COURTESY INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART, UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
The Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia announced today that it will be the first museum certified by Working Artists and the Greater Economy. W.A.G.E., a New York-based activist organization, advocates on behalf of artists for sustainable economic relationships with institutions that show their work.
The ICA is responsible for tracking and payment of fees based on its annual operating budget of $4.8 million. In a statement, W.A.G.E., which began its certification program in 2014, said of the ICA’s commitment, “it demonstrates that a museum is capable of meeting external payment standards, and more importantly that those standards can be set by workers.”
The museum joins 53 other certified institutions, among them Artists Space, the Swiss Institute, Participant Inc., and Open Space, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art’s online platform for writings by curators, artists, and critics.
“Our partnership with W.A.G.E. helps to set a new standard in the museum field, one that ensures equitable environments for the artists with whom we work,” the ICA’s director, Amy Sadao, said in a statement.“We’re proud to be the first museum to join this diverse group of arts and culture institutions across the U.S. who are certified, and hope that it will encourage other museums to do the same.”