Toward Social Healing in Art Galleries

Tensions and violence associated with racism and other forms of oppression are on the rise, with individuals from equity-deserving groups being most overtly and deeply affected. Within this social climate, museums and galleries have the potential to become spaces that support care, transformative action, and social healing. The research at the center of this article explores how contemporary artists working with participatory anti-racist practices can promote shifts in cultural and social attitudes and behaviors. Three racialized artists working with anti-racist artistic practices were invited to engage in participatory artist residencies in a university art gallery. Data collection included visitor and artist interviews, observations, and participatory action research with university students. Analysis of the data revealed that each artist chose to employ artistic approaches to anti-racism that support social healing experiences. Based on this, we ask: How can contemporary anti-racist artistic methods support the potential for social healing in art gallery education? The artists’ participatory, care-focused, and relational practices provide creative pedagogical methods for critiquing, disrupting, and transforming oppressive narratives and practices within and beyond museums and galleries. This article highlights artistic methods for supporting social participation, care, transformative action, and social healing in museum and gallery education.