Explore PESTS STRIP

Read About the Historical Context

The Jim Crow Era

The phrase “We Serve Whites Only” is a direct reference to the Jim Crow era (1877–1965), when it was posted on signs outside of some restaurants and shops. During this time, laws across the United States forced Black people and white people to use separate facilities, treating Black Americans as second-class citizens. This discriminatory system was finally overturned because people in the Civil Rights Movement fought back, leading to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. After these laws were passed, racism did not just disappear—rather, it took on new forms.

PESTS borrowed this disturbing historical phrase in 1987 for a page in their newsletter, PESTS STRIP, to shock the public into recognizing that artists of color were still being excluded from major art galleries and museums. PESTS’s work aimed to pressure museums and galleries to buy and exhibit more artwork by artists of color. By using a phrase evocative of the painful history of the Jim Crow era, PESTS challenged the art world to face and address its own racism and injustices and to demand a more inclusive field.

The Art World in the 1980s

Curators and others who work at museums and galleries choose which artists to feature in their exhibits. These decisions are influenced by many factors, including which artists they know of or have a relationship with, which artworks they think will attract visitors, and in the case of commercial art galleries, what they think will sell. Museums are also interested in collecting and preserving artworks for future generations, ensuring that they remain in public memory. Why does it matter whose creative visions are preserved over time? How do museums shape public memory?

In the 1980s, the main way that artists earned money, gained recognition, and found community was by showing their art in galleries and museums. But artists of color were often unfairly excluded from these spaces.

Look Closely at PESTS STRIP Newsletter, Vol. 1, No. 3

Click on the image above to zoom in on the first page of this newsletter. Read the text and look at the images and graphics. (Or, read the full text transcription).

• Make a list of all of the details that you notice. Write down some of the key words that give you clues about what this might be about.
• Based on the details you noticed, and the contexts you read about, what do you think this page is about?
• Why do you think PESTS chose to combine their message with a fancy-looking dinner menu and a cursive font? How would the message have been different if it had been designed differently?
• How does the text on the note, “The Following New York City Galleries Are 100% White” change the tone of the image?
• After considering all the different elements of the newsletter page, from the images, to the text, to the style of the text and what it says, what do you think the intended message is?
• Do you think this page sends an effective and powerful message regarding issues of marginalization and oppression? Why or why not?

Read About PESTS STRIP Newsletters

At first glance, this newsletter page looks like a dinner menu at a fancy restaurant. But after examining it closely, you can see that it doesn’t list food to order. Instead, it lists the names of art galleries that were not showing any artists of color around the time that it was made, in 1987. Why do you think PESTS chose to name specific names instead of describing the lack of representation in more general terms?

In a different issue of PESTS STRIP, shown below, PESTS listed events, exhibits, and performances that did feature artists of color (full text transcription). Just as it was important for them to bring attention to the exclusion of artists of color, they also wanted to create visibility and lift up the organizations that were already including artists of color. Curators and art dealers sometimes made the excuse that the reason they didn’t show more artists of color was not because they didn’t want to, but because they didn’t know any or hadn’t had opportunities to see their work. PESTS addressed this in their newsletter by providing clear evidence that artists of color were present, active, easily found, and shouldn’t be ignored.

Reflect

Write or discuss your responses.

• The phrase at the top of the first page, “We Serve Whites Only”—might feel provocative and offensive. When and where did these signs exist? What was their purpose? Why might PESTS have included this phrase?
• Why do you think PESTS published lists of events and exhibits that featured artists of color? Why was this an important part of their mission?
• How do you think different communities might have reacted to these publications? Consider the perspective of the following people: those who worked at or owned the galleries that were listed as being “100% white”; the people who worked for/organized the exhibits that did include artists of color; artists of color who were seeking representation.
• How did PESTS use creativity, research, and collaboration as tools for resistance, change, and hope?

The period roughly from the 1870s to the mid-1960s in the United States, particularly in the South, during which state and local laws enforced racial segregation and discrimination against Black Americans.

In different contexts, “justice” refers to both moral correctness and fairness, and also the rule of law. By contrast, “injustice” usually describes unfairness.

The act or process of pushing a group of people to the outside of society, or treating them as unimportant or powerless.

Historical, organized, and systemic mistreatment of and discrimination towards a group or community. Oppression can be ideological, institutional, interpersonal, and internalized.

Prejudice and discrimination against people because of their race.

Being seen, recognized, and valued by society instead of being ignored, overlooked, or excluded.