Museum Curator Skills List and Examples

Museum Curator Skills List and Examples Museum Curator Skills List and Examples Museum 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. Although  the  pay can sometimes be low, and  the  hours  may  be 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 difference  to  communities, and  to  society. 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 have  had some  scientific training. But all  types of  curation  share  certain responsibilities,  and therefore  require consistent skills. How to become a  Museum  Curator Although some small, local museums may be curated by self-taught volunteers, professional curation requires a  masters  degree 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. Becoming  a  lead 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 the  average median wage for curators  to be  $53,570. The  job outlook projects 14% growth, which is faster than  that  for all occupations. Museum Curator Skills and Examples Here is a list of the most valuable  skills  required for museum curation to use in resumes, cover letters, and job applications. Technical Skills The technical skills  required  vary based on  the  kind 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 of  them  properly and so as to be able to pass that information on to the public. Curators also need to be able to recognize whether an object is  sufficiently important for  the museum  to  acquire it,  and whether  the object is even  genuine. All of these tasks require strong research skills including both direct  examination  of the objects themselves, and extensive field research and reading. Curators also have to partner with scientists or scholars who may be either working with the museum’s materials or preparing materials that the museum  may  want 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 Communication  Skills Communication  plays  a big part  in  curation. 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 since public funding for museums has  dropped  off 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 on  collections,  or train and supervise those who  take on this role. Even creating displays is a form of communication. Most communication with the public falls under the general  category  of 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 employ  many  curation  staff. The lead curator must  manage the entire team. That  involves, for example,  delegating, priority-setting, budgeting, coordinating, maintaining standards, and  providing comprehensive  training  to  new team members. Creative  problem-solving  is important since anything from pest infestations to personnel disputes  can potentially  jeopardize  a  collection or the museum’s 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 related  general skills  that are beneficial to someone seeking a museum curator position. Take the time to match the skills the employer is seeking with your  skill set, then highlight the most relevant skills in your resume and cover letter. AdministrativeAesthetic SensibilityAnalyticalBudgetingEnergeticInterpersonalMarketingMonitoring FinancesMultitaskingOrchestrating EventsOrganizationalPlanningPrioritizingProject ManagementRecord KeepingRecruiting Staff and VolunteersStrategic ThinkingTeachingTeamworkTrainingVerbalVisionWorking IndependentlyWriting