Established as part of PAMM’s Digital Engagement departmental new initiatives, the Wikimedian in Residence program started in January 2023. The project by includes institutional archival research, digital and in-person public programs, and original editorial bilingual content.
The Wikimedian in Residence program is strategically focused on expanding access to and information about the artists behind over 3,500 modern and contemporary artworks in the museum’s past and present collections – from Miami Art Museum to Jorge M. Pérez Art Museum of Miami-Dade County – on the internet through Wikimedia projects. The Residence dives into a specific challenge every semester towards complete coverage of art from the U.S. Latino experience, the African diaspora, Latin America, and the Caribbean present in the museum collection –and we are doing it through Wikipedia, Wikidata, and Wikimedia Commons to start.
Since accepting the role in December of 2022, the article “Activist Pedagogies in Museum Studies and Practice: A Critical Reflection” (Robenalt, Farrell-Banks, and Markham, 2023) published on the Museum Education Journal1 blog has been crucial in shaping my vision for a program in which I would be able to work in tandem with PAMM staff, local and international audiences, the GLAM2 Wikimedia community at-large, and the artists. Although we have interesting approaches and examples worldwide on what a Wikimedian in Residence does, each program runs closely aligned with its hosting institution’s goals and realities.
In this context, as a museum professional and Wikimedian with a background in art history, to get acclimated to PAMM, my first step was to read the museum’s mission statement3. What does it mean for an institution to present, study, interpret, and care for the visual arts in one of the most diverse cities in the country? PAMM’s mission not only unfolded the implications and opportunities for the Residence but also let me become aware of the Caribbean Cultural Institute website and digital archive, in which I found nearly twenty years of exhibition documentation and institutional history from Madeleine Hunt-Erlich (2023-24) to Teresita Fernández (2003-04), CCI’s website provided me with a list of artists and solo exhibitions I could start editing from.
The relevancy of the CCI archive for Wikipedia is as paramount as multilayered. First, biographical articles on Wikimedia platforms can exponentially increase a person’s visibility while contributing to contemporary discourse online. Secondly, Wikipedia has a gender gap problem –as of March 2023, only 18.5% of Wikipedia editors identify as women4– and I am part of a movement that expands knowledge of and information about the work, perspectives, and achievements of cis and trans women and non-binary people within the visual arts via Wikimedia projects.
Establishing conversations with local cultural institutions and academic organizations about the PAMM WIR was also on the program’s to-do list. Although the WIR program centers around bridging additional opportunities for audience engagement in the digital realm, we juxtaposed the Residence’s goals for article editing, expansion, and creation about PAMM exhibiting artists and those featured in the museum collection with digital literacy and educational sessions through a series of public programs and Wikipedia workshops between February and May 2023. For this purpose, we presented Celebrating Multilingualism at PAMM for museum staff; the virtual info session Wikimedia a (New) Topic for Museums: Intro Training for cultural workers and educators at academic institutions in South Florida on how to contribute to verifiable content on the internet; the Educator + Teen Workshop: Art+Feminism Wikipedia Edit-a-thon for the PAMM Teen Arts Council and their favorite educators; and the all-day event Art+Feminism Wikimedia Edit-a-thon: Miami Summit at PAMM. Furthermore, the effects of these programs on the South Florida community will grow over time as we build on an index of local artists and their stories and make them available to anyone interested in them. Additionally, the Dashboard and other Wiki tools systematically track data and measure edits.
The Digital Engagement department at PAMM supports pushing boundaries about what it means to act as a 21st-century museum and how collecting institutions can lead conversations about the digital worlds, including Wikimedian in Residence, PAMMTV, and bilingual museum and website initiatives. It challenges age-old preconceptions about museum authority and Wikipedia articles’ lack of academic rigor. By embracing new work methodologies, we open space for creativity and the use of museums and technology in new ways.
The Pérez Art Museum Miami Wikimedian in Residence is based in Pittsburgh, PA, with occasional site visits to the museum in Miami, FL. The program is supported by the PAMM Digital Engagement department and the museum staff at-large.
- Robenalt, E., Farrell-Banks, D., & Markham, K. (2022). Activist Pedagogies in Museum Studies and Practice: A Critical Reflection. Journal of Museum Education, 47(4), 401–413.
- GLAM acronym stands for Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums.
- PAMM website, ”Our Mission.”
- Tripodi, ”Ms. Categorized: Gender, notability, and inequality on Wikipedia.” New Media & Society (25)7, 1687-1707.
