University Art Gallery Director Sylvia Rhor Samaniego has published an essay titled, “Museums Have a Responsibility to Their Neighbors” on the contemporary art blog Hyperallergic. This article puts forth ways that museums can move beyond land acknowledgements. Rhor Samaniego discusses Pittsburgh-based artist Harrison Kinnane Smith’s recent project which mortgaged a Mattress Factory building to highlight racial inequities in the real estate market, and compensate the property taxes of a local Black resident. "Smith’s social practice project may provide a blueprint for how museums may begin to do just this," Rhor Samaniego writes. To read the full article, visit Hyperallergic's website.
