of Industrial Organizational Psychology.

RESOURCES

General

American Alliance of Museums

biases in the former, especially if using a preexisting program. For instance, “first name” and “last name” formulations or simplified “nationality” fields may be too limiting and expose bias toward conventions from Europe and the United States. Changes to existing databases or the adoption of new technology may be required and should be accounted for in the process. (See Tools.)

The implementation phase should also be guided by an agreed-upon set of values and ethics outlined by the project team, incorporating feedback from the organization’s leadership and voices from across departments within the organization as well as artists and stakeholders. Uphold the inherent value of and respect for artists’ time, labor, and energy, as well as for their privacy and choice around participating in the data project. When

collecting and interpreting the responses, always prioritize an artist’s self-designation of identity factors and related terminologies, and never modify, change, or fill in a response regardless of historical, personal, or publicly documented knowledge. If new information comes to light later on, updates may need to be considered in consultation with the respondent (see Feedback and Updates).

Additionally, it is important to recognize that living artists may intentionally hold back or alter personal demographic or identity information for various reasons. Plan for, allow, and respect a nonresponse to the survey in general or to any specific questions. While those working with an artist (e.g., a writer, scholar, dealer, curator, and/ or journalist) may wish to share the information they have on hand to help in securing full data responses, unless the artist has directly empowered the individual to provide that information, and done so in writing, it should not be used. If conflicting data is secured, such as differing responses to age,

RESOURCES

Related Surveys

American Community Survey, United States Census Bureau.

The Art of Equal Pay

Current Population Survey, United States Census Bureau.

General Social Survey, National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago.

National Archive of Data on Arts and Culture, University of Michigan.

Study of Jazz Artists 2001, National Archive of Data on Arts and Culture, University of Michigan.

that impacts an exhibition, label, or other documentation, the artist should be consulted to clarify the accuracy of the information and to provide the final decision on what should be utilized, with any stored information updated accordingly. Changing artist information must never be made without a living artist’s input. If institutions decide to partner on a project, and agree on questions, mission, vision, usage, execution, and maintenance, then this shared data needs to always be sustained accurately between the organizations.

Further Research

Building on the analysis conducted in the initial stages of the project (see Assessment and Grounding Research), the project team should conduct more in-depth research on preexisting models and resources. Upon doing this, review, update, and finalize the planning and policy documents (see Planning and Policy Documents). Communicate any updates to stakeholders.

• Conduct a thorough review of current demographic data projects across sectors, especially non-art organizations, with a particular focus on well-established demographic data surveys, such as the General Social Survey (GSS), American Community Survey (ACS), and Current Population Survey (CPS). This practice can help pinpoint data that is already vetted to a high standard, but there is still a need to ensure resources are applicable, relevant, and inclusive. Review for relevance to your project’s goals and organization’s mission as well as for suitability in prioritizing the voice of the respondent.

• Consult with other institutions that have undertaken or are in the process of undertaking artist demographic data projects and remember that many are considering this type of project—you are not alone. (See Case Studies.)

• Network and speak with colleagues locally and more broadly; seek

discussions on general policies and resources on demographic data around artists. Reach out to or review resources from external industry and social groups relevant to your constituents and project. For example, the Kenneth Rainin Foundation sought guidance from Queer Women of Color Media Arts Project for a demographic survey of artists in the Bay Area in order to design survey questions with categories that accurately reflected the self-perceptions of diverse community members.

• Review data service or authority files, such as Getty Vocabularies, id.loc.gov, Virtual International Authority File (VIAF), Indigenous Peoples Subject Headings Crosswalk, or Wikidata, with controlled vocabularies for demographic data, which provide consistent terminology that organizes data for use and analysis. Note that some of these are updated infrequently and their limitations should be considered and

RESOURCES

Vocabularies

Homosaurus: An international LGBTQ+ linked data vocabulary, Digital Transgender Archive. Indigenous Peoples Subject Headings Crosswalk, Peabody Essex Museum.

Union List of Artist Names Online and vocabularies, Getty Research Institute.

Virtual International Authority File (VIAF).

Wikidata.

adjusted for as institutional needs and shifting terminologies demand. These references are starting points, and it is the responsibility of each organization to ensure they are building a contemporary and inclusive vocabulary.

• Collection, acquisition, and exhibition guidelines at your organization should be reviewed for information and policies, if that was not done exhaustively in earlier stages, with the understanding that they may need to change in response to or in anticipation of this project.

• Consult field best practices and ethics on these topics from industry organizations such as the AAMC’s Professional Practices guide and resources from the American Alliance of Museums.

• Conduct a deeper audit of the demographic information that the institution is already collecting for any constituents, including artists. Ensure you have reviewed every possible surveying mechanism the organization may have used or participated in.

After this more in-depth research, a review of the decisions made earlier should be undertaken, particularly in terms of technology choices. Ensure you are still on the right path and communicate that update outward.

QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN

Access

The priority in developing a questionnaire, as with any survey, is ensuring an equitable, fair, and accessible capacity to respond. Plan to make the questionnaire accessible to those with a wide variety of abilities, including those who use adaptive technologies. In the questionnaire, communicate the reasoning behind the project and planned usage of the information. Use clear and agreedupon language.

There always must be an open-field response option for all questions, and managing this type of data will need to planned for (see Data Management ). Do not make any question about artists’ demographic information required, and provide a “choose not to respond” option for every question, as to not force participants to answer

anything they feel uncomfortable sharing. These are key components to any questionnaire following best practices guidelines.

Format

Decide how information will be collected—electronically, via an online survey or PDF form, via in-person interviews, and/or via a handwritten form. More and more information gathering and communication with artists is happening electronically, and this format may be easier to secure initially, as well as easier to maintain, alter, and update into the future. Electronic forms will also allow for additional options based on user responses (conditional questions). Consider access and security pros and cons around these options, or if it will be necessary to have multiple formats.

RESOURCES

General Mobasseri, Armin. “Improving Readability,” Villanova University.

Language

Consider if the questionnaire will be translated into other languages by assessing both the resources involved and the constituencies that it will serve. Anticipate the resources and processes involved in translating responses as well. Also determine if the questionnaire requires the capacity to handle spellings and diacritics in a range of languages (e.g., Chinese characters [Pinyin or Wade-Giles], oral Indigenous languages), especially for the constituencies you plan to query.

