Seattle Art Museum Names DEI Director—and More – ARTnews.com

Monday, August 10

Seattle Art Museum Names Director of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
Priya Frank has been appointed as director of equity, diversity, and inclusion at the Seattle Art Museum. In this newly created role, Frank will develop partnerships, communication strategies, and audience-engagement at the museum, as well as internal diversity and inclusion initiatives. Frank has worked at the institution since 2016 as associate director of community programs in the education department and the founding chair of the staff-led equity team.

Milwaukee Art Museum Workers Push to Unionize
Workers at the Milwaukee Art Museum in Wisconsin are seeking to unionize. Over 150 employees at the museum are a part of the effort, and they are aiming to join the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW) District 10. If the workers’ push to unionize is successful, the Milwaukee Art Museum will become the latest U.S. institution with a union, after the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the New Museum, and others.

MAXXI Museum Will Open Outpost in L’Aquila, Italy
Rome’s MAXXI museum of contemporary art, which is situated in a Zaha Hadid–designed structure, will open a new branch in L’Aquila, Italy, on October 30. L’Aquila was hit by a major earthquake in 2009, and MAXXI intends to help “the relaunch of the territory … through a cultural initiative,” according to a release. The institution will be housed in the 18th-century Palazzo Ardinghelli, where works by Maurizio Cattelan, Rudolph Stingel, Sol LeWitt, and other artists will be situated. Site-specific works by Elisabetta Benassi, Daniela De Lorenzo, Alberto Garutti, Nunzio, and Ettore Spalletti will also be on view at the institution’s opening.

Meow Wolf Announces Permanent Art Installation in Las Vegas
Meow Wolf, a Santa Fe–based entertainment collective that creates immersive art installations, will open a permanent work in Las Vegas. The installation, titled Omega Mart, will be unveiled in early 2021, and is being billed as a “one-of-a-kind grocery store experience.” “Our exhibit will bring storytelling alive through a hands-on experience of art,” said Marsi Gray, senior creative producer of Omega Mart, in a statement.