University Art Museum Director Kimberli Meyer was at her desk drafting opening remarks for the launch of American MONUMENT<\/i>\u2014an installation examining police killings of black civilians by artist lauren woods that was meant to mark a shift in museum programming\u2014when she was abruptly fired.<\/p>\n
“I was fired. I was removed,” said Meyer, who closely collaborated with woods to bring American MONUMENT <\/i>to the museum at Cal State Long Beach. “And when I asked them why they said, \u2018Well you\u2019re an at-will employee so we don\u2019t have to tell you why.\u2019 So it’s a big question mark to me. [Departmental leadership] came in and I had to leave my office on the spot.”<\/p>\n
https:\/\/lbpost.com\/news\/university-art-museum-director-vacates-position\/<\/p>\n
On Sunday, a few days after Meyer received the news, woods staged a protest on the opening night of the exhibit, effectively silencing its central sound installation and pausing production of American MONUMENT<\/em> until the university hears an appeal of Meyer’s termination.<\/p>\n Consisting of a grid of spinning acetate records that play language based on narratives found in open records request materials, American MONUMENT<\/i> was a first for the on-campus museum. It was meant to represent the kinds of structural and institutional changes personally spearheaded by the progressive Meyer over the past two years.<\/p>\n As the first iteration of the piece, the exhibit was set to travel to different sites and grow as more cases become available through public records requests.<\/p>\n Meyer\u2019s termination was announced by Cyrus Parker-Jeannette, the dean of the college of the arts on Tuesday, five days before the launch of the exhibit. In a statement<\/a> released by the university on Monday, Parker-Jeannette said that the decision for Meyer to no longer serve as director was \u201cpart of a longer-term process.”<\/p>\n The university generally does not comment on terminations due to privacy restrictions.<\/p>\n Meyer said she sent in a letter of appeal about her firing on Monday morning and is hoping there’s still “an opportunity to rectify the situation.”<\/p>\n “It’s such an important project,” Meyer said. “I\u2019m pretty devastated because for me this was an opportunity to really look at some real, institutional transformation and so I\u2019m just hoping that can still happen.”<\/p>\n A raw and emotional moment after woods\u2019 walk out, UAM Curator Of Engagement & Participatory Practices Catherine Scotti asks witnesses to have compassion for this moment, to take a stand; she doesn\u2019t know what\u2019s going to happen next. pic.twitter.com\/AxtsAK5NHU<\/a><\/p>\n — Asia Morris (@hugelandmass) September 17, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n