Lindsay C. Harris, director of the Oakland Museum of California (OMCA), publishes a commentary calling for museums to act as true civic institutions. She outlines concrete internal commitments OMCA has made, including voluntarily recognizing a staff union, adopting a pay equity philosophy with a minimum wage of $30.88 per hour, implementing transparent financial practices, and shifting investments toward socially responsible funds. Externally, she advocates for centering community voices, building social cohesion through inclusive programming, and measuring institutional impact through visitor surveys.
This matters because it represents a high-profile museum director publicly codifying progressive operational standards—from union recognition to pay equity to decolonization—as essential to museum legitimacy. By naming peer institutions that have adopted similar practices (Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Walker Art Center, Brooklyn Museum, Abbe Museum), Harris creates a benchmark for the field and challenges other museums to move beyond rhetoric into measurable action. The piece directly addresses the tension between museums as "civil" versus "civic" institutions, arguing that internal equity and community accountability are prerequisites for public trust.