Storage

The responses to the questionnaire should be able to be stored in both “computer-readable” and “human-readable” formats. The computer-readable format includes database fields in which this information will be stored as well

as any metadata that will be stored about the answers (date collected, who sent or received the survey, who filled it out). The human-readable and archival version of the questionnaire should be stored in its raw form to preserve the words of the artist. This can be a PDF version of the questionnaire linked to the artist in the database, a transcript of a conversation with an artist, printed in an artist’s folder, etc. Define who will have access to both the computer-readable and the human-readable versions and make sure they are linked. Artists should always be sent a copy of their responses upon submission. (See Data Management and Data Maintenance.)

Tone and Phrasing

Ensure that the tone of the questionnaire is accessible and sets reasonable expectations. For example, clarify what information the organization is planning to display on which platforms, qualifying that this may change, and establishing how these changes will be communicated to the artists and what approvals

will be needed. Ensure the method for artists to communicate feedback about the questionnaire is clear.

Use inclusive language that is respectful to a wide variety of cultural backgrounds as well as education, experience, age, and accessibility needs. A fifth-grade reading level is generally recommended for all outward facing materials.

• Less inclusive: “Program(s) attended, public collections with examples of your work, people with whom you have studied?” The phrasing of this question is elitist, prioritizing the experiences of artists who have more traditional arts educations and careers.

• More inclusive: “Is there anything else you’d like to share (general statement about your work or practice, places you have been active, collections with your work, programs you have attended, who you have studied with or been mentored by)?” The phrasing of this question prioritizes the artist themselves, focusing on artistic practice and leaving space for a diversity of backgrounds and experiences.

NOTE Groups

Consider how to handle artist attributions that are not simply individuals, e.g., artist collectives where members rotate or change (Guerrilla Girls, Postcommodity), Indigenous families who create works as a group, works created by a specific artist but attributed to a community. Designate one person to respond on behalf of the group, explicitly stating that their responses should be representative of the entire group, not of the one individual.

External Resources

Provide reference materials and links to additional research in case artists aren’t familiar with any of the terms your questionnaire employs.

QUESTIONNAIRE STRUCTURE

Planned uses for the data and the databases used to house and process it will in part dictate the structure of the questionnaire and vice versa. For any questions where there is a selection of options presented, ensure that you list the options in a consistent format; alphabetically can be the most objective, but sometimes it may be more logical to order differently. If you do list options in any set order, it is important to indicate that order (alpha order, English) and it is recommended that you acknowledge why you have done so. Ideally, the format of the questionnaire will allow for the most uses possible as well as balance objectivity and logic to be as easily interpreted as possible.

Question format can take varying models, including open-field, multiple choice, or a combination of both. These formats

can all be used within the same questionnaire. All of these formats have their pros and cons, which are listed here to help a project team begin conversations. In general, multiple-choice formats should allow respondents to select as many answers as they would like.

There are some questions that may fit into the multiple choice versus

The only questions that should be required are those that are needed to track the data between staff members or to be associated directly with the artist.

free-text-field structure better. (See the individual entries under Questionnaire Content.) As mentioned above, regardless of structure, always include an open-textfield option, allowing artists to respond in their own words or to add more nuance to the predetermined responses, especially in structures with more defined values. This space should not replace any list values, but be an optional addition (e.g., “Other [specify below]”).

Multiple-Choice Questions

• Pros: Easily digestible, transferable, and database-friendly data; useful for institutions undertaking data collection for a larger number of artists, or with a more focused data usage; because the data is more defined, it can be more seamlessly integrated into a database and interpreted in aggregate without excessive intervention from staff (i.e., the data will be more clean and easy to use); straightforward question structure puts less demand on artists filling out the form.

• Cons: Providing a selection of predetermined options can require more oversight and planning; more traditional structure can echo limited or outdated conceptions of identity; limited diversity and variation in responses.

Open-Text-Field Questions

• Pros: Can feel more inclusive and elicit a greater range of responses; lack of predetermined options may require less institutional oversight and maintenance; could be a more useful structure for smaller institutions that are collecting information from fewer artists.

• Cons: Data may be unsearchable, unable to be aggregated, or require more staff resources to translate into a controlled vocabulary for aggregation; risk of misinterpreting data is higher and may require more managed phrasing of questions to avoid; the empty fields can demand more time for artists to fill out and open-ended possibilities can be overwhelming to artists.

Optional vs. Required Responses

Questions about demographic data should never be required. A “choose not to respond” option provides an easy out to participants who do not feel comfortable sharing their data on particular questions.

The only questions that should be required are those that are needed to track the data between staff members or to be associated directly with the artist. For example, if the questionnaire is being shared digitally along with acquisition paperwork, make the “email address” question required, along with name. This will ensure that contact information for the artist is confirmed as well as that the information is findable and searchable. While it might be helpful to have required information be the preferred language of communication, that could also be seen as a way of discriminating against an individual. Institutions should consider how “prefer not to answer,” “not listed,” or “prefer to self-describe” options will be handled within the database and reported. (See Data Management.)

Privacy Options

There is an inherent inability to secure data in any databases, electronic or otherwise. Elaborate privacy preferences (e.g., by question, or allowing to indicate preference for individual vs. aggregate publication or reporting) are not recommended as they increase the possibilities of breaches, complications, and human error. Before instituting privacy options, consider the following points carefully:

• Can the database handle recording the privacy options being offered? Can it track and maintain them accurately and consistently?

• Will permissions groups within the staff be clearly defined, and is there a succession plan in place as staffing changes?

• Are there checks and balances in place to confirm that information is only being used that has been confirmed to be publicly shareable?

• Determine when and how the information that should only be private will be used; for instance, upon the death of the artist?

QUESTIONNAIRE CONTENT

Determining what demographic information to collect can be the most intimidating part of the project. Refer to the reasons for developing the questionnaire and planned uses for the data (see Planning and Policy Documents), as well as the research conducted by peer institutions and other demographic data projects (see Grounding Research and Further Research) to guide decisions around what to gather. The mission and goals should always be centered, and organizations should not collect data for which they have no practical purpose.

