Our Mission AND VALUES:
The Delaware Contemporary is an art space that infuses contemporary art and creativity into our community through compelling exhibitions, dynamic educational experiences, and access to the artistic process.
Founded in 1979 by artists, The Delaware Contemporary presents exhibitions of regionally, nationally, and internationally recognized artists that explore topical issues in contemporary art and society. In addition, we provide opportunities for local and emerging artists to showcase their work and advance their artistic growth. Art sales through our galleries and Museum Shop support area and exhibiting artists and our commitment to the importance of contemporary art in our community.
WELCOMING: We welcome and embrace all who seek to experience art.
COMMUNITY-ORIENTED: We make every effort to weave our organization and art into the fabric of the community.
LOCAL AND BEYOND: We support and promote local art, artists, and partners, and we work with regional, national, and international artists, curators, and organizations to make an impact in our community.
CATALYTIC: We take risks and push boundaries to inspire new ways of looking at the world, to offer artistically stimulating experiences, and to engage more people in the transformative power of art.
Our Vision:
Where art and community happen.
OUR History:
Founded in 1979 by a small volunteer group of artists and arts patrons, The Delaware Contemporary made its focus the promotion of growth and understanding of the contemporary arts in Delaware. It started in a former sheet-metal fabricating factory and moved several times, finally finding a permanent home in 2000. This location offered a 33,000-square-foot building and, once remodeled, opened with seven galleries, 26 on-site artist studios, an auditorium, a museum shop, a classroom, and administrative office space. By this time a staff was in place and both community outreach and curatorial programming expanded exponentially.
The community responded favorably to The Delaware Contemporary’s new location and programming efforts. The Philadelphia Inquirer described the museum as "one of the most innovative and prominent organizations of its kind on the East Coast," and hailed its new building as "a state-of-the-art facility that will allow it to present a broader spectrum of the art experience."
The Delaware Contemporary, a non-collecting museum, currently presents over 24 exhibitions annually of regionally, nationally, and internationally recognized artists. In addition to the exhibitions, the museum commits to educational and community outreach through various programs, such as Artist Residencies with underserved community groups and Contemporary Connections, a model program that fuses art with schools’ core curriculums, offering fresh new ways to teach subjects such as math and science. The Delaware Contemporary has partnered in some way with more than 60 community groups and schools.
READ A THIRTY YEAR HISTORY, Essay by Laura A. Scanlan, Copyright © 2009
OUR COMMITMENT TO VALUES:
We are committed to making real, lasting change.
The Delaware Contemporary is committed to establishing and sustaining an equitable community that achieves the organization’s equity mission to end the predictive value of race and ensure each individual’s success. We reject all forms of racism as destructive to their mission, vision, values, and goals.
Guided by the June 2021, Action Plan, The Delaware Contemporary Board, Staff and Studios@ were active and successful in advancing the organization’s efforts to be a more diverse, equitable and inclusive organization. As our work continues, we will actively consult with many voices, both within and outside the museum to broaden perspective and grow awareness about ongoing deficits and new directions for success.
The next series of actions are focused less on areas of immediate measurability and more so on refining and growing established structures, systems, and practices toward greater equity, inclusion, fairness, opportunity, and service to the public and each other.
This updated Action Plan outlines actions for TDC’s staff, board, studio artists, and volunteers to continue to efforts to achieve and maintain Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Access in our shared environment. These actions will not only support a DEIA compliant work environment, but also ensure that TDC is a welcoming space for the public and our community of the Greater Wilmington Area.
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Institute organizational training, learning, and development to support Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity (IDE)
a. Develop IDE training curriculum and delivery protocol for existing employees and new hires starting in September 2021.
