My CSM is Community-Led

My CSM is more than a home for art—it’s a vibrant community hub where creativity and collaboration flourish. 

Following our opening in 2011, we quickly learned that many people felt disconnected from abstract art, thinking it requires specialized knowledge to engage with. At CSM, we’ve worked to dismantle this misconception through a shared authority approach, working with artists, educators, children, scholars, and other community members and organizations to shape the museum’s exhibitions and programs. 

At the heart of this philosophy is our collaboration with children. Clyfford Still, Art, and the Young Mind (March-August 2022) was co-curated with young children ages six months to eight years of age and pushed CSM to explore new forms of collaboration to elevate young children’s visibility and participation in our museum. We’re expanding this community-led model with Colville Children Curate, an exhibition co-created with children from the Colville Confederated Tribes in Washington—some of whom are descendants of individuals Still portrayed in his art. This exhibition will amplify young voices as they interpret Still’s work through their lived experiences, shaping the themes and design in a powerful act of multivocal collaboration.

In programs like inStill School Experiences for PreK-12 students and Art Crawl for infants and caregivers, we actively partner with children and adults to shape their museum experiences. This year, we've started an exciting partnership with a multi-intensive autism classroom at Eagleton Elementary. CSM educators will work with Eagleton's teachers and students to co-create new strategies to make our school visits and other programs more inclusive for children and adults with neurodiversity. Much of our work with children is informed by a community-based education committee, a committed group of local experts who provide guidance and support on educational initiatives year-round.

Additionally, our adult programs feature a wide range of perspectives on Clyfford Still's art, modeling that there is no one right way to interpret his work. Recent highlights include art historian Allan Antliff's discussion on Clyfford Still and anarchy and Denver-based artist Sarah Darlene's One Painting at a Time talk on painting as divination. By sharing authority with community members, we challenge traditional museum hierarchies and discover valuable perspectives on Still’s abstract works. 

Funds raised will fuel local and national partnerships, support our passionate museum educators, create scholarships for school programs, and subsidize programming for all ages. I've contributed, and I hope you will, too. Thank you for supporting a Museum where every voice matters.