Name

To account for names that may not fit into the “first name,” “middle name,” and “last name” structure, questionnaires should provide fields where the artist can identify how they want their name to appear publicly, how they’d

NOTE

ULAN Guidance on Search provides a helpful breakdown of common fields.

like to be addressed, and a number of options for further clarifying the structure of their name. This may require changes to existing databases that are modeled on limited name structures, such as first, middle, last, and honorific. While alignment is useful, and should be sought after, the need to change an existing database is an expense and process that might not be considered in the early stages of a project but should be reviewed now.

Contact Information

This section could include a main and alternate contact information

(representative, estate, family member, assistant). Be aware that international mailing addresses may require different fields and formats, and try to use a sophisticated form that can adapt to these scenarios. Fields to consider include a personal and/or work email, phone number (indicating type, such as mobile or not, with the country code included), home and mailing address, and alternate contact information.

Languages

Languages spoken and preferred language for communication are often asked together, but should be considered separately. Ask for the respondent’s native language(s), preferred language for communication, and the language(s) they speak as separate questions. These should be open-text fields with options for multiple responses for each. Securing the preferred language for communication allows for an equitable place to collaborate, but institutions should acknowledge their own limitations as relevant. Language

questions can be asked as “Preferred language for communication,” “What is/are your native language(s)?,” and “What language(s) do you speak?” And, of course, offering a blank open-textfield response as advised.

Pronouns

Gender and sexuality are fluid and pronouns can change over time. Pronouns should be queried separately and not be conflated or associated with specific gender and sexual identities. Do not use the phrase “preferred pronouns,” because being gendered correctly is not merely a preference and should not be qualified as such—simply use “pronouns.” This is a question for which external resources can be particularly helpful for assisting with understanding. Because it is easy to conflate gender with pronouns, it is recommended to provide a baseline of options. Provide a variety of options and allow respondents to select as many as they would like, as people can identify by a range of pronouns from traditionally masculine (he/him/his) to

traditionally feminine (she/her/hers) and beyond (they/them/theirs; ze/zir/ zirs), sometimes in combination. Always provide open-text fields as the options for pronouns are limitless, and allow the respondent to select as many as they want. Recognize that pronouns may not be utilized in the culture or language of the respondent and/or that some people prefer to always be referred to by their name rather than by pronouns.

Gender

Gender identity is a person’s own internal sense of their gender. Gender identity is not the same as gender expression, which is the way a person presents their gender outwardly, and it is not the same as sex, including assigned sex at birth. Assumptions shouldn’t be made; for example, a person who has a gender identity of “woman” does not necessarily have a traditionally feminine gender expression, does not necessarily use she/ her/hers pronouns, and may not have been assigned female at birth. Provide a range of options and allow respondents

RESOURCE

Gender and Identity Questions

“Pronouns Matter,” Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Resource Center, University of California San Francisco.

“A Guide to Gender Identity Terms,” NPR.

“Sex and Gender Identity,” Planned Parenthood.

“Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Definitions,” Human Rights Campaign.

GLAAD Media Reference, Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.

to choose as many as apply, including agender, cisgender, cisgender man, cisgender woman, gender fluid, gender queer, intersex, nonbinary, man, woman, transgender, transgender man, transgender woman, and two-spirit (note that this term can be used to describe sexual orientation as well). If asking this question, acknowledge this is a response from a moment in time and ask the artist if they wish this answer to be aligned with their identity, a certain time period, or in any specific way.

Sexual Orientation

Sexual orientation is the emotional, romantic, or sexual attraction that a person feels toward another person, and an individual’s sexual orientation is independent of their gender identity or expression. Include a range of multiplechoice options with the opportunity to choose as many as possible and multiple open-text fields. Some terminology to consider using is: aromantic, asexual, bisexual, gay, heterosexual, lesbian, pansexual, queer, straight, and two-spirit

(note that this term could be used to describe gender as well). If asking this question, acknowledge this is a response from a moment in time and ask the artist if they wish this answer to be aligned with their identity, a certain time period, or more broadly.

Nationality/Residency/ Place of Birth

Note that many databases used by U.S. institutions are structured around limited conceptions of identity related

The mission and goals should always be centered, and organizations should not collect data for which they have no practical purpose.

to place, and that will not necessarily align with the articulation of every artist’s nationality. Allowing openness and flexibility in this and all fields is important. Be inclusive of a variety of scenarios, including refugee status, countries that have changed names in the respondent’s lifetime, disputed territories, multiple nationalities, and tribal nationalities as separate from cultural affiliations. Also note that nationality, ethnicity, race, and even religion can be overlapping points of identity but also have differing responses. If this is data that is displayed publicly or used frequently for querying, confirm that you’re asking the artist how they’d like this information to be displayed publicly. For example, “American, born Japan,” “Japanese and American,” “Japanese American,” “American,” “Japanese,” and “Japanese, working primarily in America” can all refer to the same artist based on the raw data, but one of these options might be preferred by the artist. Consider separating out questions about place of

birth, place of residence, and national identity, including immigration and naturalization. It is preferable to use open-text fields for these responses.

Ethnicity

Ethnicity refers to commonalities among groups that share cultural, traditional, and familial bonds, and should not be conflated with race. Questions about ethnicity, as with all demographic data, are sensitive and should be treated as such. It is possible to reference government forms or other demographic surveys used in the institution to think about the respondent options to the questions (see Grounding Research and Further Research ). Census surveys can be a starting point, but as noted earlier, many of these are outdated and can lead to offensive generalizations that do not reflect increased flexibility or changing terminology. An institution also needs to acknowledge its geographical viewpoint in considering ethnicity, which does not always apply globally.

Open-text options to respond are encouraged. Pay particular attention to terminology that may be controversial or could be construed as disrespectful or outdated. Be as expansive as possible if it is opted for in order to align data, however, do ensure you provide open-field capacity as well. In a shifting landscape, research on the most inclusive response options should be utilized.

Race

Questions about race are responses often sought after by demographic studies. However, it is also among the most sensitive of questions. In creating this inquiry, an institution needs to acknowledge its geographical viewpoint in considering race and not rely on outdated options such as those available in many government censuses.

