In the late 90s, the earliest discussions about the creation of the Frist Art Museum revolved around the founders’ commitments to bring the greatest art in the world to Nashville, and to make the museum, open, welcoming, and accessible to all. Founding principles of diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion have been pillars of the institution since before our opening in April 2001.
To reinforce these founding tenets, in 2017, the museum committed to codifying these ideas with renewed vigor and intentionality and began a deep process of study and self-examination. In 2020, guided by Lord Cultural Resources, an internationally renowned organization instrumental in the founding of the Frist Art Museum, a formal Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion plan was developed. The almost year-long process involved the museum staff, trustees, museum advisory councils, and members of the community. The plan was formally adopted by the Board of Trustees in 2021.
As transparency is one of the major goals of the plan, this section of our website will be updated regularly to report on and track our progress.
One of our primary goals is for our visitation to mirror the demographics of our community. The input of our museum guests is critical for us to better understand our shortcomings as well as our successes, and we need your help. When you visit the museum, please take a moment to take our iPad surveys while you are onsite.
If you are interested in volunteering at the Frist, or becoming a docent, please visit our Volunteer page to express your interest.
We are grateful to have been embraced by the community for these past two decades. By continuing to inspire people to look at the world in new ways, we look forward to putting art at the center of civil, equitable and tolerant discourse for many decades to come.
