Institute of Museum Ethics

A 1999 recipient of a MacArthur Foundation “Genius” Grant as well as the 2003 American representative at the Venice Biennale, Fred Wilson is internationally known for his museum installations, in which he re-installs and re-labels objects owned by a museum for the purpose of creating new meanings and non-conventional narratives. Beyond bringing home the point that the way we view and “read” objects is conditioned by context and juxtaposition, Wilson’s installations subvert, criticize, or poke fun at the unspoken assumptions that museums make about the social order, including such issues as class, gender, and ethnicity. He has created such projects across the US and around the world in such diverse venues as the Seattle Art Museum, Museums of History and Ethnography and the National Gallery of Jamaica, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Dartmouth College, and the Museum of World Culture in Gothenborg, Sweden. Born in 1954, Wilson has a BFA from SUNY Purchase. Wilson serves on the Board of Trustees of the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. He lives and works in New York City.

Keynote speaker: Dr. Glenn Wharton

'Emerging Stakeholders' moderated by Alexander Bauer. Student speakers: Josh Gorman, Jennifer Zazo, Heather Hope Stephens, Léontine Meijer-Van Mensch, Paula Assunçãao dos Santos

'Changing Perceptions' moderated by Steven Lubar. Student speakers: Elizabeth Reilly-Brown, Marisa Day, Lydie Diakhaté, Maison Tropicale, Amelia Wong

'New Arguments' moderated by Bruce Altshuler. Student speakers: Jennine Schweighardt, Peter Brown, Walter Lehmann, Chelsea Haines

Roundtable Discussion: 'New Directions in Museum Ethics Scholarship'. Speakers: Bruce Altshuler, Alexander Bauer, Petra Chu, Juergen Heinrichs, Carlo Lamagna, Steve Lubar, Janet Marstine, Dr. Glenn Wharton