Open-text responses are the ideal method for collecting this information in terms of sensitivity, yet multiple-choice formats are used frequently to receive aligned data for aggregation. If moving ahead with a multiple-choice response,

it is required that particular attention be paid to terminology that may be controversial or could be construed as disrespectful or outdated, and as noted, open-field responses have to be provided here regardless. If utilizing this information, it is strongly encouraged to ask if the respondent identifies as a person of color directly. Do not ever make assumptions based on responses.

Question formats to consider if a path of multiple choice (with multi-select options) are chosen include: “How would you describe your racial identity?” with responses that include but are not limited to Alaskan Native, Asian, Biracial, Black, Indigenous American, Indigenous, Monoracial, Multiracial, and/or White, along with options to not respond and an open-field option. Note that Latina/o/x/e and Middle Eastern identities are generally considered ethnicities, not races.

Religious Affiliation

Dive deeper into why this question is being asked in order to determine how

best to ask it, or if multiple related questions are needed, or if you need to ask this question at all. This question may also be shaped by the collecting practice of the institution—for example, a Jewish art museum might have a very different structure for this question than a modern art museum, and both may vary by location. Understand that someone might identify with a religion without actively practicing it and assumptions should not be made otherwise. A sample question for religious affiliation could be, “Do you observe or practice a religious faith or multiple religious faiths?”

Ability/Disability

This section should be created in collaboration with colleagues who have expertise in this field, including accessibility, education, and human resources. Be especially sensitive to the fact that information about disabilities can sometimes involve protected health information. A question about if the respondent identifies as having

a disability can be separate from those asking about the nature or category of the disability (sensory, learning, etc.) and/or the terminology they use to describe it (“If yes, how would you describe your disability?”). Consider separating out neurodivergence (e.g., autistic, ADHD) as its own option.

INTRODUCING THE QUESTIONNAIRE

Introductory messaging, which includes honest and transparent information about the survey, is an integral part of the document and should therefore be embedded within it so that the questionnaire cannot be removed from this context. To make it as accessible and visible as possible, it’s best to present it as a cover sheet, but it should be also included at the top of the survey.

Return to your original questions from the start of the project around goals, usage, intent, mission, and vision (see Planning and Policy Documents). The answers to these questions should still be applied and help form the information you will provide in the introduction to the survey. If they don’t align at this stage, the project must be paused and the statements reviewed, adapted, and modified to match the updated intent

or the project itself reconsidered and revised to align.

State that the organization will never populate any sections at any point, including with information from the public sphere, scholarship, or existing data and that self-identification is paramount. Indicate that the artist should fill out the form themselves but provide an option for receiving assistance if needed. Outline practical information such as how long the questionnaire should take to complete and if there is a deadline for completing the form. Adherence to a deadline will vary, but having one is helpful in encouraging responses to come in by a certain timeframe. It is recommended to set a deadline no longer than three weeks after the request to complete the survey, because artists may not feel compelled to respond and

may forget about the request, and to send a reminder before the deadline.

Emphasize that participation is optional.

Institutional Significance

Explain why your institution is gathering this information, including why it is important to your organization and how it aligns with its mission, values, strategic plan, and exhibition/acquisition policies. It is critical to be transparent and authentic. If you are seeking to bring change through this effort, to redirect the organization’s current and past trajectory, share that and be clear where the institution is seeking to go.

Usage

Be transparent about what you intend to do with the captured data and the impact the information could have on the organization. Share how the institution intends to use and communicate the data, whether internally or externally, and specifically where it might appear—catalogues, labels, print materials, website, social media, funding requests,

policy creation, etc. Explain what will be reported in aggregate and what will be utilized individually (this can also be indicated by a question, if relevant). Indicate how the responses may affect change at the museum, for instance, by amending acquisition policies and practices to center on more diverse representation in the collection. Describe the security measures the institution has in place to protect the information, but also clarify that privacy cannot be guaranteed.

Be transparent about what you intend to do with the captured data and the impact the information could have on the organization.

Privacy

It is important to assure artists that their identity information will not affect the institution’s relationship with the artist, including acquisitions of their work, plans for programming with them, etc. However, to set reasonable expectations, state that respondents shouldn’t share any information that they would not want used for curatorial choices, scholarship, cataloguing, etc., as relevant to planned public uses by the institution.

Storage

Indicate where the data will be stored (analog and digital) and archived and who will have access to the information in as broad and understandable a way as possible. While you may wish to be exclusive here, you should be as wide and open as possible, highlighting departments and not titles or specific individuals. Recognize that if you intend to use the data in a certain way, then those areas involved in that usage should have access to the data collected.

Other Questionnaires and Interpretation

Clarify the relationship or intersection between this questionnaire and other medium- or object-specific questionnaires that typically aid registration, curatorial, and conservation teams. Explain if you have demographic data on artists already, which could be from an acquisition, loan, object record and/or from a program, that this new form will replace it as the standard. For example, if a response is received from this survey that conflicts drastically with a current object record, the artist needs to be aware that the new survey response will replace older information. If there is an intent to contact every artist that this may happen with, it must be done so consistently and fairly with every discrepancy, not limited to certain questions or artist profile. This can be an unexpected capacity issue. The collecting organization needs to be very clear about this process and its intent when conflict arises in records.

Bias and Feedback

Indicate the feedback mechanisms and/ or contact information for respondents’ questions and concerns. Outdated cataloguing structures can be entrenched in institutions, and it is important to acknowledge the bias that may be present in the form and that the organization of the data in the survey might not match an artist’s conceptualization of their own identity. Feedback should be welcomed, as it can help to highlight bias and inequities, and those collecting the data need to accept input, as that shared information needs to inform current and future endeavors. The process will require recognition that the data-gathering organization and team may, intentionally or unintentionally, have a narrow realm of understanding that can be expanded through this process. (See Feedback and Updates.)

IMPLEMENTATION

Before releasing the questionnaire, make sure it is clear who will be responsible for communicating it to artists and processing responses from the artists, making it as centralized as possible. Do not wait until the questionnaire is ready for distribution before making decisions and creating infrastructure for the process. Members of the project team should be reviewing contact lists, developing outreach mechanisms, and timing, and setting up a point person for managing responses and questions.

Without tying the project to one individual or department, create a dedicated email inbox or portal that only assigned staff will be able to access, such as artist_info@XXXX.org, so that communications are centralized, private, and respondents are guaranteed equitable access.

