The Walker Art Museum and the Minneapolis Institute of Art Have Cut Ties With the City’s Police Department

In the wake of worldwide protests and demonstrations sparked by
the murder of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis,
the city’s two most prominent art museums have pledged to cut ties
with the Minneapolis Police Department.

The Walker Art Center made the first move,
announcing on Wednesday
afternoon that it would stop hiring police at its events “until
the MPD implements meaningful change by demilitarizing training
programs, holding officers accountable for the use of excessive
force, and treating communities of color with dignity and respect.
Enough is enough. George Floyd should still be alive. Black lives
matter.”

The Minneapolis Institute of
Art decided to follow suit, with a museum representative
confirming in an email to Artnet News that it “will no longer
contract with off-duty police officers from the MPD.” The museum
previously held an exhibition of artwork inspired by the
fatal police shooting of another unarmed black man, Philando
Castile, during a routine traffic stop in St. Paul in 2016.

Many typical museumgoers may not be aware that museums often
contract the services of off-duty police officers for security for
special events. It remains to be seen whether museums in other
cities that have been the site of protests will make a similar
decision to cut ties.

A representative for the Minnesota Museum of
American Art in St. Paul told Artnet News that the institution
never had a formal relationship with the St. Paul Police
Department. “They were hired one time three years ago for a street
festival, but other than that, there hasn’t been a formal
relationship,” the spokesperson said. In a message posted in the
wake of the protests, the museum stated: “Museums are
not neutral and must actively participate in the
dismantling of deeply rooted, systemic racism and racial violence
in America.”

The Science Museum of Minnesota and the
Bell Museum, which focuses on natural history, did not immediately
respond to requests for comment from Artnet News about the status
of their relationships with the police department.

The news of the two Minneapolis museums’ decision to end their
relationships with the local police came on the same day
that Minnesota’s Attorney General charged three more officers
in Floyd’s death and upgraded the charge against the first officer,
Derek Chauvin, to second-degree murder, according to the AP.

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of Art Have Cut Ties With the City’s Police Department appeared
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