What to Know About Becoming a Curator

Curators work mostly in the art industry and are the people who research, develop, maintain and organise museum and art gallery collections. Curators look for art works and artefacts that fit into a specific category and create an exhibition for the general public based around that theme.

Curators are required to be highly organised, dedicated and responsible as many of the pieces in high end galleries can be work millions of dollars. There is a large amount of book and record keeping involved as well as co-ordination of other staff, promotional activities and other exhibits.

Curators usually have a passion for a particular area of art for example contemporary, renaissance, science, ancient art or even education (taking educational tours). For large galleries and museums, Curators may be required to travel to the location of artwork not only to verify authenticity, but also to uncover other artefacts in a similar genre.

Curators usually need to have displayed a high level of interest in the art world. As a result, curators usually have a degree in Arts, Fine Arts, Visual Arts or something similar, as well as a master of Curatorship or Art Management. In many cases the Curator is also a part time or hobby artist which is demonstrative of their interest in the Art world. Many curators work as consultants doing individual exhibitions within their field of specialisation.

There is no real industry average as it depends on whether one works at a large gallery, in a smaller gallery or as a consultant. An indicative salary for a curator is around $58K, however in senior positions in lucrative Institutes a salary can extend up to $97K. From the curator position one may be able to move into gallery management or similar.

Find a position in the competitive field of Curatorship and even more information here.