Firing of Minneapolis Institute of Art of Curator Prompts Accusations of Toxic Work Environment

The recent firing of a curator at the Minneapolis Institute of Art (MIA) has prompted accusations the museum has become “a toxic environment for people of color” under its director, Katherine Luber.

Bob Cozzolino was fired from his position at MIA as Patrick and Aimee Butler Curator of Paintings on January 9. Cozzolino, who had a garnered praise for spotlighting underrepresented artists, told local media that his dismissal was part of a larger trend of changes made by Luber.

“There were some things that I experienced that lots of other people at Mia experienced, including being marginalized for speaking up for equity issues,” Cozzolino told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. “People who were doing equity work were considered activists or radical, instead of how the culture of the field should be.”

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In response to Cozzolino’s firing, more than 450 members of the city’s art community signed an open letter of support. The signers included acclaimed filmmaker David Lynch and Minnesota artist Dyani White Hawk, one of the recipients of the McArthur “genius” grant last year.

“I am extremely disappointed to learn of the way his contributions to the museum and our community were dismissed,” White Hawk told MPR News, which first reported the news.

An Instagram account claiming to represent current and former MIA employees, @reimagine_mia, also started posting on February 21.

“It’s performative DEAI theater, but behind the scenes Mia is making it a toxic environment for people of color,” OPEIU representative Cesar Montufar told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

Luber told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune it was “unfortunate” and “so not true” that Cozzolino’s dismissal had been tied to allegations about DEI work stopping at the museum in 2020 or not happening, pointing to the hiring of Virajita Singh in 2022 as its first chief diversity and inclusion officer.

Luber also denied accusations the museum was a toxic work environment and said it was a normal for an organization with so many hourly employees to have regular turnover each year.

Another person who recently left the museum was Anniessa Antar, “an activation specialist” from 2019 to 2021. Antar was also a coordinator for the institution for MASS Action, a national initiative aimed at helping increase equity and inclusivity at museums.

“As a person of color in the space doing equity work, working to really break down silos and trying to involve as many people as possible, the work was met with constant blockades,” Antar told MPR News.

On February 21, the museum published a three-page statement online about its DEI and accessibility efforts. It included statistics about its staff of more than 250 people, including 27.9% identifying as people of color; expanding its collection in the areas of Art & Disabilities, Native American Art, Indigenous Futurism, African American Art, Japanese Art and Latin American Art; as well as “hiring a curator of Latin American art and securing endowed funding to support this position over the long-term”.

In an email, MIA spokesperson Molly Lax told ARTnews that Cozzolino’s employment was terminated for cause and that his firing was “not because of his commitment to DEI issues but despite his commitment to these issues”. Lax also noted that Cozzolino was given an opportunity to address concerns and provided a “detailed letter” outlining the reasons for his termination, which was also given to the union.

The union has filed a grievance in response to the termination of Cozzolino’s employment.

“That OPEIU now seems also to think they need a public campaign against the museum suggests that they do not believe they will be successful in the grievance process,” Lax wrote.

After emphasizing the statistic about the diversity of MIA’s staff, Lax added, “Moreover, the average tenure of our employees is 9.2 years, suggesting people like working here.”

Lax also told ARTnews “there are no other pending grievances from either union alleging someone else was wrongfully terminated, for any reason, let alone their race—and, regardless of any potential union grievance, it would be illegal to target employees because of their identity.”

Update, February 26, 2024: This article was updated after publication to include a statement from Minneapolis Institute of Art spokesperson Molly Lax.