Timing

Create a timeline and process for distribution of the questionnaire to artists. Refer back to the reasons for collecting the information to determine if this effort should be tied to collections, exhibitions, and/ or other initiatives or processes, such as programming, that involves living artists, including panel discussions, film screenings, performances, gallery talks, etc. Determine which current, ongoing, and upcoming projects should be considered for integration, looking carefully at your timeline. If tied to more expansive efforts, it should be determined from when to start, ensuring that if using programs, such as talks, and exhibitions, the start date for inclusion in the survey matches. If the organization is in the process of actively acquiring works, or in the midst of new exhibitions, a historical cut-off point for the project or ways

to incorporate the artist demographic data project into ongoing acquisitions and/or exhibitions may need to be determined. The cover letter and/or introduction may need to be modified depending on the impetus for or larger context of the request to complete the form. Conduct a detailed review of the distribution plans to prevent multiple requests to one artist under different projects or processes from the same institution.

Communicating with Artists

It might be necessary or more prudent to work through an assistant, studio staff, or gallery representative to reach the artist, though the questionnaire should ideally never be filled in by anyone who is not the artist. All communication should have the same script, including the cover letter, and should not vary by respondent, though it should be addressed to the artist personally.

If communicating electronically, send from or copy the centralized email inbox established for the project. Once

the questionnaire is submitted, ensure that a record of submission has been sent to the respondent. Send reminders to artists who have not completed the process. Expect a low completion rate, and only repeat outreach once to artists who have not responded. Reiterate the contact information and/or process for the artist to change or update their response or to provide feedback on the survey in these reminders. Do not contact artists more than twice per precipitating event or information-gathering drive; there may be good reasons why an artist is not willing to share demographic information about themselves. Do not create any penalties for nonparticipation or make any other aspect of your collaboration contingent on participation, and do not try to gather the information in other ways. Artists are extremely busy and fulfilling requests from all the museums and organizations that request their demographic data may not be their priority or feasible if they do not have a team or studio to help support them administratively.

Feedback and Updates

Demographic information may change, new research may surface, other publications and scholarly materials may become available, and preferred terminology may evolve; therefore, artist demographic information will likely need to be updated at regular intervals. Develop a check-in with artists for updates on a regular interval (e.g., every five years, or when acquiring a new work by them or other precipitating events as established by the initial distribution). Also ensure there is a simple way for artists to contact your institution to make corrections or updates as needed, and a designated staff member should regularly monitor the email address or portal (e.g., biweekly). Ensure the institution is prepared to handle disagreements with artists throughout, and has a clear process for doing so. Additionally, there may be a need to proactively correct, update, or amend existing records in consultation with respondents as new information becomes known or issues arise.

As discussed earlier in this section, the survey itself may need updates. A

review of identity terminology should be built into DEIAB consultation work and generate a periodic update, and an institutional timeline for conducting reviews and updates should be established.

DATA USE, MANAGEMENT, AND MAINTENANCE

Recording and standardizing fluid and inherently unique information can be a challenge. This section provides ethical and practical guidance around expectations, governance, and literacy related to artist demographic information, as expressed through data use, management, and maintenance. The decisions around how an organization collects and uses data are a critical part of its organizational memory and mindset; therefore, it is a best practice to document, disseminate, and share why and how decisions are made regarding data.

While this stage represents the culmination of all the efforts to develop a thoughtful and ethical approach to documenting artist demographics, this work must be considered during the conceptual and implementation phases of the project. It is the institution’s responsibility to honor each artist’s intentions and apply your defined values and agreed-upon policies and procedures to manage, maintain, and share that data with others.

How the information is recorded, the structures imposed on the data, and the systems employed to manage and access it determine meaning as well as how the information can be interpreted and presented. The records can enable you to understand the demographics in the aggregate (where you’ve captured structured, controlled data) and also support the contextualization of an artist’s identity in your storytelling.

Managing the data set must be an ongoing commitment, like tending a garden that grows and changes over time. An institution that collects artist demographic data must equip staff with the knowledge and skills to be custodians of that data. Keep in mind the fluidity of language and identity and respond as appropriate; your data set is not static. Plan for regular reviews of the data and your artist data collection processes, as well as the necessary labor and commitment to preservation.

As you share the data with your staff, colleagues, and audiences, be aware of the impact and consequences. Consider how well the intended use of the data aligns with your organization’s values and use this as a guide. Center values on open data (data that is publicly open for access and use, as well as technically open for linking and repurposing) and transparent processes. Remember that harm can be unintentional.

These guidelines are scalable and can be universally applied by any institution committed to both respecting an artist’s agency in self-identification and to employing effective and efficient data management. While they pertain to living artists’ information, the same care and ethics should be applied to demographic information about nonliving artists. Reputable sources for demographic information for nonliving artists should be cited alongside data and data provenance should be preserved.

Managing the data set must be an ongoing commitment, like tending a garden that grows and changes over time. An institution that collects artist demographic data must equip staff with the knowledge and skills to be custodians of that data.

DATA USE

When determining how questionnaire data can be used internally and shared externally, refer back to the initial decisions and policy documents related to the organization’s intentions for the data and the parameters outlined in the questionnaire (see Getting Started and Creating and Implementing a Questionnaire). The demographic data that is documented and stored should support the planned end uses. For example, using quantified data for internal analytics requires controlled terminology. Contextualizing the demographic data on an individual level requires narrative (free text) options. Your data-capture tools and process should allow both approaches. (See Questionnaire Structure.)

When deciding where and with whom to share the data, keep in mind the legal and ethical implications of assigning identity tags to named individuals, e.g., in an object ID on a label or in a visible search tag online. The data you gather

can be intentionally misused or cause unintentional harm to the identified artist. Consider limiting quantified reporting to the aggregate, with a preference for a contextual approach when sharing data about any individual publicly. Assume that any data gathered is potentially public, as there is no way to ensure the security of the data over time and across users once it is documented, regardless of your good intentions. If you think any of the data you gather should NOT be made public, then it is best not to collect it. Consider both the intended and unintended consequences

NOTE

Organizations may want to use the consequence decision tree found in the Playbook for Ethical Technology Governance to reflect upon consequences.

