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"e art faculty did actually have a discussion group at the beginning of the fall semester, with lectures and other events where faculty could sign up to learn more about antiracism from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences," she said. "Every faculty member has individually chosen to step up and respond to certain events and respond to the calls from the college as a whole to practice antiracism intentionally." As a department, Mercer Arts has worked to empower faculty and students by reporting what they see and having open, frank discussions. Over the last five years or so, the academic art world has been evolving toward more active inclusion, Rubens explained, and Coleman has been sharing those findings from conferences with the faculty. Toward that end, the department has been actively engaged in revamping its entire curriculum to reflect the current times, not just what has traditionally been taught for decades. "We are questioning traditional logic about fine art and responding to it openly," Rubens said. Since Mercer's de-segregation in the mid- 1960s, there has been a great deal of progress and change within the university as a whole. "Mercer does not seem to try to hide the difficult parts of its history, particularly in the first years of de-segregation, but rather to approach dialogue about it that will lead to greater healing," Rubens said. e university makes a concerted effort to keep open dialogue ongoing. For example, Sam Oni, one of the first black students admitted to Mercer, spoke at the university during February as part of a panel entitled, "Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man." e subject of social justice is being tackled in numerous ways, among them Dr. Ansley Booker's extraordinary efforts to lead diversity and inclusion initiatives at Mercer. Booker founded a social justice book club to facilitate in-depth conversations. "Her work is extraordinary, from large to small," said Rubens. Additionally, the art department brought light to an injustice several decades in the making. Gwen Payton is an alumna who intended to double major in art and biology in the late 1960s, but encountered racism and sexism from a faculty member who refused to allow her to exhibit her senior show. Despite having completed all required coursework, the lack of a senior exhibit prevented Payton from receiving her art major. Upon learning of this injustice, art faculty recently invited Payton to restage her senior show in 2020, almost 50 years later, and asked her to deliver an artist talk as well. "e representation of women-identifying artists and artists of color has been a curatorial priority since our inception," said Ben Dunn, professor and director of the MAC. "We show mostly emerging contemporary artists, and prioritize a feminist and racial justice orientation whenever possible. "It would be naïve to ignore the role institutional cultural mechanisms like galleries play in determining representation, and we just don't have our head in the sand there basically. Mercer is a deep well, and it's also reckoning with its historical errors through restorative gestures, as we saw in the case of Gwen Payton's exhibition. It would also be naïve to pretend that the work is done; there is a lot more to be done." Changes to diversify the curriculum have been spearheaded by Erin McClenathan, assistant professor, and Tennille Shuster, associate professor. "One of my goals is to have art history students utilize the resources we have in Macon because there really is no substitute for experiencing artworks and installations in person," McClenathan said. "I continue 126 maconmagazine.com | APRIL/MAY 2021