NOLA Project splits ways with NOMA
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Monica R. Harris performs in the NOLA Project's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at the New Orleans Museum of Art in 2023. Photo: Brittany Werner for The NOLA Project
The NOLA Project has ended its 12-year partnership the New Orleans Museum of Art.
Why it matters: It's the latest public example of NOMA, one of the city's most visible and well-funded arts institutions, coming under fire for what critics have described as an anti-diverse culture.
Catch up quick: The public conversation around the culture at NOMA began in 2020 during a national reckoning with institutional racism brought on by the murder of George Floyd and the increased visibility of the Black Lives Matter movement.
- That year, a group of ex-NOMA employees penned an open letter to the museum accusing the organization of having a "plantation-like culture" and outlining a number of disparities in how job opportunities and wage increases were meted out.
- The following month, NOMA responded to the criticisms by launching its "Agenda for Change," which outlined steps it would take to address what it described as systemic issues and began tracking them on its website.
- More recently, after a white woman was hired as an African art curator, the museum faced a public outcry, with national media coverage and hundreds of social media comments expressing outrage.
What's happening: The NOLA Project announced the end of its NOMA partnership on Tuesday after the museum rejected the theater company's proposal to stage the satirical play "The Colored Museum."
- Monica R. Harris, the interim managing director at the NOLA Project, tells Axios that the museum's rejection of the play was "the straw that broke the camel's back" in the company's decision.
- Harris says she was unaware of any "overt acts of racism" taken by NOMA staff toward NOLA Project artists, but that the choice to end the partnership was a culmination of recent headlines and community concern.
- "That's the problem with white supremacy: It's not always experienced in a concrete way," Harris says. "White supremacy is not a tool you hold in your hand. It's an attitude, an approach."
What they're saying: In a prepared statement shared by NOMA, director of marketing and communications Charlie Tatum said the organization is "committed to fostering community engagement through our programs and partnerships."
- "We are working diligently to ensure that all of our programmatic offerings are community-driven, responsive, and purposeful — and that our partnerships are built on mutual respect, support, and conversation," the statement continues, in part.
What's next: The NOLA Project continues its plans to open for the fall season with "Dracula," produced in partnership with the Friends of the Lafitte Greenway and NORD. The first preview is set for Oct. 3.
- "There's more at stake than just, where are we going to do our plays," Harris says. "It's so much more than that. It's, how do we continue to nurture the relationship we have in this community to make sure the people who see our plays can trust that we are artists who care about them?"