RESOURCES

Data Use

Sandberg, Jane, ed. Ethical Questions in Name Authority Control. Sacramento, CA: Library Juice Press, 2019.

Dunagan, Jake, and Ilana Lipsett.

“A Playbook for Ethical Technology Governance: Helping governments anticipate and prepare for unintended consequences of new technology.” IFTF Foresight Essentials, Foresight Matters, July 21, 2021.

D’Ignazio, C., and L. F. Klein. Data Feminism. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2020.

“Insight, Impact, and Equity: Collecting Demographic Data.”

PEAK Grantmaking.

of making artist demographic data accessible when sharing information both internally and externally.

Increasingly, arts organizations are being asked to report quantified data on the demographics of their artists by third parties, e.g., funders wishing to ensure their contributions support diverse communities, researchers examining collecting and exhibition practices, or potential employees or board members. These often take the form of broad percentages of given demographic groups, which loses detail (flattens) and can embed assumptions in your data set (e.g., by referencing “Black” or “White” artists without defining what those terms mean). Internal uses could also result in the flattening and decontextualization of data. When deciding what data to share and with whom, be aware of the requestors’ intentions and that any nuance in your data may be lost as these parties use the data for various purposes.

Using the planning and policy documents created earlier in the project as a starting point (see Planning and

Policy Documents), develop more detailed policies, plans, and procedures around data use prior to distributing the questionnaire.

Create and approve within your organization a publishing process for demographic information, including provisions for takedown.

When sharing data online, consider how you will both present and make artist demographic data discoverable as well as the implications of your choices. Information could do harm, such as outing an individual, exposing refugee status, or unintentionally misrepresenting changing identity information.

Have an organizational policy about how much demographic information is publicly shared about any individual or group of individuals. Consider all demographic information recorded by the organization equally whether it describes artists, donors, employees, board members, etc.

NOTE

Organizations may want to consider their intentions for artist demographic data collection and use the lens of the seven principles of data feminism as proposed by Catherine D’Ignazio and Lauren F. Klein in their book Data Feminism. The principles are: Examine Power; Challenge Power; Elevate Emotion & Embodiment; Rethink Binaries & Hierarchies; Embrace Pluralism; Consider Context; and Make Labor Visible. In so doing, organizations may become aware of and determine how they might address power imbalance and its reflections in data science.

RESOURCES

Data Use Continued

Montenegro, María. “Subverting the Universality of Metadata Standards.” Journal of Documentation; Bradford 75, No. 4 (2019): 731–749. DOI:10.1108/ JD-08-2018-0124.

“More Than Numbers: A Guide Toward Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in Data Collection.” Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies.

Rahnama, Hossein, and Alex “Sandy” Pentland. “New Rules of Data Privacy.” Harvard Business Review, February 25, 2022.

DATA MANAGEMENT

Data management policies and practices should be consistently reviewed and updated in alignment with your organization’s data use intentions. This includes the structures and processes that are designed to ensure accountability, transparency, responsiveness, legality, stability, equity and inclusiveness, empowerment, and broad-based participation. The following are some prompts and activities to consider in relation to data governance.

Provenance and Preservation

All returned questionnaires should be preserved—scanned (if hard copy) and saved (in a format as close as possible to what the artist returned) with a clear link to the data’s location.

• Establish a protocol to securely and consistently transfer information from the form to the database.

• Track when forms were sent out (and the precipitating event, e.g., an

acquisition or information-gathering project), which version of the questionnaire was sent, and whether completed questionnaires were returned or not.

○ Have a mechanism to receive, review and/or update, and remove data over time.

○ Prepare to handle variations of the questionnaire, either translations to different languages or updates to the questionnaire itself over time.

• Document what is not recorded (constituents who have not responded to the questionnaire or respond only partially) and how this is reflected in your data, e.g., capturing all types of responses: an answer, a decline to answer, no answer.

• Centralize data in anticipation of a future in which this kind of data is aggregated and managed at a sector level, rather than at the institutional level. The benefits would include not

taxing artists with multiple forms (by finding one template that fits the multitudes of needs of organizations globally) and easing maintenance for individual organizations.

Structure

• Refer to the information gathered in the assessment and conceptualization phases (see Assessment and Conceptualization) about the types of reporting requests anticipated for this kind of data and be sure values are recorded and parsed in a way that would satisfy those reporting requests.

• For fielded, structured data, enter each term and data element individually, not as a string, unless the data can be easily parsed.

• Deploy linked open-data principles whenever possible, i.e., include a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) for names or terms that are sourced from a linked data service or authority file such as Getty Vocabularies, id.loc.gov, Virtual

International Authority File (VIAF), or Wikidata. Note that some of these may require updates to be made current (see Further Research).

• Data captured in systems should ideally be both controlled (i.e., fielded, with controlled term lists and options to provide remarks) and include primary data such as:

○ The language as shared by the artists (i.e., their actual words).

○ The source of the information (i.e., who filled out the form— vital for any museum with works by both living and nonliving artists in which data on nonliving artists may not be self-identified).

○ The date that the data was received or collected.

• To assist in future data management and discoverability, include an indication of the type of data recorded, including that this data is “demographic” or even specific types of demographic data (e.g., “gender identity”).

• To support the stated intentions for data use, indicate clearly within your database whether data points are for internal use only or external use, whether that is at the questionnaire level or at the question level, including the decisions made by the artist, if that was given on the questionnaire.

Making Meaning

It is incumbent upon us to correctly document what is shared with us, so that we are able to translate answers on the form to something meaningful. Through the use of data standards, the meaning of individuals’ answers can be recorded and preserved.

• Employing a controlled vocabulary will support the use of demographic data. You can build your own, but a variety of vocabulary tools exist (though to date none is considered a sector standard). See the list in Data Structure.

• Artists may provide their own demographic terms that fall outside

of your controlled vocabulary (See Questionnaire Structure), requiring the recording of their natural language responses and/ or translation into a controlled vocabulary term.

• Questionnaire data represents a moment in time for the artist and should not be assumed to be tied to a particular work or body of work. An individual artist’s demographic data should be recorded and considered separately from object data.

