Baltimore Museum Of Art Will Only Acquire Works By Women | Forbes

The Baltimore Museum of Art has announced that in 2020, only artwork created by women will be added to its permanent collection. In a bold move to reduce the gender imbalance in the museum’s collection, every single piece acquired next year, whether through a purchase or donation, will have been created by a woman. Big ideas like this one are exactly what we need if we expect to eliminate gender bias any time soon.

Museum director Christopher Bedford announced the policy telling The Baltimore Sun, “To rectify centuries of imbalance, you have to do something radical.” And centuries of imbalance may actually be an understatement—only a paltry 4% of the 95,000 pieces in the museum’s current permanent collection were created by women. To help rectify this situation, BMA expects to spend up to $2 million next year to purchase art created by female artists, and, in addition, each of the 22 exhibits on view at the museum will have a female focus.