Guidelines

Guidelines for Curatorial Studies Programs

Adopted by CAA Board of Directors, October 24, 2004.

In the past few years, a number of colleges and universities across the country have instituted programs in curatorial studies. The following remarks are intended to guide art departments and administrators organizing curricula as well as to help faculty advisors and students determine which curatorial studies programs are appropriate for an individual's specific interests, abilities, and career goals.

Curatorial Studies and Museum Studies Programs
These guidelines address curatorial studies program created to train curators and/or directors of art museums or university art galleries. Museum studies programs tend to be more broadly designed for future museum educators, registrars and collection managers who will work in natural history and science museums, state and national parks, and historic sites and houses, as well as in art museums. Much of the information about museum studies programs, however, is relevant in making a choice about curatorial studies; some of these sources are listed in the bibliography.

Career Opportunities
Students and their advisors should be aware of the relatively small size of the art museum universe. According to the most recent Official Museum Directory (2004), there are approximately 8,260 museums in the United States; 1,718 are art museums; 558 museums are college- or university based, and about half of these are art museums. Out of total number of art museums, only 172 are associated with the Association of Art Museum Directors; that is, larger art museums with operating budgets over approximately $2 million per year. Thus, the number of art museums is smaller than one might expect. (A similar disparity exists in attendance, e g., The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago receives about ten times as many visitors per year as the Art Institute of Chicago). In terms of geographical distribution, there are many more art museums concentrated in the Northeast than there are in the Midwest, the South, the Mountain/Plains region, or the West Coast.

In practical terms, this means that in order to find a position, one must be willing to relocate. Students should also be aware that starting curatorial salaries tend to be low and advancement within an institution is not guaranteed. [Current jobs are listed on the websites of CAA and AAM; for specific information on salaries, see the AAMD survey, cited in the bibliography.] Before undertaking the search for the right academic program, students would do well to work as interns or volunteers, perhaps at their own campus museums, to get a sense of the museum work environment. Museum work tends to be fast-paced and collaborative; and multi-tasking is constant.

There are many more teaching positions than curatorial ones, as College Art Association listings show. Curatorial positions fall roughly into three categories. First, there are specialized curatorships for specific areas of expertise in larger museums; secondly, directors and curators of smaller city museums and university-based art museums; and finally, curators of contemporary art working at museums and galleries of contemporary art, art centers, and alternative spaces. Overwhelmingly, the museums hiring curators for the first two categories of positions require or "strongly prefer" a doctorate in art history. Other degrees might distinguish job applicants, but are not considered an alternative to the Ph.D. A Ph.D. would be required, as well, for a joint appointment to a museum and university. For positions in the contemporary art field, the applicant needs a master's degree and a strong background in current art and art criticism, although even in this field the Ph.D. is becoming essential. Extensive professional knowledge of the art scene entails continually viewing art in dozens of galleries, museums, and keeping abreast of developments in Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Although such familiarity is not academic training per se, it does require a great deal of time, energy, and dedication. The commercial gallery system is not a large source of curatorial positions, as there are relatively few opportunities for advancement beyond entry level jobs.

Programs of Study
Broadly speaking, the curatorial studies programs that now exist are of two types: one designed to train curators for the first two categories of museum careers described above (specialized curators and directors), and the other for contemporary art positions. (It is not unusual for specialized curators from large museums to become directors of university museums). The first type is designed as an adjunct to the M.A. or Ph.D. in art history; frequently it is offered as a certificate program. Such programs usually consist of courses on materials, media and techniques, classes devoted to research methodologies, and training in connoisseurship and in the organization of exhibitions. Many programs also include a course on exhibition design with an emphasis on graphics and mounts. Extensive internships are included.

The second type of curatorial studies program is designed for students who expect to work in the contemporary art field. These are intended to familiarize students with current trends in practice and criticism and to provide opportunities to organize exhibitions. Students make studio and gallery visits, learn installation, exhibition and graphics design, and write catalogue essays, wall texts and publicity materials. Because the staffs of contemporary art centers tend to be small, hands-on experience in every aspect of the curator's responsibility is important. Training for contemporary arts curators presents a difficult challenge. The field of contemporary art is enormous-and ever changing. Although students may concentrate on art developments since 1980, the study of twentieth-century art is still essential. Thus, art history is at the core of all training in curatorial studies. In the current competitive job market in academe and in art museums, employers frequently use the lack of a Ph.D as a criterion for reducing the size of their applicant pools. On the other hand, commercial galleries tend to seek candidates with a certificate in ArtsSystem (for in-house publishing), an e-portfolio, and some business background.