DATA MAINTENANCE

Considering how the data collected will be maintained is an essential part of the data management process. Collecting and storing artist demographic information requires a commitment to preserve both the original form of the information and the significance of that information at the time it was collected, as well as to ensure the data is correct over time. Institutions must consider what is sustainable for them and should not underestimate the amount of digital labor required to steward this sensitive information.

• The work does not stop once you receive the data; the fluidity of the data requires ongoing maintenance programs to be built into your workflows. As discussed, identity is fluid and can change over time. Ensure your data can be updated, and the dates of any updates and the original information all recorded.

• Ensure there are paths to digital data literacy for staff working with this data, meaning there is: accessible documentation of policies and processes; regular review cycles for policies and processes; and training to understand why and how this data is being collected, managed, and used.

• All artist demographic data should be proactively reviewed (see Feedback and Updates).

○ Establish a regular interval for data review, e.g., every five years.

○ Utilize precipitating events— new acquisitions, exhibitions, etc.—to revisit the data recorded about an artist.

○ Track all feedback received.

• Consider how to store historical and problematic terms while still retaining and ensuring usability of the information. Also, keep in mind that language changes over time can

shift the meaning of terms you have documented and require changes to your approach to demographic types (e.g., consider the changed meaning and general acceptability of the word “queer”).

• Maintain updates of any external vocabularies, thesauri, or authority files that provide names or terms used within your records.

NEXT STEPS

After the artist demographic data project is launched, provisions for its continuance, maintenance, and usage are in place, and you have collected a body of demographic data, what comes next? Knowing that this work is an ongoing process, examples of follow-up steps may include:

• Review of the initial data capture among the core team and assessment of the questionnaire’s performance (What is the response rate? Is it filled out correctly? What feedback have you received?).

• Form a community response committee to review the data in depth and consider: What were the initial goals of this endeavor? What are the metrics of success, and how does the implementation measure up against the original goals?

• Work with the data team to create a status report and report of initial statistics.

• Report out to internal and external stakeholders (e.g., the board, collections committee members, community members, the public), especially those who were involved in the conceptualization phase of the process.

• Develop or revisit exhibitions and collections strategies and interpretation plans and documents that are informed by the data and community input on the ongoing work.

• Create programming to generate public discourse about the data and subsequent response.

• Ensure that staff members who have been appointed stewards of the questionnaire (and related data ethics) have the support and resources they need going forward.

• Use the data to drive future decisions about including artists from underrepresented groups.

CASE STUDIES

CASE STUDY

Museum of Modern Art, New York

The Artist Identity Project at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is a focus group of staff members across the institution who have the shared goal of recentering the identity and experience of the artist by designing a holistic, progressive, and respectful approach to identity information. This project was prompted by the dovetailing of a number of factors and motivations, primarily the desire to respect the artists with whom MoMA collaborates and innovates. Additionally, the creation of the Cataloguing in the 21st Century team, which has been tasked with examining the ways in which the institution can represent, display, and collect artist identity information; DEAIB workshops; and staff-led initiatives, which occurred as a response to the Black Lives Matter movement; and the longtime

institutional objective of a more intersectional and diverse collection all defined the need for more nuanced and detailed artist information. There is also an institutional desire for increased database utilization focusing on forwarding extant database structures in order to more easily import, utilize, and store the identity responses and cataloguing information that will be collected.

CASE STUDY

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) initiated its Artist Identities Data Program (AIDP) in 2020 to collect and steward information about artists whose artworks have been acquired or exhibited by the institution. A collaboration between the curatorial and collections departments, the AIDP began as the Artist Identity Project to advance management of artist demographic data in an internal collections database. Two years later, the project was renamed and became an ongoing and farther-reaching program as part of the Museum’s efforts to broaden the scope of identity data related to living artists and to coordinate with identity data efforts happening in other SFMOMA departments and in other museums, libraries, and archives. In an effort to improve institutional accountability and transparency, the

project launched a public, online dashboard to provide annual reports with anonymized demographic data—such as race, ethnicity, and gender—related to artists whose works the museum acquired or exhibited in the previous fiscal year. The data will support the museum’s representation of artists and their work in gallery texts, publications, programs, and other public-facing content.

SAMPLE QUESTIONNAIRE

What follows is a sample artist self-identification questionnaire from a museum. It is not meant to be prescriptive, but rather provide an example of one approach.

Sample Questionnaire

The museum, in dialogue with other institutions, is in the process of developing best practices for the documentation of artists’ identities and lived experiences. We acknowledge artists as partners in this process, and hope that through this questionnaire we are better able to serve you, our public, and our mission.

In order to fulfill our mission, the museum strives to reflect the diversity and complexity of the United States in all aspects of our work: the histories we recount in our collection, exhibitions, and program; the people who make up the staff and leadership of the museum; and the audiences who provide context and meaning to what we do. The museum recognizes that this work begins with a deeper and more nuanced understanding of our collection, exhibitions, and programs.

Our goals for this questionnaire are to enable artists to self-identify across a range of categories so that we can respectfully and accurately use your preferred language and designations in materials we produce (for example, pronouns for wall labels or social media posts); to use this data to better understand and steer our institutional, programming, and collecting practices; and to seek resources that aid in aligning our collecting and educational practices with our values.

In an effort to ensure transparency in how this information might be used, we will maintain an open line of communication for any questions concerning the dissemination of this data. The data from this survey may be used to help give context to the composition of our collection, exhibitions, and other programming in terms of artist demographics. Internally, this will allow for us to understand how to better serve the communities we are engaging with and address areas of oversight.

Additionally, we may use this data for grant and fundraising opportunities relating to our collections, programming, and educational activities. Information may be shared externally to provide data on the museum’s approach to collecting and exhibiting, but we would only report demographic information in aggregate. We will not share information on the individual level without seeking consent in advance.

If you prefer not to share some or all of this information, we respect your choice to opt out.

In an effort to avoid binary or restricted responses, we have included the opportunity for you to respond in your own words throughout the questionnaire and welcome your feedback on adjusting or reframing the language in the survey.

We understand that your responses may change over time, so we invite you to contact the Museum at any point to adjust and/or remove any information you have previously shared.

*Requires response

What is your legal first name? * [Free text]

What is your legal last name?* [Free text]

What is your full preferred name?* [Free text]

This will appear on wall labels and related institutional texts, such as press materials, catalogues, and didactics. Stylization should be specified here.

