What are the job responsibilities of a museum curator?

What are the job responsibilities of a museum curator?

• Answer:

  I usually find Wikipedia a good place to start any search. They have this to say about museum curators: "A curator of a cultural heritage institution (e.g., archive, gallery, library, museum or garden) is a content specialist responsible for an institution's collections and, together with a publications specialist, their associated collections catalogs. The object of a curator's concern necessarily involves tangible objects of some sort, whether it be artwork, collectibles, historic items or scientific collections." "In smaller organizations, a curator may have sole responsibility for the acquisition and care of objects. The curator will make decisions regarding what objects to collect, oversee their care and documentation, conduct research based on the collection, and share that research with the public and scholarly community through exhibitions and publications. In very small volunteer-based museums, such as local historical societies, a curator may be the only paid staff member." "In larger institutions, the curator's primary function is as a subject specialist, with the expectation that he or she will conduct original research on objects and guide the organization in its collecting. Such institutions can have multiple curators, each assigned to a specific collecting area (e.g. Curator of Ancient Art, Curator of Prints and Drawings, etc.) and often operating under the direction of a head curator. In such organizations, the physical care of the collection may be overseen by museum collections managers or museum conservators, and documentation and administrative matters (such as insurance and loans) are handled by a museum registrar." "Traditionally, curators have held an advanced academic degree in their subject. For larger organizations, this is typically a PhD. In smaller institutions, a Master's degree is sometimes acceptable. Along with an advanced degree, curators are expected to have contributed to their academic field by publishing articles and presenting at conferences. In addition, curators need to have knowledge of the current collecting market for their area of expertise, and be aware of current ethical practices and laws that may impact their organization's collecting." "Recently, the increased complexity of many museums and cultural organizations and the corresponding emergence of professional programs in field such as Museum Studies, Arts Administration, and Public History, have encouraged the development of curators with training in non-academic areas such as non-profit administration, fundraising, and public education." "Today, as art institutions face an array of new challenges, the role of the curator is being re-thought. One consequence of this has been the emergence of academic courses in contemporary art and curatorial practice (e.g., at the Goldsmiths College, UK, Royal College of Art, UK, California College of the Arts, USA, Bard College, USA, Université de Rennes II, France, etc.)."