Duties of Curators
1. The care and interpretation of objects belonging to or lent to the museum,
which usually comprise:

making recommendations for acquisitions either through purchase or gift; for deaccession; and for outgoing loans;
carrying out research on the collection, including verifying their;
authenticity, tracing their provenance and judging their quality;
working with conservators to ensure the safety of the collection and to propose and advise upon any necessary conservation treatments;
collaborating with museum educators on methods for the presentation of the collection to the public.

2. The conception, development and organization of exhibitions, which usually includes:

articulating the rationale and narrative, identifying objects for the checklist appropriate to the concept and to the mission, scale and resources of the museum;
writing the grant proposal in a small organization (or the project description in a large one), the catalogue, wall texts and labels;
planning the exhibition's layout, its order, pacing, groupings, emphasis;
securing the objects for loan;
arranging other venues when appropriate;
working collaboratively with other museum staff on the installation design, educational programs, outreach, and publicity.

3. The development and communication of program and collection information, contextual background materials and intellectual rationales in the forms needed by other departments, especially the education department and the development office.

4. The cultivation of donors and patrons for the department and for the museum itself.

The effective curator:

has substantive knowledge of art history of all periods and specialized knowledge of his/her own field;
is skilled in museum-based research, including visual analysis;
writes thoughtful art historical studies, and catalogue essays and entries for both a scholarly and a general audience as appropriate;
writes clear, informative object labels, wall labels, and other didactic materials;
knows and understands collection management tools and software;
has basic knowledge of conservation of works of art, exhibition design, the registrars' procedures and the accession process;
has connoisseurship skills and an exceptional "eye";
speaks effectively to lay audiences;
knows and understands the institution's various audiences;
interacts smoothly with trustees, donors, colleagues, educators and artists;
works collaboratively with all museum departments and conveys all needed information on time to departments of education, development and public relations;
works with designers to create coherent paths through exhibition galleries;
works with educators to identify themes and key objects for teaching different audiences/grade levels in collections and exhibitions;
respects deadlines;
cooperates in development efforts, assists as needed with writing grant proposals;
understands budgets;
knows the art market in his/her field;
has basic understanding of relevant tax laws on charitable giving;
is aware of repatriation issues in different fields and the of the resources to stay current, such as the AAM portal.

Curriculum recommendations
After consultation with curators, museum directors, and professors teaching in curatorial studies programs, the CAA has specific recommendations for curriculum development. Given the duties of curators in art museums of the 21st century, students first need all of the training appropriate for an advanced degree in art history. In addition, to prepare for curatorial work, students need to develop specific skills for working with objects. Ready access to museum objects throughout the training period should be required, especially in the campus museum. Regardless of the emphasis, contemporary or historical, curriculum requirements are the same.

Most effective curatorial studies programs are certificate programs offered in conjunction with the M.A. and Ph. D. in Art History. Students should have at least 3 to 6 credits of curatorial training, preparing them for at least 6 to 9 credits of internship. Although internships are essential, they do not replace the classroom experience. In addition to lecture courses and colloquia, requirements for a certificate in curatorial studies should also include a graduate seminar devoted to the organization of an exhibition, providing students with opportunities to select works of art for the exhibition, study these works, and write catalogue essays.

Curatorial training courses must be taught by museum professionals. The introductory course should consider museum history, philosophy and operations; exhibition planning design, and interpretation. It is important to stress that the primary means of communication in an exhibition is not the written word but how the works are installed and how the visual relationships are established within a given space.

The course or seminar on methodology should introduce students to museum-based research, which differs from university-based research in several ways. Much of curatorial work deals with objects that lie outside the usual academic canon. Therefore, curators need to be able work with objects that are unknown, unpublished, atypical, or of problematic authenticity. Research on provenance is often important, which means tracing the precise history of an object's ownership. The museum-based scholar must frequently meet challenging deadlines, as well.

Under the broad rubric of connoisseurship are skills used to make some of the curator's most important decisions: which artists and which of their works to add to the collection, which examples are the most appropriate to acquire given the museum's current holdings, resources and mission. The curator also determines which works should be exhibited, and which should be placed in study collections. This aspect of curatorial work depends absolutely upon the development of the curator's eye. Looking, seeing, understanding and processing are vital skills.

Students should have at least one lecture on materials and techniques and one on conservation. It would be advisable that curators take at least one studio course, so that they understand the physical and intellectual challenges involved in creating works of art.