DOB?* [Calendar dropdown]

In what city, state, country, tribal nation, and/or province were you born?*

This information will be used in the catalogue, press, etc. [Free text]

In what city, state, country, tribal nation, and/or province do you live?*

This information will be used in the catalogue, press, etc. [Free text]

What is your phone number?* [Free text]

What is your home address?* [Free text]

If applicable or different from the address above, what is your preferred mailing address? [Free text]

If you have access needs we should keep in mind, please describe: [Free text]

For contact information for our Access department and other information, see our webpage. Services we provide include, but are not limited to, the following:

• access to breastfeeding/chest-feeding spaces

• area for religious observance

• information about barrier-free building entrances

• ASL interpretation

• captioning services

• service-animal accommodations

• verbal description of live programs/ live transcription of programs

What is your best contact email?* [Free text with response validation]

Is there someone else we should loop in on correspondence? If so, who, and what is the best contact number/ email for them? [Free text]

What is your preferred/primary language? (Select all that apply)* [Unlimited checkboxes]

☐ ASL

☐ English

☐ Spanish

☐ Prefer not to say

☐ Language not listed: [Free text]

Are you a part of a collective?

[Multiple choice]

☐ Yes

☐ No

[If yes, the following questions appear:]

Name of the collective: [Free text]

Which of the following options best describes your gender identity?

(Please select all that apply)*

[Unlimited checkboxes]

☐ Cisgender

☐ Intersex

☐ Man

☐ Nonbinary

☐ Transgender

☐ Woman

☐ Prefer not to answer

☐ Your words: [Free text]

What are your pronouns/what pronouns do you use? (Please select all that apply)* [Unlimited checkboxes]

☐ Ze

☐ Hir/hirs

☐ Zir/zirs

☐ They/them/theirs

☐ She/her/hers

☐ He/him/his

☐ No pronouns. I prefer for people to use my name.

☐ Prefer not to say

☐ Your words: [Free text]

Individuals in the collective: [Free text]

Do you identify as LGBTQIA+?

[Free text]

With which racial and ethnic group(s) do you identify? (Please select all that apply)*

☐ Arab (If you wish, please specify.)

If desired, please elaborate on the question above: [Free text]

☐ Asian (If you wish, please specify.)

If desired, please elaborate on the question above: [Free text]

☐ Bi-racial/Multi-racial (If you wish, please specify.) If desired, please elaborate on the question above: [Free text]

☐ Black (If you wish, please specify.)

If desired, please elaborate on the question above: [Free text]

☐ Indigenous (If you wish, please specify.)

If desired, please elaborate on the question above: [Free text]

☐ Latinx/a/o (If you wish, please specify.) If desired, please elaborate on the question above: [Free text]

☐ White (If you wish, please specify.)

If desired, please elaborate on the question above: [Free text]

☐ Race/ethnicity unknown

If desired, please elaborate on the question above: [Free text]

☐ Prefer not to say

☐ If desired, please add religious affiliation: [Free text]

If desired, please elaborate on the question above: [Free text]

☐ Your words: [Free text]

Of the below options, how do you identify?*

[Unlimited checkboxes]

This is a voluntary self-identification of disability.

☐ Disabled

☐ Non-disabled

☐ Prefer not to say

☐ Your words: [Free text]

Anything you would like to add?

[Free text]

[Option for respondents to email themselves a copy of their responses.]

ABOUT AAMC & AAMC FOUNDATION

Founded in 2001, the Association of Art Museum Curators (AAMC) & AAMC Foundation celebrate the curatorial narrative by supporting and promoting the work of art curators at all stages in their career through opportunities for networking, collaboration, professional development, and career advancement. In the ever-changing nonprofit visual art world, the AAMC Foundation is the voice for all curators—regardless of field, experience level, and institutional type. It ensures that the curatorial perspective on art, museums, and educational issues is actively communicated to the public, media, and museum profession. AAMC today has more than 1,500 members from more than 500 institutions from more than 30 countries.

The AAMC & AAMC Foundation value, support, and promote: centering DEAI in the arts community, ethical and professional best practices, professional development and advancement, and advocacy for the visual arts.

AAMC & AAMC FOUNDATION BOARD OF TRUSTEES

AAMC & AAMC Foundation

Board 2023

Executive Committee

Tuliza Fleming, Interim Chief Curator of Visual Arts, National Museum of African American History and Culture; Vice President, Inclusion & Outreach

Lauren Haynes, Director of Curatorial Affairs and Programs, Queens Museum; Vice President, Fundraising

Michelle Jacques, Head of Exhibitions & Collections/Chief Curator, Remai Modern; President, Board of Trustees

Elizabeth Morrison, Senior Curator of Manuscripts, J. Paul Getty Museum; Vice President, Governance & Nominating

Mary-Kate O’Hare, Director and Senior Art Advisor, Citi Private Bank, Art Advisory & Finance; Vice President, Finance & Audit

Juliet Sorce, Executive Vice President, Resnicow and Associates; Vice President, Advocacy

At-Large Trustees

Myrtis Bedolla, Founding Director, Galerie Myrtis

Daniel Belasco, Executive Director, Al Held Foundation

Wendy Chang, Director, Rennie Collection

Beth Citron, Independent Curator

José Carlos Diaz, Susan Brotman Deputy Director for Art, Seattle Art Museum

Whitney Donhauser, Deputy Director and Chief Advancement Officer, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

William C. Gautreaux, Managing Partner, MLP Holdings LLC

Lynda Roscoe Hartigan, Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer, Peabody Essex Museum

Wolfram Koeppe, Marina Kellen French Senior Curator, European Sculpture and Decorative Arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Soyoung Lee, Landon and Lavina Clay

Chief Curator, Harvard Art Museums

Tanya Odom, Program Director, Equity and Inclusion, Walton Family Foundation

Filiz Çakır Philip, Curator; Awards Chair

Emily Kernan Rafferty, President

Emerita, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

E. Carmen Ramos, Chief Curatorial and Conservation Officer, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Carolyn Royston, Deputy Director for Engagement, Brooklyn Museum

Anne Collins Smith, Xavier University Art Gallery; Membership Chair