— i. Training will include building awareness of unconscious bias and other forms of discrimination as well as systemic and institutional racism, including issues specific to TDC but also the arts and culture sector at large.
b. Deliver anti-racism and anti-discrimination training for all current employees.
c. Include anti-racism and anti-discrimination training in the onboarding for all new employees.
d. Encourage staff, board, studio artists and volunteers to engage in external anti racism training.
e. Annually re-evaluate policies and procedures for the report of discriminatory actions or statements by other staff members, board members, studio artists, or volunteers to ensure a safe and comfortable reporting system starting June 2022.
— i. Upon annual re-evaluation of policies and procedures TDC will ensure that all subgroups are represented during this process.
f. Ensure all staff, board members, studio artists and volunteers know the policies for addressing racist statements or actions and the various procedures for reporting issues with workplace culture (named and anonymously).
g. We know that training will be needed on an ongoing basis. As such, training will be offered annually.
Invest in recruiting, hiring, retaining, and promoting Black, indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) candidates, staff, and interns across the museum.
a. Commit to the recruitment of BIPOC candidates for all open positions and post all positions externally ensuring BIPOC outlets are included starting May 2021.
b. Identify and address barriers to the retention and development of BIPOC employees at all levels of the organization
c. Offer paid internships starting in June 2021.
d. Grow TDC’s career preparedness after school program by adding one new Title 1 school partner by September 2022.
e. Establish relationships with colleges and universities, especially with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), to support a pathway of BIPOC individuals for internships, fellowships, and permanent positions ongoing.
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Further diversify exhibitions, exhibiting artists, programs and events with an emphasis on programming that amplifies cross-cultural perspectives, both idiomatic and nonidiomatic expressions of art, and fosters a more diverse and expanded offering.
a. Ensure exhibition development process is transparent and publicly available.
b. Commit to promoting anti-biased exhibition projects by continuing to make programmatic selections based on a polyvocal approach; complementing staff with guest curators, curators-in-residences, and creatives-in-residences ongoing.
c. Foster direct engagement between local communities and TDC’s Engagement Team in addition to fortifying existing relationships with the goal of further diversifying audiences and TDC community services.
d. Engage an Engagement Advisory Committee to strengthen the concepts of exhibitions/programming presenting BIPOC perspectives and supporting the development of new narratives and interpretations, and evaluating institutional biases starting in October 2021.
— i. Strive for 50% of BIPOC representation on the committee to ensure BIPOC perspectives are present throughout TDC's exhibitions and programming.
— ii. A three-year term limitation ensures a continuous diversity of perspectives are brought to the committee.
— iii. Strive to have one TDC board member, one TDC studio artist, teens/student, Local gov. representative/advocacy connections, 2-3 local artists, Brandywine Valley educator, community partner, and local college faculty represented on the committee.
— iv. Implement strategies for an anti-racist approach to the display of representation of persons of color. Review and update the contextual information and dialogues within our current exhibition design practices.
Diversify the narratives
a. Continue to expand focus on exhibiting BIPOC artists to ensure representation of BIPOC perspectives.
— i. Utilize organization and nonprofit partners to ensure that this is communicated to the public with emphasis placed on reaching BIPOC populations.
b. Bring the voices of art historians, critics, and other scholars to the interpretation of portrayals of BIPOC perspectives and BIPOC culture ongoing.
c. Continue to be relevant to the current events and contemporary ideas of our time through time.
d. Commit to providing a response area on a regular basis for active community participation, reflection and discussion.
e. Ensure the transparency and understanding of TDC’s exhibition selection and planning process. Available on the website by August 2021
i. The selection process is a tool used to enable TDC to reach the broadest possible artist pool.
f. Expand communications strategies to reach a broader artist pool with a focus on inclusive works.
