Have you heard about AAM 2024 in Baltimore this month? (We hope so—we’re doing our best!) If so, you might have seen one of our ads for this year’s edition, featuring a lovely cast of smiling faces. But just whose faces are those? Local museum people’s!
This year, for the first time, we decided to use our promotional campaign as a showcase for the museum community of our wonderful host city, beloved for everything from blue crabs to John Waters to Black history. Staff from several of the city’s exceptional museums graciously agreed to pose for photos and show us why they call it Charm City.
As we gear up for the meeting in just a few short weeks, we thought we’d share some of these subjects’ stories by having them answer a few questions. This week we’re spotlighting Rachel Leeds, an Accessibility Advocate at Walters Art Museum.
First, tell us about yourself! How did you come into the museum field, and what is your role like now?
Hi! I’m Rachel. I’m a queer, disabled museum worker two years out of college. I’ve always loved visiting museums, but I didn’t consider the possibility of working in one until I saw the posting for my position. It was so exciting that the Walters actively wanted someone with accessibility expertise to join the team. I’ve loved working in the museum field so far. It’s incredible learning about all the work in museums that takes place behind the scenes and getting to be a part of it.
The goal of my work is to embed accessibility into all areas of the Walters, so that visitors with disabilities and access needs have a full range of options for engagement. My work varies a lot, from cross-departmental strategic planning to showing a visitor which floor button on the elevator will take them to the Sculpture Court.
Do you have a proudest or most joyful moment from your career?
One moment that comes to mind is an outing I set up with the Baltimore chapter of Guiding Eyes for the Blind. Seven guide dogs in training and eleven puppy raisers came to the museum. Front of house staff got a first-hand look at the service dog training process and the important work these pups are learning. The dogs learned how to navigate a museum space and practiced tasks amidst distraction. I loved watching the dogs grow more comfortable over the course of the outing. I hope their experience at the Walters will translate into future museum visits, assisting the humans with whom they are paired.
What impact do you hope your work has on the world?
My favorite thing about museums is the interplay between the objects on display and the people experiencing them. Each object and each person has physicality, history, and unique perspective. Each interaction has the potential to shape the object’s meaning and the person’s understanding of the world.
I hope that my work opens this process up to disabled physicality, history, and perspective. I want to explore disability narratives throughout the Walters’ collection. I want to foster an atmosphere where visitors and staff don’t feel pressure to conform to norms of who belongs in museums or expectations of how to act. I want the Walters to be a space where, as long they respect others and avoid endangering the art, everyone who walks through the doors is welcomed to engage however feels most comfortable and authentic to them.
How would you like to see the museum field grow in the coming years?
Accessibility is a growing subfield for cultural institutions. I want that work to continue and become common within the museum field. More specifically…
I’d love for more museums to have dedicated in-house accessibility positions that integrate accessibility into institutional structures, priorities, and missions. I’d love for more museums to hire disabled people to give feedback, share their perspectives, and consult on which steps to take moving forward. Accessibility, as its own field, is constantly shifting. I’d love for more museums to commit to adapting as best practices change and resources evolve. Disability doesn’t exist in a vacuum. I’d love for more museums to include accessibility in diversity, equity, and inclusion work.
All of these hopes are becoming more and more frequently realized. I’m so excited to witness and take part in the field’s growth moving forward.
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