Internships
All of those consulted in the preparation of these guidelines agree on the importance of internships for effective training of prospective curators. Internships should involve full days of work in a museum over an extended period of time, with the serious supervision of a member of the museum staff. The most successful internships will probably take place at a museum separate from the college or university gallery affiliated with the student's graduate studies. Often internships lead to a part-time position, which can be seen as a useful introduction to future employment as a museum professional.

An intern must be introduced to all of the departments and functions of the museum. All museums are complex organizations and all the departments in each perform vital functions, from security to development to operations and accounting.

Finally, the intern should learn the following practical skills: writing wall labels and proposals, installing a show, giving talks on art to non-professional audiences, including docents, writing a proposal to acquire an object, working with databases, learning the basics of tax law on charitable giving, knowing how to handle art objects physically, interacting successfully with everyone on the staff, especially with registrars, conservators and educators.

Some criteria for evaluation of curatorial studies programs:
Do the instructors have extensive curatorial experience?
Is the program staffed adequately so that mentoring is available?
Does the program include visiting curators and other museum professionals?
Does the program incorporate an opportunity to continue studies to the Ph.D. degree?
Does the program have an ongoing relationship with a museum holding a substantial collection?
What is the program's relationship with the campus museum? Are museum staff members involved in the program?
What is the program's relationship with the Art History program? How are art history faculty members involved?
Will there be an opportunity to organize an exhibition? Will it involve labels, loan forms, press releases? Will there be a publication?
Have alumni of the program found appropriate positions?
Are the normal resources for graduate students available, such as financial aid, access to all libraries, etc.?

Bibliography

* indicates availability from the AAM Bookstore:
bookstore@aam-us.org, 202 289-9127
The AAM Bookstore lists books on every aspect of museum work: Professional Development, Fundamentals, Human Resources, Legal Issues, History and Theory, among other topics

For information on museums in general:
The Official Museum Directory (2004), New Providence, NJ: National Register Publishing, 2003). The most reliable source for current information on U.S. museums and their personnel
American Association of Museums website: www.aam-us.org
www.museumstuff.com

Museum positions job listings:
www.collegeart.org
www.aam-us.org
www.si.edu
For the Smithsonian website see jobs -> museum careers and job opportunities
Museum salaries
*AAMD (Association of Art Museum Directors), Salary Survey, 2004
(New York: AAMD, 2004)
On museum professional training:

*American Association of Museums Museum Studies Committee. Museum Studies Programs: Guide to Evaluation. Washington, DC: AAM, Technical Information Service, 1987. This includes a section entitled "Criteria for Examining Professional Museum Studies Programs" and a self-study guide for colleges and universities which have, or are contemplating, such programs

*American Association of Museums Professional Practice Series. Careers in Museums: A Variety of Vocations .AAM, Technical Information Service, 5th ed., 2000. This describes the working environment, lists suggested qualifications for museum jobs, discusses training and also includes biographies of a number of museum professionals, a bibliography and a list of resource organizations.

Reynolds, Terry R. "Training for Entry-Level Museum Professionals"
http://www.nyu.edu/education/art/entrylevelprotrain.html

*Schwarzer, Marjorie. Graduate Training in Museum Studies: What Students Need to Know. AAM, Committee on Museum and Professional Training, 2001

AAM professional training programs are listed on their website, aam-us.org -> Professional Education (for seminars and workshops)

The AAM Committee on Museum and Professional Training web page has much useful information. To locate it: www.aam-us.org -> About AAM -> Committees/Councils -> AAM Standing Professional Committees -> Committee on Museum Professional Training -> Resources (contains an excellent bibliography)

Examples of successful grant proposals:
Can be obtained from NEH, education@neh.gov

On social skills in the work environment:
Drucker, Peter F. Managing the Non-Profit Organization. New York: HarperCollins, 1992.

Goleman, Daniel. Working with Emotional Intelligence. New York: Bantam Books, 1998.

Senge, Peter. The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization. New York: Doubleday, 1994.

Examples of museum-based research and exhibition catalogues:

See publications that have received the CAA's Alfred H. Barr Award for museum scholarship.

Museum Committee: Maria Ann Conelli, School of Graduate Studies; Katherine B. Crum, Chair; Jan Driesbach, Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery and Sculpture Garden; Maribeth Flynn, Brooklyn Museum of Art; Erica E. Hirshler, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Bonnie G. Kelm, University Art Museum, University of California; Joan M. Marter, Rutgers University; Andrea S. Norris; Joseph T. Ruzicka, Washington County Museum of Fine Arts; Brian Wallace, Galleries at Moore, Moore College of Art & Design; Nancy E. Zinn, The Walters Art Museum.