Museum Curator Skills List and Examples

Museum Curator Skills List and ExamplesMuseum Curator Skills List and ExamplesMuseum curators acquire and protect museum collections and present these items to the public. Many curators are involved in fund-raising for their museum and create educational materials associated with their collections. Curation involves a very wide assortment of tasks and requires both very deep and very broad expertise. Althoughthepay can sometimes be low, andthehoursmaybe long and varied, curators often express very high levels of job satisfaction. They get to work on subjects they are passionate about, and they know what they do makes a real differencetocommunities, andtosociety. Curation work can vary a lot, depending on the kind of museum in question. Curators at art museums must be experts in art, art history, and art authentication and conservation. Curators at history museums must be historians. Curators at science museums must havehad somescientific training. But alltypes ofcurationsharecertain responsibilities,and thereforerequire consistent skills. How to become aMuseumCurator Although some small, local museums may be curated by self-taught volunteers, professional curation requires amastersdegree in any of several relevant fields. Students who have not yet completed their degrees often find work as assistant curators. These student internships can be critical to having a successful career later on,but often carry little or no pay. Becomingalead curator at a major museum requires both a Ph.D. and at least five years of field experience. The process can be long and difficult, and yet many curators did not set out to get into curation at all. Many trained originally for some other career, such as scientific research or teaching, and discovered that they had become qualified for curation only when an opportunity became available. Salary and Job Outlook The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports theaverage zentralwert wage for curatorsto be$53,570. Thejob outlook p rojects 14% growth, which is faster thanthatfor all occupations. Museum Curator Skills and Examples Here is a list of the most valuableskillsrequired for museum curation to use in resumes, cover letters, and job applications. Technical Skills The technical skillsrequiredvary based onthekind of materials a museum collects. For example, the curator of an art museum would need to know how to authenticate paintings, while the curator of a natural history museum would need to know how to determine the age of fossils. Appraising ArtAcquisitionsConservation Preventative MaintenanceConservation TreatmentExhibit Content DevelopmentExhibit DevelopmentExhibit DesignExhibit ImplementationExhibit PreparationMaintain Exhibit CalendarStaging Exhibits Research Skills Museum curators are responsible for learning as much about the collections as possible, so as to be able to take care ofthemproperly and so as to be able to pass that information on to the public. Curators also need to be a ble to recognize whether an object issufficiently important forthe museumtoacquire it,and whetherthe object is evengenuine. All of these tasks require strong research skills including both directexaminationof the objects themselves, and extensive field research and reading. Curators also have to partener with scientists or scholars who may be either working with the museums materials or preparing materials that the museummaywant to either acquire or accept on loan. CatalogingCollection DevelopmentDeveloping Interpretive MaterialsEducational ProgrammingDetail OrientationDeveloping BudgetsDeveloping Funding ProposalsEvaluating Strengths and Weaknesses of CollectionsSoliciting Acquisitions Written and Verbal CommunicationSkills Communicationplaysa big partincuration. Not only must museum staff work well as a team, requiring good internal communication, but curators must both teach the public and reach out to potential donors. Grant writing has become a significant part of the job s ince public funding for museums hasdroppedoff in recent decades. Writing for the public can include everything from creating specimen labels to producing pamphlets and even books. Curators also either present talks oncollections,or train and supervise those whotake on this role. Even creating displays is a form of communication. Most communication with the public falls under the generalcategoryof interpretation skills. Active ListeningBuilding Relationships with ConstituentsCollaborationCommunicationsCommunity OutreachConducting ToursConsultingCultivating DonorsDiplomaticDiscrete with Confidential InformationDonor CultivationFostering an Appreciation of ArtInfluencing OthersInstructingLeadershipPreparing Press ReleasesPresentationPromotingPublic ProgrammingPublicityPublicizingRelationship Building Management Skills Major museums employmanycurationstaff. The lead curator mustmanage the entire team. Thatinvolves, for example,delegating, priority-setting, budgeting, coordinating, m aintaining standards, andproviding comprehensivetrainingtonew team members. Creativeproblem-solvingis important since anything from pest infestations to personnel disputescan potentiallyjeopardizeacollection or the museums educational mission. Many lead curators do very little direct work on the collections at all. Most of their time and energy goes into keeping track of what other team members are doing and ensuring that all necessary bases are covered. Acquisition ManagementCollection ManagementEstablish Collection Management PoliciesDeveloping ProceduresFundraisingInitiativeInnovationManage ExhibitsManagementMotivating OthersSupervisory Related Skills There are a variety of relatedgeneral skillsthat are beneficial to someone seeking a museum curator position. Take the time to match the skills the employer is seeking with yourskill set, then highlight the most relevant skills in your resume and cover letter. AdministrativeAesthetic SensibilityAnalyticalBudgetingEnergeticInterp ersonalMarketingMonitoring FinancesMultitaskingOrchestrating EventsOrganizationalPlanningPrioritizingProject ManagementRecord KeepingRecruiting Staff and VolunteersStrategic ThinkingTeachingTeamworkTrainingVerbalVisionWorking IndependentlyWriting