RACE in Greater Minnesota: Creating Capacity for Understanding Race

The Expanding the Reach: Creating Capacity for Understanding RACE project  developed site-specific programming to complement the installation of three small footprint exhibitions of RACE: Are We So Different? in three communities in Minnesota. The goal of the project was to prompt community conversations around topics of race, racism, equity, and the nation’s history, as well as local histories concerning race. Our evaluation questions were: 1) What impact did having the RACE exhibit and associated program have on prompting conversation about race and racism, (a) within institutions and (b) within communities?; 2) What supports did local organizations find valuable from SMM in developing their site-specific programming? Additionally, we were curious about: 3) In what ways did this collaboration lead to plans for sustained efforts around the exhibit and programming led by the local sites? 

This report contains our findings as well as the quality and variety of data that we drew from to make these conclusions; they reinforce the need for continued community conversations and collaborations around topics of race, racism, and equity, as well as support the internal and external efforts of the museum to become a better collaborative partner in complex social/educational initiatives in communities outside of our usual geographic sphere of influence.