The exhibit will end on July 2. For more information, visit The Bias Inside Us - MMFA
The Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts is looking into the positive and negatives of implicit bias on a new level with the help of the Smithsonian Institute.
“The Bias Inside Us” is a traveling exhibition developed over the course of four years by a national advisory council and Smithsonian experts. The goal is to engage with the community to discover the correlation between implicit bias and group dynamics.
Emily Stewart Thomas, the head of learning and programs for The Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, said that they sought out this exhibition to have at the museum.
“The Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts reached out to the Smithsonian Institute of traveling exhibitions and services,” she said. “This is a traveling exhibition that they offer, and we just thought as an opportunity to really bring a unique exhibition for our space. And then also something that's incredibly relevant and challenging in the way that we look and address implicit bias that's kind of built into all of us.”
Thomas said that this display is more engaging than some of the other exhibits that the museum has to offer.
“I think what makes this exhibition unique to some of our other exhibitions here at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts is that “The Bias Inside Us” really engages viewers and visitors in different ways through lots of photographs and video,” she said. “There's lots of hands-on kind of interactive components, where you really look at an address kind of the way we see individuals, the implicit bias that is built into all of us and lets us reflect on what we can do with this new understanding.”
The exhibition is done in conjunction with Mayor’s Young Professional Council, an organization of young people who are selected to engage in dialogue and initiatives with the mayor, fellow members and the community to help make Montgomery a more equitable and desirable place to live, work and earn.
Through showcasing “The Bias Inside Us,” The Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts is further showing how much they care about diversity, equity, and inclusion.
“[Diversity, equity, accessibility and inclusion] is the heart of what we're doing here at the museum. And again, as the city department, we see that as an extension,” Thomas said. “We offer programs throughout the year. We have also began offering programs at free and reduced cost or no cost at all, to really open up the museum in a way and welcome in the public, from all different backgrounds, all different experience levels, and really make this a community space where people feel comfortable coming in, and spending time with us.”
