By Duhirwe Rushemeza
Fly Spy. Slightly invisible, slightly unwelcome. That is how I feel as I enter the Art Institute of Chicago. Looking around, I don’t see many faces that look like mine in the halls or on the walls, but I tread on. I’m greeted by a man who looks me over quite dubiously and says, “I am afraid you’ll have to check that bag in.”
“I am just going to the Ryerson Library, surely I can take my sack,” I reply. His supervisor, an older woman, okays my threatening pouch. As I pass, the man is still going on about how large my backpack appears.
I join my classmates just outside the entrance of the library. The same lady who so graciously allowed me to pass with my bag makes a dash for me as though I may have explosives.
“You’ll have to go inside the library with that book bag,” she says.
Apparently the few feet I was standing outside the entrance were of great threat to the well being of our museum. Not wanting to argue, I pick up the culprit sack and head for the Ryerson.
However, I am politely told that I cannot bring my coat inside the library. So, I make my way to the coat check. It is a Tuesday night and the line is out the door. I am met with unnecessary attitude from the lady taking coats. “That will be two dollars.”
I show her my SAIC school ID. She asks to see the sticker on the back, citing that I could be a graduate trying to get a free coat check. I find this amusing as I calculate how much money I will have invested at the school upon graduating. I tell her that I don’t have my sticker yet, but that my class and my professor are behind me. They can vouch that I am indeed in school this semester. She insists I find a way to get the money, even if I have to borrow it from my classmates. Even my professor’s word is not good enough. Ordinarily I would just leave, but I feel obliged to stay due to the class I am already holding up. When it is all said and done, a few of my classmates share with me that they have not ever been asked about their sticker. In all fairness and to combat my eagerness to pull out the race card, I should note that one of my classmates, a female of European descent,had a similar experience on a different occasion.
These experiences, although a bit amusing at times, shed light on a greater concern. What message are these subtle barriers sending to the general public? How comfortable is one to feel when the journey to see art is paved with obstacles that may have slight race and class undertones? Although the times have greatly changed since the days when museums were closed on Sundays (the day most working class people have off) and there was a fee on most days, these invisible barriers do undoubtedly control the type of people who peruse the precious walls of the museum.
When I finally make it past the obstacles at the door, I feel further alienated by the lack of global inclusion on the walls. Perhaps the original mission of the Art Institute did not have a foreign woman of color as myself in mind, but surely things should have dramatically changed with the growth of AIC’s international reputation. Sadly, most noteworthy museums are still validated by their collections of Renaissance, Classical, and modern European and American Art. As with many museums, the African, Native American, and cultural “other’s” work will be found only in the small dimly lit rooms off to the side.
Since moving to Chicago, I have come across a number of people of color, native to the city, who rarely go to the AIC. They prefer to frequent institutions that speak more to their heritage, such as the Mexican Fine Art Center and the DuSable Museum of African American Art. Nonetheless, it appears that the current decision makers are making some effort.
Recently at AIC, I came across a new exhibition displaying works from The Democratic Republic of Congo (African Artistry) and spiritual manuscripts from 17th Century Ethiopia entitled “The Miracles of Mary.” However, I do still recognize the fact that if I want an extensive look at ancient and contemporary art from across many borders, I may have to seek it outside of AIC’s walls.