Like the National Labor Union in 1866, the Walters Art Museum union lit a fuse that ignited a labor movement boom across Baltimore’s cultural institutions.
Dereck Stafford Mangus
Originally from Boston, Dereck Stafford Mangus is a visual artist and writer based in Baltimore. His artwork has been exhibited in select galleries throughout Charm City, and his writing has appeared in Artblog, frieze, and Full Bleed, the annual journal of art and design at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA).
Posted inOpinion
We Wanted a More “Punk” Exhibition; The Museum Said No
Dereck Stafford Mangus reflects on Guarding the Art, an exhibition curated by security guards at the Baltimore Museum of Art.
Posted inArt
Hip Hop and the Machine
Rap Research Lab continues what hip hop has been doing for the past half century: playfully rearranging the words, sounds, and textures of postwar American pop music.
Posted inOpinion
Enough With the Selfies; Look at the Art
Museum guard Dereck Stafford Mangus urges museumgoers to put their phones down, just for a minute.
Posted inArt
Kei Ito Traces Tragedy and Mourning
Ito’s rubbings and multimedia works are traces of a global tragedy still imprinted in the memories of Americans more than two decades later.
Posted inOpinion
Museum Rentals Are a Recipe for Disaster
This is what happens when boozed-up patrons party next to priceless mosaics, statues, and vases.
Posted inOpinion
That Moment When You Win Your Museum’s Union Election
“A fine mist filled my eyes and I caught myself holding back the tears,” writes Dereck Stafford Mangus, an artist and a security guard at the Baltimore Museum of Art.
Posted inOpinion
Why We Need Unions at Art Museums
A colleague once told me “You live better when you work in a union, especially in an art museum because you work for elitists.”
Posted inOpinion
Can an Exhibition Selected by Museum Guards Address Inequality at Museums?
Guarding the Art has the chance to become the model for how museums honor and respect the dignity of their guards moving forward.