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TDC commits to BIPOC representation on our Board of Directors by striving to reflect the BIPOC voices in our Greater Wilmington Area community.
a. Prioritize governance efforts to identify and recruit BIPOC individual representation starting immediately.
b. Increase representation of BIPOC board members in leadership positions.
c. Develop policies and procedures for the report of discriminatory actions or statements by other TDC partners to ensure a safe and comfortable reporting system as well as BIPOC Board Member retention by August 2021.
d. Provide an IDE curriculum to all board members.
e. Support IDE Action plan through an annual review by Board Members to assess current progress of our IDE goals and establish new goals for the next year.
f. Commit to an annual diversity audit to inform stakeholders and the general public of our IDE Action Plan progress starting June 2022.
g. Appoint a Board Member of the Governance Committee to work collaboratively with the Executive Director to provide a narrative to be included in the annual report on Museum Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Anti-Racism (DEIA) progress of the Board of Directors.
h. Complement the narrative with statistical data to reflect the findings of the audit.
i. Statistical data to support IDE progress in regards to the Board of Directors will be collected by the Executive Director and appointed Board Member of the Governance Committee.
ii. Statistical data to support IDE progress in the areas of staff, studio artists, exhibitions and programming will be collected on an ongoing
basis by the Executive Director and TDC staff.
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Identify and implement efforts to ensure an anti-racist studio tenant community that encourages the creation of new work that celebrates BIPOC perspectives.
a. Focus artist-in-residence studio program on awards to emerging BIPOC artists starting immediately.
b. Dedicate one studio to a creatives-in-residence to promote participation by BIPOC individuals in events, programs and exhibitions starting June 2021.
c. Implement and distribute a code of conduct, and develop a procedure for the report of discriminatory actions or statements by August 2021.
d. Invite and encourage studio artist tenants to participate in TDC sponsored anti-racism and anti-discrimination training.
— i. Starting in August 2021, studio artist tenants are strongly encouraged to participate in anti-racism and anti-discrimination training.
— ii. In August 2022, TDC will provide incentives for studio artist tenants to participate in anti-racism and anti-discrimination training.
— iii. In August 2023, TDC will require studio artist tenants participate in anti racism and anti-discrimination training to be able to renew their lease.
Re-examine the studio artist governance structure collaboratively with the Executive Director, Board Member, and studio artist tenants to ensure an inclusive, diverse, and equitable studio artist community.
a. Appoint representative positions within the studio artist community, a President and Vice President / Treasurer, through democratic process.
— i. Studio Artist tenants will hold a vote to appoint the representative positions to ensure equity amongst the studio artist community.
— ii. Term limit of two years for both positions to ensure a diversity of representation and perspectives.
b. The President and Vice President / Treasurer will be required to participate in anti-racism and anti-discrimination training starting in August 2021.
c. The representative positions will work collaboratively with the Executive Director to ensure an inclusive, diverse, and equitable studio artist community.
d. The representative positions will work collaboratively with TDC’s Curator and Engagement Team to ensure inclusivity through studio artist representation and participation in the museum’s programming and exhibitions.
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Ensure the BIPOC public have an anti-racist visiting experience at TDC.
a. Continue to implement surveys through the TDC website and social media channels to collect engagement preferences.
b. In addition to anti-discrimination and anti-racism training, require safety ambassadors and visitor engagement representatives to participate in bias training prior to any public shift starting in August 2021.
c. Implement signage that is highly visible and clearly communicates to the public TDC’s safety ambassadors’ responsibility to protect the exhibited art in the galleries and public areas of the museum to improve upon TDC’s institutional body language and to ensure that our visitors do not feel they are being profiled when visiting the museum.
d. Collect post visit evaluations and use data to improve visitor experience starting in June 2021.
e. Encourage new interest in museum programs by working with community partners to build awareness and ensure that BIPOC populations are engaged and feel welcomed.
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Community: Greater Wilmington Area and New Castle County
Greater Wilmington Area: Northern Delaware, South Eastern Pennsylvania, and Southern New Jersey
IDE: Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity
ADIE: Access, Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity
DEIA: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Anti-Racism
BIPOC: Black, Indigenous, and People of Color
Idiomatic: a style or form of artistic expression that is characteristic of an individual, a period or movement, or a medium
Nonidiomatic: a generalized style of form of artistic expression
