Curators manage collections, conduct research, and display items for public or private viewing in museums, libraries, and historically significant sites. They often have extensive education and experience in their field of expertise and may specialize in subjects such as art, natural history, engineering, and aerospace. Curators also participate in fundraising and public awareness activities to promote and protect collections. A master’s or doctoral degree is typically required, and individuals often gain experience in other roles before becoming curators.
Curators manage collections at museums, libraries, and historically significant sites. Typically, professionals are responsible for overseeing the acquisition of new items, conducting research on them, and displaying them for public or private viewing. Many trustees take on additional administrative functions, such as organizing and promoting special events. To fulfill the variety of important tasks, a curator generally must have extensive experience and education in their field of expertise.
Many curators work in museums dedicated to specific subjects such as art, natural history, engineering and aerospace. In most situations, curators research, acquire, authenticate and display interesting and meaningful pieces. An art curator, for example, might be interested in starting a collection of modernist paintings. She would research the movement, identify her favorite pieces, and find out where she could acquire them permanently or lend them out as part of a cooperative among other museums. The curator decides where and how to display the pieces, and what educational information to provide visitors in the form of descriptive signs, programs and tour itineraries.
Natural history museum curators specialize in the research and preservation of fossils, artifacts, rocks, and biological specimens. Many curators are experts in paleontology and biological anthropology and are able to use their extensive knowledge to confirm that certain pieces are authentic. Curators often work with field researchers to study new discoveries and display important discoveries for the public to see. They make models and plaster casts from real fossils to build realistic skeletons and replicas.
Large museums typically have multiple curators on staff to manage different departments. For example, a natural history museum might employ a paleontologist, evolutionary biologist, anthropologist, and geologist. It is common for a smaller institution, such as a local historic home or library, to be owned and operated by a single individual. Curators are often involved in fundraising and public awareness activities to help promote and protect collections. They often write grant proposals, organize educational materials, and submit research articles to scientific, literary, or art journals.
Typically, a master’s or doctoral degree is required to become a healer in most situations. In addition, practitioners often gain years of experience in other roles, such as field researchers, archivists, conservators, and professors, before becoming curators. When starting a new curatorship, an individual often acts as an assistant to an experienced practitioner. She may be required to spend several months studying museum content to learn as much as possible about different collections before assuming the responsibilities of chief curator.
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